Session Description:

This four-part webinar series takes place for FREE on August 18, 20, 25, & 27 at 11 am CDT.

Each 30-minute session offers a preview of the ideas and speakers you'll experience at the 2026 Ignite Innovation Summit. These engaging virtual sessions feature Summit speakers sharing practical strategies, fresh perspectives, and real-world takeaways designed to help product professionals innovate smarter, while giving you an early look at the value of attending the Summit. Register to attend the sessions that interest you, or join us for the entire series!

• August 18: Next Generation New Product Governance Systems
• August 20: Making AI Adoption Stick
• August 25: From Idea to Scale: The Four Leadership Modes That Drive Product Innovation
• August 27: From Contradictions to Breakthrough

Learn More & Register Today

Session Description:

The Certificate in Market Research helps you build a strong understanding of market research principles and practices essential to successful product development. Throughout this live virtual masterclass, you’ll learn how to gather and interpret customer and market insights, apply qualitative and quantitative research methods, evaluate customer needs and satisfaction, and use research findings to support smarter product and business decisions. You’ll leave with practical tools, stronger analytical thinking, and the ability to confidently apply market research techniques within your organization.to surface hidden assumptions, reveal overlooked product risks, and rapidly create and iterate on low-effort tests. Attendees will gain a practical

Sessions are interactive, engaging, and designed for real-time application, with a maximum of 15 participants to ensure meaningful instruction.

This course awards a Certificate in Market Research aligned with PDMA’s Body of Knowledge. Participants complete a short multiple-choice exam at the conclusion of the masterclass to earn the credential. Additional certificates will be offered in the future, giving participants the opportunity to earn multiple credentials across key product disciplines.

Rates

Premium Members: $250
Other Members: $400
Non-Members: $500

Contact certification@pdma.org to discuss group discounts.

Learn about PDMA Membership

Course Format

• Two 2-hour live, instructor-led virtual sessions
• Interactive discussions, practical exercises, and real-world examples
• Access to digital learning materials
• Opportunities for peer learning and Q&A
• Completion of both sessions is required to earn the Market Research Certificate

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand core market research principles and methodologies
• Differentiate between qualitative and quantitative research approaches
• Gather and interpret customer and market insights
• Identify customer needs, behaviors, and unmet opportunities
• Evaluate customer satisfaction and product-market fit
• Apply research findings to support product and business decision-making
• Strengthen confidence in selecting and using appropriate research methods
• Apply practical tools and frameworks from PDMA’s Body of Knowledge

Who Should Attend

This masterclass is designed for product professionals at any stage of their career who want to strengthen their understanding of market research. Ideal participants include:

• Product managers, product owners, and product leaders
• Innovation professionals and R&D managers
• Marketing and market research professionals
• Customer insights and consumer research team members
• Cross-functional team members supporting product decision-making
• Anyone looking to improve how they gather and apply customer insights in product development

No prior certification is required.

About the Speaker

Brian Sheil

Brian Sheil is an associate principal in the Insights for Innovation practice at Applied Marketing Science (AMS), where he helps organizations harness customer insights to inform critical business decisions and drive the development of successful products and services. With deep experience across financial services, industrial, and B2B markets, Brian leads complex qualitative and quantitative research engagements in both domestic and international settings, consistently translating insights into actionable strategy. He is passionate about empowering organizations to better serve their customers, utilizing a customer-centric approach to uncover insights that directly impact business outcomes.

As an associate principal, Brian manages the full research lifecycle: from study design and exploratory research through fieldwork, analysis, and executive-ready reporting. He is an experienced trainer and insights advisor, working with organizations to develop and strengthen their internal research capabilities, with particular emphasis on Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs.

A sought-after speaker, Brian has appeared at leading industry conferences and on popular webinar series, including the Insights Association North Atlantic Chapter Annual Conference and PDMA’s Innovation in Focus series. His engaging presentations span a range of topics, including VOC programs, the application of generative AI in market research, and building effective market research teams.

Brian holds an MBA from Providence College, where he also earned a B.A. in political science with a minor in Business Studies, graduating magna cum laude.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Most product teams follow the right process—and still build the wrong thing. The issue isn’t execution; it’s untested assumptions.

In this webcast, Raelin Sawka Musuraca introduces a risk-based approach to product design that helps teams identify and test the beliefs driving their decisions before committing time and resources. Centered on Assumption Artifacts, a lightweight tool for running fast, behavior-focused experiments, the session highlights how generative AI can be used to surface hidden assumptions, reveal overlooked product risks, and rapidly create and iterate on low-effort tests. Attendees will gain a practical lens for reducing hidden risk, improving prioritization, and making more confident product decisions.

Key takeaways:

1. How to identify hidden assumptions that drive product decisions—and why they are often the greatest source of risk
2. A practical method for prioritizing product risk, shifting focus from features and process to what matters most to validate
3. How to use Assumption Artifacts to design fast, low-effort experiments that test high-risk beliefs early
4. How generative AI can accelerate discovery, helping teams surface blind spots and rapidly create testable artifacts
5. A new lens for product development, reframing it as a process of reducing uncertainty rather than following prescribed stepss

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Raelin Musuraca, Director for Master of Human-Computer Interaction program at Carnegie Mellon University

Raelin Sawka Musuraca brings over 30 years of experience leading product, user experience, and strategy initiatives across financial services, retail, healthcare, and consumer products. She has held leadership roles at BNY Mellon and American Eagle Outfitters and founded her own consultancy, Sharp Creative, advising organizations on digital product strategy and innovation. She currently serves as Director of the Master of Human-Computer Interaction (MHCI) program at Carnegie Mellon University, where she partners with industry to develop future product leaders. Her work focuses on helping teams reduce risk, prioritize effectively, and translate user insight into measurable business value through frameworks such as the Uncertainty Model and Assumption Artifacts.

