My Duke Product Lab Experience

My journey with Product Lab at Duke began when I enrolled in the Product Management course taught by Isaac Park, Amy Peters, and Anna Wilson. That class laid the foundation for my understanding of product management and equipped me with both the frameworks and practical skills essential to the discipline.

What stood out most was the structure: we would learn core concepts, analyze real examples, and immediately apply them through hands-on, team-based work each week. Our weekly assignments also pushed us to critically evaluate existing products; analyzing strengths, identifying gaps and backlog opportunities, and assessing trade-offs between user value and business viability. This sharpened my ability to think beyond surface level features and develop a more rigorous lens for what makes a product not only usable, but strategically sound and sustainable. The guest speakers, who were all leaders across the industry, further expanded my perspective and solidified my interest in pursuing product management long term.

After completing the course, I knew I wanted to remain involved. Being selected as a Product Management Fellow at CFCI allowed me to deepen that commitment and step into a more hands-on leadership role. During my final semester at Duke, I mentored students in the Applied PM course, scoped and structured startup engagements, and supported teams as they partnered with industry stakeholders to build and deliver real-world software products. In this capacity, I oversaw Product Lab sprints, facilitated product discovery sessions to ensure early risk mitigation and strong problem framing, and coordinated communication across student PMs, engineers, and external partners to drive aligned, high-impact outcomes.

Product Lab gave me the opportunity to practice product management in a real world context while still a student. It introduced me to mentors and peers who continue to inspire me and provided hands-on experience that shaped both my professional trajectory and my confidence as a product leader.

After Duke Product Lab

After completing Duke Product Lab, I began my career as a Technical Product Manager at IBM, where I currently work on AI-powered enterprise agents within the watsonx Orchestrate platform in Austin, Texas. My role sits at the intersection of product strategy, engineering execution, and stakeholder alignment; owning roadmap definition, translating ambiguous business needs into technical requirements, and driving cross-functional delivery.

The transition from Product Lab to industry felt less like a leap and more like an extension. Because I had already operated in environments that required ambiguity tolerance, stakeholder management, and structured thinking, I entered my role with a strong sense of ownership and clarity. The Fellowship experience, in particular, gave me early exposure to leadership; not just building products myself, but enabling others to build well. That lens has shaped how I approach my work today: focusing not only on outcomes, but on alignment, communication, and long-term product judgment.

The mentorship I received through Product Lab also continues to influence me. It reinforced the importance of thoughtful decision making and holding a high bar for both rigor and collaboration. I carry that standard into how I contribute on my teams and how I mentor others who are exploring product for the first time.

Looking ahead, I plan to continue working at the intersection of technology and strategy, particularly in AI-driven domains. Product Lab gave me the confidence to step into complex spaces early in my career, and the foundation to approach them with structure rather than hesitation. That shift in mindset has been one of its most lasting impacts.