Technical Foundations & AI Prototyping for Product Managers
Vladimir Kalmykov
Lead PM @ Booking.com, PhD
The technical understanding a successful PM needs - nothing more.
✅ Why invest in learning with me?
I’m a Lead PM at Booking.com, and one of the first tech PMs there, with over 10 years in the field.
Before moving into product, I was a Software Developer and earned a PhD in Computer Science. I’ve worked on both sides and know exactly what technical understanding PMs need - and don't.
I'll teach you exactly what matters (and why) for driving products forward. You'll get the technical and AI-building fluency needed to drive your team, no coding, no database internals, no load balancers.
✅ What can better technical understanding do for your career?
From a survey of 650 PMs, 56% want to speak the same language as their engineers to communicate effectively, and build trust.
61% want to estimate features on their own, so they can plan better and deliver on time.
And today, technical understanding also lets you quickly AI-prototype features (43%) to show it to real users. In return, AI-building allows you to better understand Tech.
Finally, if you want to land a Big Tech PM role, tech skills are critical.
✅ What makes this course different?
The course is 20% theory and 80% hands-on: you’ll do over 200 exercises / 8 projects, because that’s how real skills stick.
What you’ll learn
Two related skills in one course: master tech to speak the same language with your team. Use it to AI-prototype features or a side project.
Master core concepts of tech: services, APIs, architecture, databases, SLIs, testing
Learn what PM's job ("what/why" of tech) and what's not ("how" and details of tech)
As a result, speak the same language as your developers and gain their respect
Build the ability to gauge feature sizes using PM tools (Service Blueprint, Service Diagram, Sequence Diagram, Complexity Framework)
Learn how to write solid PRDs that touch on every angle of the product/features
As a result, build a reputation of a PM who launches what they promised, on time
Get ready for Big Tech PM interview questions like “Design the architecture for a Tinder/WhatsApp/Uber/etc”
Solve enough hands-on cases both on "build" and "scale/maintain" phases of product lifecycle to feel confident during the interview
Clone your product’s UI and vibe-code interactive features to showcase your ideas to stakeholders
Wire up backend logic, databases, and external APIs to bring your prototype to life
Use the skills above to even start a side-project. All without writing a line of code
Who this course is for
Senior Product Managers who want to level up their technical acumen
Jr/Middle Product Managers who want to lead with confidence and accelerate their growth
Program/Project Managers, Producers, Designers, Data Analysts, because tech foundations are the same for everyone
Prerequisites
No prior tech or AI experience needed
The course is designed to explain the tech foundations and AI-building from the first (intuitive) principles.
What's included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Vladimir Kalmykov in a real-time, interactive format.
200+ exercises and 5 hands-on projects on "Tech Foundations"
You'll build Service Blueprints, Service Diagrams of an Uber-like app, Spotify app, Food Delivery app, and so on. You'll call APIs, create a Sequence Diagram, define SLIs/SLOs, write tests, etc. All from PM's lens. Get one of the Tech lessons for free at the bottom of this page.
50+ exercises and 3 hands-on projects on "Full-stack AI prototyping"
You'll start with very simple UI-only features and then add backend logic, API integrations (OpenAI, Stripe), and databases to build a functioning full-stack product. Get one of the AI-prototyping lessons for free at the bottom of this page.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
5 live sessions • 21 lessons
Week 1
Jan
23
Optional: Workshop #0: a quick 30 mins kick off
Hands-on practice #1: Tech 101
Week 2
Jan
27
Workshop #1 (Tech): 101
Hands-on practice #2: Service Blueprint & Service Diagram instruments
Hands-on practice #2: API for PMs (advanced)
Free lesson
Tech Foundations & AI Prototyping 101 for PMs
When PMs need tech & AI-prototyping skills
10+ day-to-day examples: we'll cover a few and I'll provide a practical checklist for the rest
Understanding APIs as a non-tech leader
We'll discuss API 101, and you'll make a real API call. I'll share a checklist and a full lesson on API for PMs
Applying tech skills to AI-prototype effectively
We'll use new API skills to build a small app with AI. I'll share a full lesson on AI-prototyping of UI features
Schedule
Live sessions
2 hrs / week
A hands-on 2h workshop every Tuesday, full of exercises and group work. (plus a 30-minute kick-off session in the beginning).
Fri, Jan 23
4:30 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
Tue, Jan 27
4:30 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Tue, Feb 3
4:30 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Projects
3-5 hrs / week
The core of the course: guided hands-on projects you complete in between the live workshops. 80% of practice is here!
Success stories
The course and simulator are well-structured and include plenty of hands-on practice. After finishing it, I started to understand developers much better, can speak their language, and ask the right questions. It also helped me see the strong and weak points of a product by understanding its architecture. Big thanks to Vladimir!
Natalie
Product ManagerIt’s often hard to learn about technology at this level because the boundaries are blurry, and most resources are built for engineers. That’s why this course is such a gem — it’s a one-stop shop for everything you need to know.
Jess
Project ManagerI cannot recommend this course enough and I wish I had found something like that sooner! It helped me to grasp the core topics and now I actually understand what my BE team is building and how I, as PM, can contribute in the technical conversations!
Volha
Product Manager
How the hands-on practice look like
Frequently asked questions
$1,049
USD