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2026 marks PDMA’s 50th year of innovation leadership. 50 years of leading the field, and this Summit looks ahead.

Registration for the 2026 PDMA Ignite Innovation Summit is open!

Not all innovation conferences are built like the PDMA Ignite Innovation Summit.

This is where the people behind the most widely used product and innovation methods take the stage—and introduce what’s next.

Expect:

🔥 Keynote session from Dr. Robert Cooper debuting Stage-Gate 6.0!

🧠 Real-world sessions focused on application, not theory.

💡 Hands-on workshops led by experts who built the frameworks.

⚡ Learn from the most innovative companies in the world during the Outstanding Corporate Innovator Awards session.

At the PDMA Ignite Innovation Summit, attendees can learn from the most innovative companies in the world during the Outstanding Corporate Innovator Awards session.

Bring your energy. Bring your team. Bring your future.

Visit PDMA Summit Central

** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

You know AI will disrupt your products, but how will it disrupt your innovation process? How can you use AI to accelerate your process and improve the results? This webcast will teach you how to apply AI to every step in your innovation process, and show you how to apply the lessons to a real product or service concept.

Key takeaways:

1. Understand a proven process that will guide the selection and use of AI tools, both now and in the future.
2. Learn a set of AI-driven techniques for every step in the innovation process: creating new concepts, targeting customers, analyzing requirements, developing prototypes, and testing new innovations quickly and economically.
3. Identify the tools you’ll need to continue innovating with AI in the future.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

David Robertson, Professor & Faculty Director at MIT Sloan School of Management

David Robertson teaches AI-driven Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management and is the Faculty Director for Sloan’s largest executive education program, the Executive Program in General Management. David specializes in how mature companies can Revitalize existing products Using AI-driven innovation. Prior to MIT, David was a Professor at the Wharton School and from 2002 through 2010 was the LEGO Professor of Innovation at the Swiss business school IMD. David has been recognized as a “Thinkers50” thought leader, has won numerous teaching awards, and has published 3 award-winning books.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

"If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 37 times better by the time you're done," claims James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. Just like Rome, products are not built in one day. How do we kickoff such a venture? How do we ensure we build continuous improvement culture? Let's discover together.

Key takeaways:

1. The facets of process improvement and neuroscience behind it
2. How can AI be incorporated in process improvement
3. A sample framework to approach

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Banu Raghuraman, Product Manager at Perficient

Banu is a product professional with over 15 years of experience in building software solutions in fintech, health tech, Mar tech and non profit technology in Canada, US and Australia. Starting her career as a BA, she loves exploring synergies between the BA and product roles, and teaches product management and BA skills through her workshops and webinars. She is also a Six Sigma Black Belt and leverages the frameworks to build continuous improvement. In addition, she loves giving back to the community through keynote speaking and mentoring.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

The goal of this talk is to give realistic expectations about the potential of AI, its limitations, common misconceptions, significant risks that product teams and upper management need to be aware of, and major design issues for products. Upper management tends to overestimate what AI can do and underestimate its development and operating costs. This session will help product managers navigate the hype, better understand the underlying context that AI systems operate in, and make more responsible and effective product decisions.

This talk is based on Professor Hong’s and his colleagues’ research at Carnegie Mellon University, as well as courses taught there on UX Design and Responsible AI.

Key takeaways:

1. Develop realistic expectations about what AI can and cannot do — including its true costs.
2. Understand the context in which AI operates and why that context matters.
3. Make intentional decisions about whether AI should replace people or augment them.
4. Identify and mitigate risks such as algorithmic bias.
5. Measure success beyond dollars — including satisfaction, well-being, and human dignity.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speakers

Jason Hong

Jason Hong is a professor in the Human Computer Interaction Institute, part of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. His research is in the areas of usability, mobility, privacy, security, and Responsible AI. He is co-author of the book The Design of Sites, and helped found CMU's Master's of Product Management program. He was also a co-founder of Wombat Security Technologies, which was acquired by Proofpoint.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Most teams don’t suffer from a lack of data. They suffer from a lack of clarity. Product roadmaps stall. Research gets debated instead of used. Strategy decks multiply, but confidence doesn’t. And AI promises speed—while quietly amplifying whatever confusion already exists. The root problem is almost always the same: poor inputs. When teams don’t share a clear, structured understanding of what customers are actually trying to accomplish, every downstream decision—prioritization, messaging, innovation, investment—gets noisier, slower, and riskier. In this webcast, we’ll explore the return on clarity: how improving the inputs to your product, marketing, and innovation decisions changes everything that follows.

Key takeaways:

1. Why most customer insight efforts fail to influence real decisions—even when the research is “good”
2. How unclear customer language creates hidden costs across roadmaps, launches, and AI-driven tools
3. What “better inputs” actually look like in practice (and why more data rarely solves the problem)
4. How teams that invest in shared customer clarity reduce failure risk, align faster, and make better bets

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speakers

Scott Burleson

Scott Burleson is the creator of The JTBD Pyramid™, a framework for understanding what truly drives customer behavior across function, emotion, and identity. He is the author of The Jobs-to-be-Done Pyramid™ and The Statue in the Stone, and the founder of LearnPM.pro. Scott’s background spans manufacturing, product management, and customer research. He previously led strategy for John Deere’s 1-Series tractors and served as a Director at the Strategyn Institute, where he worked directly with JTBD pioneer Tony Ulwick. Today, Scott is Chief Product Officer at The AIM Institute, where he helps leaders reduce innovation risk by improving the clarity of the inputs that drive product, marketing, and growth decisions.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Product teams often say they are customer-centric, yet still default to feature-led VOC. Watts (a US-based global water technology company) and market research partner Phase 5 took a different path. By redesigning their learning approach and using structured, bias-resistant interviews, the team uncovered two critical but under-articulated field problems in a mature, “unglamorous” product category―problems that engineers, contractors, and facility managers had been quietly working around for years.

