AI secrets for product leaders — Maven course by Michael Hirsch

Michael Hirsch’s free session on Maven serves as both an introduction to AI’s impact on product leadership and a preview of his longer paid course, “Build an AI-confident Product Team.” Over 400 students have attended, making it one of the more popular free AI-for-PM resources on the platform.

What the session covers

The lesson provides three things: a survey of AI tools transforming product management at each lifecycle stage, a framework for identifying where AI should (and should not) be integrated into your workflows, and live demonstrations of using AI to create PM development plans and PRDs.

The session’s central argument is that AI is not just changing products — it is reshaping how product decisions get made, how teams are structured, and what skills product leaders need to develop in their reports.

Who it’s for

Product managers and product leaders exploring AI adoption. The free format makes it accessible to anyone, but the content tilts toward people in leadership positions — those making decisions about team-wide AI adoption rather than individual tool usage.

Strengths

Hirsch brings two decades of product leadership experience at companies including Sony, Qualcomm, and T-Mobile, combined with current academic work as an adjunct professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. This dual perspective — practitioner and educator — shows in the session’s balance between strategic thinking and practical demonstration.

The live demos differentiate this from the many slide-deck overviews of “AI for PMs” available online. Seeing AI applied to specific PM artifacts (development plans, PRDs) in real time is more convincing than abstract advice.

Limitations

As a free introductory session, the depth is necessarily limited. The session is designed to lead into Hirsch’s paid course, so some topics are introduced without full resolution. Participants looking for hands-on practice or a structured curriculum will need to continue with the paid program.

Verdict

A useful zero-cost entry point for product leaders evaluating whether to invest time and budget in AI upskilling for themselves or their teams. The live demo format provides more value than a typical webinar, and Hirsch’s cross-industry experience keeps the content grounded in real organizational challenges rather than hypothetical scenarios.