Courses

A product manager deciding whether to build or buy an AI capability—and whether to adopt a proprietary model, an open-source alternative, or a fine-tuned system—faces a fundamental product strategy question: Which approach offers the right balance of performance, cost, speed, and scalability? These choices can have lasting implications for an AI product’s success. Designed for product managers, technology strategists, startup founders, and others building AI-enabled products, this course examines the strategic and technical choices behind AI initiatives. Students explore how to select models, determine when to build vs. buy, assess cloud infrastructure and APIs, and weigh trade-offs among GPUs, emerging AI chips, and other technologies. Through real-world case studies, weekly discussion and analysis, and guest speakers from leading AI companies, students work through the decisions product teams face in practice. By the end of the course, they will have a practical framework for evaluating AI opportunities and making informed choices about technology, time to market, and business impact.