These insights did more than validate assumptions; they fundamentally reshaped product development and provided a clear, defensible direction for a new solution now heading to market.

In this session, we’ll walk through how reframing the inquiry, surfacing “hidden in plain sight” product issues, and resisting internal bias led to a market-ready concept with strong organizational confidence behind it.

Key takeaways:

1. Why problem-led, jobs-focused VOC outperforms traditional feature-first approaches―especially in mature categories
2. How structured, bias-resistant interviews uncover consequential failures customers rarely volunteer
3. Practical techniques to bypass internal assumptions and listen differently across diverse user groups
4. How to translate maintenance and reliability headaches into a focused, strategic product specification rather than a grab-bag of features
5. How problem-led insights can provide a clear roadmap from discovery to a differentiated, market-ready solution

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speakers

Shashwat Nath

Shashwat Nath is a Senior Product Manager at Watts Water Technologies, where he oversees the Mixing, Hydronics, Relief Valve, and HVAC product categories. Over his 18-year career spanning the HVAC, IOT, Refrigeration, Lighting, and Plumbing industries, Shashwat has blended technical expertise with a strategic, customer-focused approach to product development and innovation. Based in the Boston area, he is passionate about sustainability and water conservation and is dedicated to developing solutions that help advance efficiency and environmental responsibility in the built environment. When he’s not working, Shashwat enjoys reading and biking on New England’s scenic trails.

Steve Hansen

Steve Hansen is a Partner at Phase 5. Based in Minneapolis, MN, he leads the firm's Innovation and New Product Development practice. Steve enjoys taking a “Zen mind, beginner’s mind” approach to innovation, especially when it has the potential to disrupt a market ecosystem. His professional background includes: Lecturer in Innovation in the Peking University Guanghua MBA program, Director of Research at Thomson Reuters, and technology product management roles. Steve is regularly invited to speak at industry events on customer centricity. He holds an MBA from University of Minnesota, MA English Language / Linguistics from University of Arizona, and a BA Mathematics from Pomona College.

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Session Description

The Certificate in Innovation Strategy helps you build a strong understanding of strategic principles in business and innovation. Throughout this live virtual masterclass, you’ll learn how to assess the internal and external business environment to identify innovation opportunities with confidence, develop strategies that drive long-term success, and to align innovation efforts with organizational goals. You’ll leave with practical tools, clearer strategic thinking, and the ability to make smarter decisions that move your organization forward.

Sessions are interactive, engaging, and designed for real-time application, with a maximum of 15 participants to ensure meaningful instruction.

This course awards a Certificate in Innovation Strategy aligned with PDMA’s Body of Knowledge. Participants complete a short multiple-choice exam at the conclusion of the masterclass to earn the credential. Additional certificates will be offered in the future, giving participants the opportunity to earn multiple credentials across key product disciplines.

Rates:

Premium Members: $250
Other Members: $400
Non-Members: $500

Contact certification@pdma.org to discuss group discounts.

Learn about PDMA Membership

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand core strategic frameworks and principles for business and innovation
• Assess the internal and external business environment
• Identify opportunities for innovation and growth
• Align innovation strategies with mission and vision
• Build strategies that support long-term business and product success
• Strengthen strategic decision-making
• Apply practical tools and frameworks from PDMA’s Body of Knowledge

Course Format

• Two 2-hour live, instructor-led virtual sessions
• Interactive discussions, practical exercises, and real-world examples
• Access to digital learning materials
• Opportunities for peer learning and Q&A
• Completion of both sessions is required to earn the Innovation Strategy Certificate

Who Should Attend

This masterclass is designed for product professionals at any stage of their career who want to strengthen their strategic thinking. Ideal participants include:

• Product managers, product owners, and product leaders
• Innovation professionals and R&D managers
• New or aspiring product strategists
• Cross-functional team members supporting product decision-making
• Anyone looking to deepen their strategic thinking within product development

No prior certification is required.

Certificate & Digital Badge

The course concludes with a 10-item multiple-choice exam during the final class. The exam is closed book, online, and participants have 20 minutes to complete it. A score of 70% or higher is required to pass. Participants who pass will receive:

• A PDMA Innovation Strategy Certificate
• A digital badge to share on LinkedIn and other platforms
• 4 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Tips to Showcase your Achievement:

1. Add your digital badge to your email signature, social profiles (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, X), and your website.
2. Include the achievement on resumes, bios, and in discussions to gain credibility with stakeholders.
3. Display a printed copy of your certificate in your office.
4. Share your certificate with your supervisor and HR so it can be added to your professional record and considered in future advancement opportunities.
5. Announce your achievement publicly on social media or within your organization’s newsletter if appropriate.

Meet the Instructor

Andreas Maihoefer

As a consultant, executive, and educator, Andreas is passionate about guiding teams through successful projects and sharing knowledge and best practices in product management and innovation along the way. For more than 25 years, Andreas has been leading product management, marketing and strategy development helping international Fortune 500 companies and startups in developing and commercializing multi-million dollar product lines. He shares his experiences with young talent and seasoned practitioners teaching product management at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Product Development and Management Association.

