BUS 311 — AI-Driven Product Strategy: From Technical Excellence to Market Resonance
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Bruno Aziza
Date(s): Oct 12—Nov 9
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Mondays
Grade Restriction: NGR only; no credit/letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 6:00—7:30 pm (PT)
Tuition: $455
Refund Deadline: Oct 14
Unit(s): 0
Enrollment Limit: 45
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Mondays
Duration: 5 weeks
Time: 6:00—7:30 pm (PT)
Date(s): Oct 12—Nov 9
Unit(s): 0
Tuition: $455
Refund Deadline: Oct 14
Instructor(s): Bruno Aziza
Grade Restriction: NGR only; no credit/letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 45
Recording Available: No
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
As AI lowers the cost of building software, technical execution alone is becoming less of a competitive advantage. Increasingly, the organizations that stand out are those that understand their market clearly, make sharper strategic choices, and articulate a compelling point of view.
This course examines how founders, product leaders, and general managers turn technical capability into products that resonate in the market. Rather than focusing solely on shipping features, students will explore how successful teams define customer value, prioritize effectively, and build products that stand apart in crowded markets. We will also examine the organizational patterns that weaken product strategy, including reactive roadmaps, internal misalignment, and a tendency to optimize for activity rather than differentiation.
Students will leave better equipped to evaluate market opportunities, connect product choices to broader business goals, and communicate strategy clearly across technical and nontechnical audiences.
This course examines how founders, product leaders, and general managers turn technical capability into products that resonate in the market. Rather than focusing solely on shipping features, students will explore how successful teams define customer value, prioritize effectively, and build products that stand apart in crowded markets. We will also examine the organizational patterns that weaken product strategy, including reactive roadmaps, internal misalignment, and a tendency to optimize for activity rather than differentiation.
Students will leave better equipped to evaluate market opportunities, connect product choices to broader business goals, and communicate strategy clearly across technical and nontechnical audiences.
BRUNO AZIZA
Group Vice President, IBM Software
Bruno Aziza is a software executive and veteran operator with 25 years of experience scaling businesses at Google, Microsoft, and Oracle. A practitioner who has led product, engineering, and go-to-market functions, he helped grow Google Cloud’s data business by five times and Microsoft’s to $1 billion. Aziza has authored two books on performance and scaled four startups with multiple exits. He specializes in transforming technical founders into "product CEOs" through high-growth SaaS and AI strategy. Textbooks for this course:
(Optional) Clayton M. Christensen, Karen Dillon, Taddy Hall & David S. Duncan, Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice – Christensen's Jobs Theory for Startups and Business Growth (ISBN 978-0062565235)
(Optional) Geoffrey A. Moore, Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: The Updated Version of the Insightful Guide on Bringing Cutting-Edge Products to the Mainstream (ISBN 978-0062292988)
(Optional) April Dunford , Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It (ISBN 978-1999023003)
(Optional) Geoffrey A. Moore, Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: The Updated Version of the Insightful Guide on Bringing Cutting-Edge Products to the Mainstream (ISBN 978-0062292988)
(Optional) April Dunford , Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It (ISBN 978-1999023003)