Breakfast, sponsored by ProductBC
Opening Remarks
Keynote — Product Managers: This Is Your Time
Francis Dupuis, Executive & Product Leader
Francis is a seasoned tech executive with deep expertise in product management and IT leadership. He was instrumental in PayByPhone’s growth, serving as VP of Product, GM of Vancouver, and later as CEO. During his leadership, PayByPhone was acquired by Volkswagen Financial Services in 2016—a move that aligned with VW’s mobility strategy. Post-acquisition, Francis joined Volkswagen Financial Services as Head of IT, continuing to bridge tech innovation with automotive finance. Based in Vancouver, he also held senior roles at Vivonet and Active Network, driving digital transformation across sectors.
First Sessions
Theatre C300 -
Increment Planning As Risk Management
Fifteen years after MVPs became a staple in product management, this session explores how the concept has evolved into a broader, more nuanced approach to managing risk and learning through incremental delivery—highlighting why, when, and how to think in increments beyond just feature validation.
Leader: Dave Sharrock
C400/C420 -
Balancing Roadmaps and Bedtime Stories – The Life of a Parent PM
This talk explores the surprising parallels between product management and parenting, revealing how frameworks like prioritization, empathy, and iterative learning can help navigate both product roadmaps and bedtime routines with greater effectiveness and fulfillment.
Leader: Jacky Cheung
C440 -
The End of Product Managers (As We Know Them)
As AI rapidly reshapes software development and product workflows, this talk examines the evolving role of the Product Manager in a world where AI can code, research, and analyze—raising urgent questions about what unique value PMs bring when entire job functions are being redefined or replaced.
Leader: Tony Hui
C100 -
The WWYD Leadership Challenge: What Great Product Leaders Do Differently
This interactive session challenges you to navigate real-world leadership dilemmas faced by product managers—testing your instincts, comparing approaches with peers, and uncovering what actually worked (or didn’t) in managing teams, peers, and executives.
Leader: Alan Albert
Second Sessions
Theatre C300 -
Ten ways that excellent product managers set themselves apart
Drawing from 18 years of building and leading product teams to successful exits, this session reveals the hard truths, essential skills, and career strategies that set top product managers apart—especially as AI reshapes the field and traditional paths evolve.
Leader: Steve Jones
C400/C420 -
“I Can’t Believe This Is Happening Again” – Using Data to Break the Cycle
This session tackles the recurring chaos of roadmap hijacks, misaligned messaging, and prioritization struggles—offering practical frameworks to diagnose the patterns, reclaim your influence, and build a more strategic, aligned path forward.
Leader: Erin K Melvin
C440 -
Make your messaging suck less! - A value-based workshop
This brutally honest session helps you recognize when your messaging truly sucks—and equips you with sharper perspectives, critical questions, and practical tips to craft clearer, more compelling positioning that resonates with customers, teams, and the market.
Leader: Tim Johnson
C100 -
How can legacy industries adopt a product mindset?
This panel explores how strong discovery practices and soft skills are essential for product managers to drive meaningful impact in legacy industries like insurance, healthcare, banking, and education—where deep domain expertise and complex context shape every decision.
Leader: Khushboo Dodani
Lunch, sponsored by Lululemon
Third Sessions
Theatre C300 -
AI Meets Empathy: How to Build Products That Customers Truly Love
This session explores how to balance AI-powered optimization with a user-centric approach to build products that are both efficient and emotionally resonant—offering actionable insights on using AI without compromising trust, empathy, or customer loyalty.
Leader: Sanchi Gupta
C400/C420 -
Speed Networking
Sponsored by UBC Sauder School of Business
C440 -
What is it that you think you’re doing over there?
In this session, tech veteran Eric Bin shares how to take a proactive, hypothesis-driven approach to your 40+ year career—offering strategies to align your work with life goals, get better feedback, stand out to recruiters, and unlock greater fulfillment and earnings over time.
Leader: Eric Bin
C100 -
From End User to User Advocate: Shaping Products Through Empathy
Join Omar as he shares practical strategies and personal lessons from his journey from customer service to senior product roles—offering guidance on breaking into product management from non-technical backgrounds, developing transferable skills, overcoming industry challenges, and planning a successful long-term career.
Leader: Omar Zayed
Fourth Sessions
Theatre C300 -
Ace Your Product Manager Interview: Strategies from Both Sides of the Table
In this interactive session, veteran PMs Carrie Chatelain and Filip Machat draw on their experience from both sides of the hiring table to demystify the product management interview process—sharing insider tips and proven strategies to help candidates at any level stand out and succeed.
Leader: Carrie Chatelain & Filip Machat
C400/C420 -
A Panel on Product Pivots with Probably Perspicacious People
This candid panel explores real-world stories of successful and failed product pivots, offering practical insights on recognizing pivot signals, managing stakeholder expectations, and making strategic shifts that drive product-market fit while preserving team culture and momentum.
Leader: Jeanine Longley
C440 -
AI Revolution: Insights from an AI Product Manager's Journey
This session shares a personal journey from traditional PM to AI PM without a formal ML background, offering lessons learned, best practices for implementing GenAI, a live demo, insights on AI agents' impact, and actionable steps to start your own AI product management path.
Leader: Jatin Rajvanshi
C100 -
Workshop: Data-Driven Decision Making for Product Managers
This hands-on workshop equips product managers with practical skills to interpret data, uncover actionable insights, and avoid common analytics pitfalls—through real-world exercises and a case study drawn from actual product analytics experience.
Leader: Heba Maghraby
Fifth Sessions
Theatre C300 -
How to Ask For a Promotion/Raise as a Product Manager
If your PM role has expanded and you’re unsure how to advocate for a promotion or raise, this workshop will teach you a clear 3-step process to build your case, navigate the process, and confidently ask for what you deserve.
Leader: Colin Li
C400/C420 -
From Junior PM to Trusted Voice: Building Influence Without Authority
This session equips new or unheard Product Managers with actionable strategies to build influence, earn credibility, and become a trusted voice—even without authority, experience, or a big title.
Leader: Arya Baybordi
C440 -
Ask the Expert Session: The 5 E's of Product-Led Services
Join Prashant Agrawal in this 'Ask the Expert' session as he introduces his 5 E's model—educate, encourage, empower, enable, and elevate—to help product managers successfully build and scale product-led services.
Leader: Prashant Agarwal
C100 -
Ask The Experts: Driving Product with Insights & Strategy
Join Amelia Guimarin of Spatial Research & Design for a lively discussion on aligning user needs with business goals—exploring how UX and CX research, combined with strong people and product management, can drive strategic impact across your organization.
Leader: Amelia Guimarin
Afternoon Anchor — Grey Mirror: How to Build Products for a Complex World – and Positive Human Outcomes
Timothy Yeung, Director of Product Management, Hootsuite
Timothy Yeung (he/him) is a seasoned product leader with over 13 years of experience in tech. He is currently a Director of Product at Hootsuite, where he leads product teams responsible for the company’s core social media management and engagement products.
Beyond his role at Hootsuite, Timothy is the Lead Instructor of Product Management at UBC Sauder CBS, where he’s passionate about inclusive, applied education that empowers the next generation of product leaders.
He previously served as President of ProductBC and currently holds leadership roles as a Vancouver Director of APM Canada, President of the leləm̓ Community Centre Advisory Board, and a board member of AI Governance & Safety Canada.
Timothy is a frequent speaker on ethical product management, having shared his insights on the topic at the Userpilot Product Drive conference, APM Canada, and the University of British Columbia.
Closing Remarks
After Party, sponsored by ProductCamp Vancouver