Testimonial: “Andreas presented the material very enthusiastically and with great real-world examples.”

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Product innovation is tough. If you’re a follower trying to close the gap, how do you keep pace with your competition? If you’re the market leader, how do you stay ahead of the market? And if you want to create the market, how do you uncover the next unanticipated product?

In this session, we’ll explore innovation—specifically, the difference between product innovation and process innovation. We’ll begin with ideas around product ideation and discovery, challenging ourselves to think about where great ideas come from: what we can learn from experts and what we can learn from crowds.

We’ll examine different approaches to understanding requirements and uncovering unarticulated needs—the unknown unknowns that make strong product offerings truly compelling.

Key takeaways:

1. Uncover the benefits and strengths of expert (or individual) discovery and ideation vs. crowd-based discovery and ideation.
2. Discover different methods for product ideation and product discovery using experts and crowds.
3. Learn how to leverage the power of the crowd when exploring an unknown product space.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Dave Sharrock

Dave Sharrock, PhD, MBA, is an internationally recognized authority on agility, product strategy, and organizational transformation. As Founder and CEO of IncrementOne and co-host of the Definitely, Maybe Agile podcast, Dave brings pragmatic wisdom and compelling storytelling to the forefront of modern business challenges. With credentials as a Certified Enterprise Coach (Emeritus) and Certified Scrum Trainer, Dave has guided transformational change across some of the world's most complex organizations, including HSBC, Best Buy, and the Government of Canada. His consulting and coaching practice spans enterprises, governments, and high-velocity startups, where he helps leaders navigate complexity and deliver sustainable value.

Dave's expertise bridges systems thinking, leadership development, and innovation—challenging organizations to move beyond rigid processes toward true adaptability in an ever-changing world. As a sought-after international speaker, he translates complex concepts into actionable insights that resonate with C-suite executives and practitioners alike. Through his podcast, Dave explores the nuances of agile transformation with candid conversations that cut through industry buzzwords to reveal what actually works. His approach combines deep theoretical understanding with hard-won practical experience, enabling organizations to build genuine capability rather than simply adopt frameworks. Whether keynoting conferences, coaching executive teams, or leading organizational transformations, Dave's impact stems from his ability to see patterns others miss and articulate pathways forward that honor both business realities and human potential.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

As legacy PLM systems reach the end of their lifecycle, organizations face a critical question: how do you migrate with minimal disruption while unlocking future-ready capabilities?

Hear how organizations successfully migrated from their legacy systems to Arena, with insights from a partner who specializes in system migrations. Learn practical strategies and actionable tips to help your teams embrace a modern, scalable platform that supports faster, smarter product development.

Following the panel, see Arena in action with a short demo highlighting how the platform unifies product information, connects teams across engineering, quality, and supply chain, and helps maintain compliance—all while enabling faster, smarter, and more scalable product development.

In this webinar, you'll learn:

1. How to plan a low-risk, successful PLM migration.
2. Strategies to avoid common pitfalls during system transitions.
3. Lessons learned from organizations that have successfully transitioned from legacy solutions like Agile to Arena
4. How Arena enables faster, smarter, and more scalable product development

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Dan Climent

Dan Climent is an accomplished leader in sales consulting and product lifecycle management. As Vice President of Enterprise Growth at Arena by PTC, he specializes in helping organizations streamline business processes and drive enterprise growth. Dan holds a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Cal Poly and brings extensive expertise in enterprise software, supply chain management, and business process optimization.

Additional members of our speaker panel:

• Penny Dalton - Associate Director, Quality Affairs Configuration Management and Document Control, at Galvanize Therapeutics Inc
• Jeff Nichols - Vice President - Professional Services at Domain Systems, Inc

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PDMA’s Global Student Innovation Challenge 2025 Winners Have Been Selected!

PDMA’s 6th Annual Global Student Innovation Challenge 2025 Finalists presented their ideas at PDMA’s Ignite Innovation Summit and JPIM Research Forum September 13 and 16 in Chicago to determine 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize money and bragging rights.

And the winner is...

• 1st place: Uplift Team from Duke University North Carolina USA
  Kishen Mitra, Sara Taube, Lokesh Manivannan, Sameer Kunte, Shruhi Parameswaram with academic advisor Eric Richardson
• 2nd place: Smart Shower Team from Rice University, Texas USA
  Sasha Ovalle, with Academic advisor Sophie Randolph
• 3rd place: WattMaintain Team from Technical University Berlin Germany
  Kaushika Saravanan, Somya Garg, Mathilde Dignard, Nisha Verma with academic advisor Soren Salomo

Congratulations to all 150 students representing 22 universities and 45 teams from 10 countries that submitted their understanding of product development to compete for prize monies by submitting a product/service/software idea and detailing the unique value proposition, evidence of demand, and mockup or embodiment of that product. GSIC 2026 will be open for submissions early December 2025 through June 1, 2026.

** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

In today's rapidly evolving product landscape, organizations face the critical challenge of connecting strategy to execution. Diana Stepner and Teresa Cain, co-authors of "Next-Gen Product Management: Future-Proof Your Career," will present practical solutions through real-world case studies demonstrating how successful product leaders align vision with day-to-day operations.

