Leadership Unplugged (#11)
A bi-monthly online series where senior leadership in Product Management shares exclusive insights, actionable strategies, and real-world experiences. Held on Wednesdays, each session dives into a new theme, helping PMs at all levels. Don’t miss out on this chance to learn, engage, and elevate your PM journey from anywhere!
Hosted by berlin product managers - Thanks for being part of our community!
About the event 💙
10 takeoffs. Endless inspiration. We’re not slowing down.🎊
Speaker: Michael Hirsch (Founder & Principal, Break a Pencil Consulting | Adjunct Professor, Strategy)
Title: The Psychology of AI Transformation: Why Most Product Teams Fail
Description: The hook is simple, "Every product team thinks they're adopting AI. Most are just collecting expensive tools." But, the ones that succeed understand that AI transformation requires a fundamentally different approach to three psychological dimensions:
The Identity Crisis: Why teams need to evolve their identity, not just add capabilities
The Capability Trap: Building adaptive capacity versus optimizing current tools
The Timing Paradox: Working with human psychology instead of fighting it
This framework applies whether you're an APM learning to think strategically about change, or a senior leader trying to figure out why your AI initiatives keep stalling despite having the right technology and smart people. Join us if you’re curious about how real AI transformation starts
About the Speaker 💙
Michael Hirsch helps product leaders build AI-capable teams through systematic transformation instead of chaotic experimentation. As Founder of Break a Pencil Consulting, he teaches the strategic frameworks and leadership capabilities that separate companies that successfully adopt AI from those that just accumulate expensive tools.
With 20+ years leading product organizations at T-Mobile, Qualcomm, Sony, and HERE Technologies, Michael developed proprietary frameworks including the Six Personas of Product Leadership and the AI Competencies assessment—tools that address both the leadership skills required to scale product teams and the organizational psychology needed for successful AI transformation.
Currently an Adjunct Professor teaching strategy at University of Washington and Seattle University, Michael bridges academic rigor with battle-tested practice. His "Broken Pencils" newsletter challenges product leaders to think beyond tactics, emphasizing a core insight: individual AI brilliance doesn't scale without systematic decision-making frameworks that work across entire teams.
About the bpm team 💙
🚀 Fostering Product culture in Berlin
💙 In person & online meet-ups every month
📍 Held in Berlin
Anant Parashar: Product Manager, event partnership manager at BPM, Leadership Unplugged facilitator
Prajwal Negapettam: Product Manager @ CRED
Specialist in driving product growth within the Sports industryEmilie Wong: UX/UI Designer @ BE LIGHT
Branding Strategist, Copywriter, Content Creator
Focused on Mental Health, Mindfulness, and Water TherapyCarlo Cantarini: Product Manager @ HelloFresh
Mentoring aspiring/junior product managers
This is an online event, meeting link will be shared upon registration approval.
You agree to these terms and conditions (T&C) by registering for the event.