Key Takeaways:

1. A repeatable process for connecting vision to daily product operations
2. Evaluate AI products using both traditional product metrics and AI-specific KPIs to track performance and demonstrate ROI.
3. Team collaboration models that preserve strategic focus while enabling autonomy
4. Tools for building customer-informed feedback loops into every product decision

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speakers

Teresa Cain & Diana Stepner

Teresa is an innovation-obsessed problem solver who’s spent the past 17 years leading global product and UX teams, and discovering that empowering people is the ultimate product. A former product exec turned author, speaker, and founder of Lucid Startup Consulting, Teresa helps teams think differently, move faster, and unlock game-changing solutions. Her work has impacted hundreds of organizations including Amazon, Priceline, Microsoft, Tesla, Deloitte, NICE, and Vanguard. Teresa is the bestselling author of Solving Problems in 2 Hours and co-author of Next-Gen Product Management: Future Proof Your Career. She's also a top-rated Udemy instructor with courses on product strategy and design sprints. Recognized with awards like Forty Under 40 and Emerging Scholar in Design Practices, Teresa blends real-world experience with an energetic, people-first approach to innovation. She holds a Master's in Innovation from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Rockhurst University.

Diana is a Silicon Valley native who believes in the power of putting people first. For over 20 years, Diana built and led global product teams - discovering launching people is even more rewarding than launching products. This awareness led her to focus on coaching, combining extensive product leadership experience with a human-centered approach to help ambitious product leaders unlock their full potential. Diana's background includes leading teams in startups (E.piphany, Cheapflights - bought by Kayak, and SimplePractice), enterprise organizations (Salesforce, Monster, Pearson), digital agencies (Razorfish, part of Publicis) and software consulting (Epsilon, E.piphany). She also has a MIMS from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Boston University. Diana is a certified coach and holds an ACC.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Explore the unique challenges and opportunities that PMs face when developing and launching new AI technologies within large, established organizations. Navigate the complex organization structures, resource constraints, and stakeholder management required to turn cutting-edge AI research into scalable, impactful products.

Key Takeaways:

1. Synthesize insights from user feedback, industry research, and internal R∓D to translate cutting-edge AI capabilities into tangible products with a clear value proposition.
2. Evaluate AI products using both traditional product metrics and AI-specific KPIs to track performance and demonstrate ROI.
3. Explore strategies to champion new initiatives, secure executive buy-in, and coordinate cross-functional teams within large, risk-averse companies.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Eileen Wu

Eileen Wu is a Product Manager at Google, where she has a track record of leading teams to launch 0-to-1 AI features on both emerging and established products. She is currently the lead PM for Maps and Spatial AI experiences on Android XR glasses, pioneering new interactions for augmented reality. Prior to this, she drove product innovation on Google Search and YouTube, launching several AI-powered features and building platforms for experimental AI features. Her expertise is further enhanced by her academic research background in XR, which she actively leverages to inform her product strategy.

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PDMA Celebrates Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award Winners

38th Annual OCI Award Recognizes Two Remarkable Innovators: Moleaer and Tempur Sealy International

August 2025 - For over three decades, the Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) has stood as the pinnacle of recognition for industry trailblazers who are reshaping the landscape of innovation. This year's OCI Award Selection Committee has made the decision to highlight not just one, but two exceptional winners, reinforcing the remarkable talent and ingenuity within the global community. Congratulations to Moleaer and Tempur Sealy International!

Moleaer, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, is the global leader and category creator of nanobubble technology. Since 2016, the company has pioneered patented nanobubble generators that produce bubbles 2,500 times smaller than a grain of salt. The unique properties of nanobubbles transform how gases interact with liquids, accelerating physical, chemical, and biological processes. With over 3,500 installations worldwide, spanning greenhouses, wastewater treatment plants, aquaculture facilities, lake restoration, surface sanitization, and water disinfection, Moleaer has proven that nanobubble technology increases productivity and lowers operating costs through water, chemical and energy savings, without requiring infrastructure upgrades.

At the core of Moleaer’s growth is a disciplined, scalable innovation model that integrates scientific expertise with agile product development and a strong voice of the customer focus. The company blends rigorous R&D with real-world field validation, to rapidly iterate and scale solutions across industries. Moleaer's "Reason to Believe" framework ensures early technical validation and market fit. The company's platform technology is built for seamless integration, allowing it to continuously develop solutions that are not only effective but adaptable to customers’ existing operations and infrastructure.

Moleaer’s culture of innovation is deeply cross-functional, supported by its collaborative "A-Team" model that brings together engineering, science, commercial strategy, and customer success all contributing to its momentum. This insight-led, metrics-driven approach has propelled Moleaer's evolution from a single-product startup to a global innovation engine addressing critical efficiency and sustainability challenges at scale.

“Moleaer was founded with a belief that nanobubbles could radically improve how industries use and treat water. Today, that belief is backed by science, results, and real-world impact,” said Nick Dyner, CEO of Moleaer. “Earning PDMA’s Outstanding Corporate Innovator is a powerful recognition of our teams' relentless commitment to advancing sustainable, science-driven innovation that delivers real value to our customers. We're proud of what we've achieved and are energized for what's ahead."

Tempur Sealy is committed to improving the sleep of more people, every night, all around the world. As a leading designer, manufacturer, distributor and retailer of bedding products worldwide, we know how crucial a good night of sleep is to overall health and wellness. Utilizing over a century of knowledge and industry-leading innovation, we deliver award-winning products that provide breakthrough sleep solutions to consumers in over 100 countries.

Our highly recognized brands include Tempur-Pedic®, Sealy® and Stearns & Foster® and our popular non-branded offerings consist of value-focused private label and OEM products. At Tempur Sealy we understand the importance of meeting our customers wherever and however they want to shop and have developed a powerful omni-channel retail strategy. Our products allow for complementary merchandising strategies and are sold through third-party retailers, our over 750 Company-owned stores worldwide and our e-commerce channels. With the range of our offerings and variety of purchasing options, we are dedicated to continuing to turn our mission to improve the sleep of more people, every night, all around the world into a reality.

Importantly, we are committed to carrying out our global responsibility to protect the environment and the communities in which we operate. As part of that commitment, we have established the goal of achieving carbon neutrality for our global wholly owned operations by 2040.

“Tempur Sealy is honored to receive the Outstanding Corporate Innovator award,” said Cliff Buster, CEO of Tempur Sealy International. "Our teams are committed to delivering products that address real consumer needs in sleep through the introduction of innovative new technologies, which we support through continuous investment in research and development activities to stay at the forefront of innovation in bedding. We understand that consumers are not just seeking a great mattress; they're searching for an exceptional night's sleep. As we move forward, we will continue to lead the category in pushing the boundaries of innovation in sleep solutions, staying true to our mission of enhancing sleep for people around the world, every night."

Celebrating Innovation

The OCI Award remains the only global innovation award recognizing sustained and measurable results from new products and services. Now in its 38th year, the award celebrates a prestigious group of companies known for their consistent innovation achievements. The 2025 winner will share their innovation journey—including key practices and processes—during the 2025 PDMA Summit, taking place in Chicago in September.

About the OCI Award

The OCI Award selection process focuses on identifying companies that consistently generate and harness long-term value through exceptional product and service innovation. Winning companies demonstrate well defined new product development practices and processes which have contributed to their innovation success. Open to companies worldwide, the award epitomizes innovation excellence.

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is a community of over 2,000 members whose skills, expertise and experience power the most recognized and respected innovative companies in the world. Established in 1976, PDMA is the only organization that focuses on the unique set of integrated activities involved in the full lifecycle of product development and management, including innovation. 

Note to Editors: For additional information, please contact Laurie Krueger, Account Executive, PDMA, lauriek@ewald.com. High-resolution images and supplementary press materials are available upon request.

** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing new product development (NPD) by enabling smarter decision-making, predictive analytics, and automation. This webcast will explore how AI-driven strategies optimize product development cycles, improve execution efficiency, and introduce new success metrics. This session is tailored for product managers, business leaders, and AI enthusiasts seeking actionable insights on leveraging AI to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and stay competitive.

Key Takeaways:

1. How AI enhances product strategy & decision-making
2. AI’s role in market research, predictive analytics & customer insights
3. Implementing AI-powered execution frameworks for product teams
4. Measuring success: KPIs & AI-driven performance metrics
5. Real-world use cases from the financial & technology sectors

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Latha Ramamoorthy

Latha Ramamoorthy is a Technical Product Manager at JPMorgan Chase, specializing in AI-driven product development, financial technology, and innovation strategy. With 20 years of experience, Latha has led AI-powered product initiatives, optimizing product lifecycle management and decision-making. Currently pursuing MIT’s AI for Business Strategy & NPDP Certification, she is passionate about leveraging AI to drive data-driven, scalable product innovation.

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Session Description:

Think You’re Ready to Launch? Let’s Find Out — Before the Market Does.

You only get one shot at a successful product launch. What if you could pressure-test your release like a competitor would—without the costly consequences of finding out too late?

Discover a proven, low-risk way to challenge your product release and strategy before the market does. This virtual mini-session introduces why War Gaming and Pre-Mortems are critical to a successful launch—and offers a sneak peek at how to sharpen your strategy before your competitors do.

• This session sets the stage for deeper exploration at the PDMA Ignite Innovation Summit, September 13-16 in Chicago, IL.
• Open to all, no Summit registration required.

Key Takeaways:

1. Discover why War Gaming and Pre-Mortems are critical tools for successful product launches.
2. Examine how your competitors can gain an edge by anticipating your moves in the market.
3. Recognize why this technique is becoming essential for maintaining a competitive advantage.

Cost:

This PDMA session is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Jay Nakagawa

Jay Nakagawa is a 25+ year veteran product manager, successfully building new product and turn around strategies resulting in high revenue growth. As Director of Competitive Intelligence with Dell Technologies, he and his team have been instrumental in providing critical guidance to product management teams intersecting insights that encompasses how to create differentiated offerings to the market. He was recently inducted into the Council of Competitive Intelligence (CI) Fellows, the leading think tank forging advanced thinking insights on strategy and competition and holds a B.S. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and M.B.A. from Regis University. Jay is also a frequent international speaker on product and competitive strategies.

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Session Description:

Product managers no longer need to wait for development resources to bring their ideas to life. This virtual mini-session demonstrates how four AI tools can transform you into a one-person product powerhouse. You'll learn to build functional prototypes without coding, create compelling product videos for market testing, and maximize the potential of large language models for product strategy. Join us for hands-on demonstrations of Claude, Gemini, Notion, and Bolt in action. Discover how to rapidly prototype your concepts, test market viability through AI-generated content, organize and prioritize your product ideas, and establish thought leadership—all without traditional technical barriers.

• This session sets the stage for deeper exploration at the PDMA Ignite Innovation Summit, September 13-16 in Chicago, IL.
• Open to all, no Summit registration required.

Key Takeaways:

1. Apply LLM prompting strategies to extract maximum value from conversational AI tools for product ideation, market analysis, and competitive intelligence.
2. Identify which AI tools enable rapid prototype development without coding skills and apply them to transform product concepts into testable demos.
3. Recognize opportunities to use AI-generated videos and content for early market validation before committing significant development resources.
4. Define systematic approaches for documenting, organizing, and prioritizing product ideas using AI-powered knowledge management tools like Notion.

Cost:

This PDMA session is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Mike Hyzy

Mike Hyzy leads Product Studio at CGI, where he built a comprehensive product management advisory practice with experts across four critical areas of the software development lifecycle. As a national AI expert, Mike transforms complex artificial intelligence capabilities into practical business applications that product managers can implement immediately. Through Product Studio, Mike delivers strategic guidance that spans the complete product journey, from conception to market delivery. His approach combines deep AI expertise with systematic product development knowledge, helping teams navigate both emerging technologies and established business processes to achieve measurable results.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

From a PM's lens — examine real-world use cases, both internal and external, where data, AI and analytics are applied, and understand their evolution with the introduction of Gen AI. Discover how Platform PMs help build scalable, horizontal technical products for enterprise companies and enable them to deliver business value.

Key Takeaways:

1. Understand roles and responsibilities of a platform PM and how they help build world-class technical products.
2. Illustrate how data, analytics and AI platform teams operate and function in enterprise companies.
3. Analyze real-world use cases for data and AI in fintech companies.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Aindra Misra

Aindra has a master’s degree in Computer Science from Northeastern and an MBA from Boston University. Aindra worked as a software engineer for Dell's Enterprise Data Center division for a few years, and then decided to shift to platform product management. He realized early in his career that programming was not something he would enjoy doing for the rest of his life, as he wanted to solve technical problems on a larger scale and gain more visibility into how the solutions make an impact on the ground.

Since then, Aindra has worked in various small and large tech companies in the AdTech, EdTech, and social media sectors as a product manager (PM) focused on building highly scalable data and ML platforms. Most recently, Aindra was the PM on Twitter/X's Infrastructure team, responsible for all of the social media platform’s site stability. He was one of the last five PMs at X following the acquisition by Elon Musk.

Currently, Aindra is a Director of Product Management on the Data, AI & Cloud Platform team at BILL, a financial solutions SaaS platform for small and medium-sized businesses. Last year, around $250B was moved through BILL's platform—approximately 1% of the U.S. GDP and the highest for a non-bank fintech company. Aindra's role at BILL is to enable the company and its 500K customers to leverage data and AI to make better and faster business decisions.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Clear, persuasive writing is essential for product success, yet even the most innovative ideas often fail to gain traction when buried in complicated, unfocused language. Product professionals regularly struggle to communicate complex concepts to diverse stakeholders—each with different priorities and varying levels of technical understanding. In this interactive session, Jack Appleman, author of 10 Steps to Successful Business Writing (2nd edition), will demonstrate practical techniques to transform product-related communications into clear, compelling messages that drive action. Participants will learn how to cut through complexity with bottom-line openings, craft persuasive messages focused on stakeholder benefits, and use strategic storytelling to bring product concepts to life. Through real-world examples and interactive exercises, attendees will discover how small changes in their writing approach can significantly improve stakeholder engagement and support throughout the product lifecycle.

Key Takeaways:

1. Master the bottom-line writing technique: Learn to lead with the most important information to immediately engage busy stakeholders.
2. Simplify complex product concepts: Apply practical strategies to translate technical features into clear, accessible language without losing essential meaning.
3. Craft persuasive WIIFM messages: Create stakeholder-centered communications that highlight "What's in it for me?" to generate buy-in for product initiatives.
4. Transform product features into user stories: Use strategic storytelling to illustrate how your product solves user problems and delivers tangible benefits.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Jack E. Appleman

Jack E. Appleman, prominent business writing coach and author of 10 Steps to Successful Business Writing—2nd edition (2018, ATD Press), is driven by the belief that working professionals can dramatically improve their writing by following straightforward techniques. His workshops, webinars and one-on-one coaching for product specialists and other professionals at companies such as Amazon, Bayer and Wells Fargo have helped thousands of individuals achieve better outcomes from their writing. As president of Successful Business Writing, Jack brings more than 25 years' experience as a corporate trainer, professor and communication professional. He has been a frequent speaker and has published many articles on the importance of good writing, including a column in PR Daily, Use AI to Draft--And Your Instincts to Edit. In 2014, Jack received the Charles T. Morgan Award from the Northern New Jersey chapter of the Association for Talent Development for lifetime excellence in learning and performance. A professor for 20 years, Jack teaches Business Communications at New York University. He received his accreditation in public relations from the Public Relations Society of America. Jack earned his B.A. in Communication from Ohio State University and his M.S. in Journalism from Ohio University. He is a doctoral candidate at the State University of New York at Albany, exploring the link between employee-manager communication and workplace engagement in pursuit of his Ph.D. in Organizational Communication.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

AI is rapidly transforming product management, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making. As we look towards 2025 and beyond, several key trends are emerging that will shape the future of AI-driven product strategy. Understand how AI can be leveraged to create more innovative, user-centric products while optimizing the product development process.

Key Takeaways:

1. AI as a Catalyst for Enhanced Decision-Making AI empowers product managers to make more informed, data-driven decisions by analyzing vast amounts of data, identifying patterns, and providing predictive insights. This leads to better feature prioritization, more accurate market positioning, and improved risk management in product development.
2. Personalization at Scale AI enables hyper-personalization of user experiences, allowing product managers to create tailored interactions, adaptive onboarding processes, and customized feature recommendations. This level of personalization can significantly enhance user engagement and satisfaction, leading to improved product adoption and retention rates.
3. Efficiency and Innovation in Product Development AI streamlines the product development process by automating routine tasks, optimizing workflows, and enhancing collaboration among cross-functional teams. This not only increases efficiency but also frees up product managers to focus on strategic thinking and innovation and more time to connect with the users.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Keyuri Anand

Keyuri Anand is a Product Leader with 15 years of experience in B2B SaaS space, building and scaling products used by some of largest companies globally. Keyuri is known for her expertise in product development and customer-centric innovation. Keyuri has a passion for sharing her knowledge and has mentored over 200 product managers and helped them grow into exceptional PMs delivering impact in various industries such as insurance, embedded financial services, billing and social governance.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

In this engaging and forward-thinking webinar, discover how the PDMA partnered with AMS to revolutionize their approach to innovation through Voice of Customer (VOC) research. By gathering insights from both members and non-members, PDMA was able to tap into the true needs of their community and better understand the evolving demands of professional organizations. AMS leveraged its cutting-edge, fine-tuned Large Language Model (LLM) to extract detailed customer needs with unprecedented accuracy and speed, demonstrating its ability to match the performance of trained human analysts.

This session will dive into how AI-driven VOC research not only provides deep insights but also helps prioritize these needs through a quantitative survey to guide PDMA’s future offerings. You’ll learn how this approach empowers organizations to adapt and stay ahead of shifting trends while fostering a more member- and non-member-centric strategy.

Join us to understand how AI can fuel innovation, improve decision-making, and shape the future of professional organizations like never before.

Key Takeaways:

1. Discover the power of AI in VOC research: Learn how PDMA utilized AMS's innovative VOC research process to gather critical feedback from both members and non-members, enabling a comprehensive understanding of customer needs and preferences.
2. Understand the impact of Fine-Tuned LLM on qualitative needs extraction: Explore how AMS’s newly fine-tuned LLM accurately extracts detailed customer needs at the same rate as trained human analysts, proving the effectiveness of AI in gathering actionable insights quickly and efficiently.
3. Prioritize customer needs with quantitative analysis: Understand how PDMA used a quantitative survey to prioritize the extracted customer needs, ensuring their future offerings are directly aligned with both member and non-member expectations, and positioning them for long-term success.
4. Understand key findings related to the evolving role of professional organizations: Gain insights into how PDMA is using VOC data to adapt to the changing landscape of professional organizations, ensuring that their offerings remain relevant and valuable to a diverse and evolving audience.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Brian Sheil

Brian Sheil is a senior manager in the Insights for Innovation practice at Applied Marketing Science (AMS), where he helps companies use customer insights to drive product development and business decisions. With experience in financial services, medical, industrial, consumer, and B2B markets, Brian has led complex qualitative and quantitative projects both domestically and internationally. A seasoned trainer and coach, Brian also builds his team’s internal market research capabilities, particularly in Voice of the Customer research. He holds an MBA and a B.A. from Providence College.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

Incorporating patient advocacy into the product design process is essential for creating solutions that truly address patient needs. This 60-minute webinar offers an introduction to empathy-first innovation, demonstrating how to seamlessly integrate patient advocates into your development journey. Through a real-world case study of a medical device that revolutionized postpartum care, you'll gain insights into practical techniques for problem scoping, crafting empathy statements, and defining user needs.

Key Takeaways:

1. Foundations of Empathy-First Innovation: Learn the importance of embedding patient voices into your design and development processes.
2. Practical Tools and Techniques: Discover methods for effective journey mapping and ideation to identify and address patient challenges.
3. Case Study Insights: Explore the development of a groundbreaking postpartum care device and understand how empathy-driven approaches contributed to its success.

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Ty Hagler

Ty Hagler is the Principal of Trig, an award-winning innovation consulting, product design and marketing firm that offers comprehensive insight-to-commercialization services for start-ups, mid-sized, and Fortune 500 companies across the United States. Ty is also leading a Design Coaching initiative called medDesign that is revolutionizing the way that medical entrepreneurs approach problem solving, product and service design.

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** Attending a PDMA webcast earns one professional development credit for NPDP certified attendees. 

Session Description:

During this session, we will be working to build consumer-centric design and development plans for both physical and digital products that incorporate feedback loops throughout your pre-development process to reduce risk and accelerate downstream processes. We’ll delve into techniques such as Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), A/B testing, and iterative design sprints to expedite learning and minimize risks. We’ll discuss how you can strike a balance between the waterfall / phase-gate processes and agile methodologies using ideas from the world of Design-Thinking. Ultimately, you will walk away with new tools for developing executable strategies for your design & build phases.

Key Takeaways:

1. Define the core principles of consumer-centric design and development for both physical and digital products.
2. Understand how to apply techniques like Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), A/B testing, and iterative design sprints to accelerate learning, reduce risk, and optimize downstream processes.
3. Recognize strategies for balancing waterfall/phase-gate processes with agile methodologies

Cost:

This PDMA Webcast is free to members and non-members.

About the Speaker

Darren Stoddart

Darren Stoddart is an award-winning product development innovator with 30+ years of experience driving strategy and execution across diverse industries. With degrees in Industrial Design, Creativity and Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Darren has a unique toolset that he’s used to implement and lead product development activities at several large companies as well as through his consulting firm, The Future Mill LLC. Darren has a proven track record of launching successful products that have delivered decades of revenue growth, as well as securing patents for his groundbreaking work. He is also a passionate educator, teaching creativity and innovation courses at the University of California, Irvine.

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