Available for remote opportunities

Senior Product Manager · AI/ML Strategist · Fractional CPO

PragyanPradhan.

I build AI-powered products that matter — from zero-to-one launches to enterprise-scale platforms. 14+ years turning ambiguous problems into measurable outcomes across automotive, SaaS, and consumer technology.

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14+
Years Experience
30%
Cycle Reduction via AI
20+
Engineers Led
05
OEM Brands
01About

Building products at the edge of what's possible.

I'm a Senior Product Manager and Fractional CPO based in Bengaluru, with a career that spans the full arc of modern product development — from engineering complex automotive systems at Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Renault-Nissan, to building AI/ML-powered platforms and consumer marketplaces from scratch.

My edge is rare: I bring deep technical engineering intuition and rigorous product management discipline together. I've structured ML-ready datasets, defined model acceptance criteria, mentored 20+ globally distributed engineers, and shipped features that reduced physical engineering iterations by 30% through intelligent automation.

"The best products don't just solve problems — they reframe what the problem was in the first place."

I'm currently open to Senior PM, Principal PM, and Fractional CPO engagements at AI-first organisations globally. I work best in environments where ambiguity is the starting point, not the obstacle.

AI / ML Product
ML IntegrationLLM Product StrategyGenAI LifecyclePredictive AnalyticsModel EvaluationData Pipelines
Product & Delivery
Zero-to-OneRoadmappingOKRsAgile / Scrum / SAFeBacklog OwnershipTrust & Safety
Leadership
Cross-functional TeamsExecutive AlignmentGlobal StakeholdersFractional CPOProgramme Management
Tools & Platforms
JiraConfluenceFigmaTableauAzure DevOpsMixpanelProductboard
02Experience

14 years of shipping.

From OEM engineering labs to AI startups — building products that move industries forward.

Dec 2025 — Present
FRACTIONAL CPO

Freelance AI/ML Product Manager & Fractional CPO

Independent Consulting — Global Clients · Remote
  • —Define AI/ML product roadmaps and sprint-ready backlogs for early-stage and growth-stage SaaS and consumer tech organisations globally.
  • —Advise on LLM integration requirements, model evaluation criteria, and human-in-the-loop feedback loops for AI-first products.
  • —Designed trust & safety platform flows: identity verification, session lifecycle management, and abuse-prevention systems.
  • —Establish OKR frameworks, sprint cadences, and executive reporting structures that increase milestone predictability.
Jun 2022 — Dec 2025
PRODUCT OWNER

Product Owner — Automotive AI/ML Products

Mercedes-Benz R&D India (MBRDI) · Bengaluru · via Xpheno India
  • —Owned product vision and roadmap for AI-powered springback prediction platform — reduced physical tryout iterations by 30%.
  • —Managed 20+ onsite and offshore engineers across India and Germany through structured Agile ceremonies.
  • —Built proactive risk dashboards and executive reporting frameworks across global programme stakeholders.
  • —Star Performer Award 2025 — for driving measurable product and operational impact.
Dec 2021 — Jun 2022
TECH PM

Technical Project Manager

Škoda Auto Volkswagen India · Pune
  • —Managed cross-functional delivery across design, tooling, manufacturing, and tryout teams — 25% downtime reduction.
  • —Drove process optimisation achieving 12% cost savings and 95% first-pass yield.
Nov 2017 — Dec 2021
TECH LEAD

Technical Lead — New Product Development

Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre India · Chennai
  • —Spearheaded full-vehicle upper-body and underbody development for global car programmes across Europe and Asia.
  • —Led AutoForm simulations for Class-A panels; primary interface between global R&D and manufacturing plants.
Feb 2011 — Nov 2017
ENGINEER

R&D Engineer → Design Engineer

Tata Motors · Challenge Autotech Pvt Ltd · Pune
  • —Full-vehicle development lifecycle from concept through manufacturing across two global OEM organisations.
  • —Reduced design cycle time by ~20% through CATIA V5 optimisation and inspection fixture design.
03Projects

Products that moved the needle.

A selection of high-impact product initiatives — spanning AI/ML platforms, marketplace design, and intelligent engineering automation.

AI/ML Platform

AI-Powered Springback Prediction Platform

Mercedes-Benz R&D India · 2022–2025

Led product vision for an ML-based springback prediction and compensation system for sheet metal forming — automating what was previously a costly, time-intensive physical trial-and-error process.

  • 30% reduction in physical tryout iterations through AI-driven compensation recommendations
  • Structured ML-ready datasets and defined deviation heatmap feature requirements
  • Deployed across global engineering teams in India and Germany
  • Delivered measurable tooling cost savings at enterprise scale
AutoFormML IntegrationPredictive AnalyticsOEMRoadmapping
Platform Product

Mentyours — Trust-First Mentorship Marketplace

Mentyours.com · 2025–Present

Co-founded and led product for a B2C mentorship marketplace — designed from the ground up around trust, safety, and authentic human connection, serving mentors and mentees globally.

  • Designed full mentor verification and identity validation flows from scratch
  • Built abuse-prevention triggers and session lifecycle management systems
  • Shipped MVP under tight resource constraints as sole PM — mobile-first, multi-device
  • Established trust signal framework that became the platform's core differentiator
Zero-to-OneTrust & SafetyMarketplaceB2CMVP
GenAI Product

LLM-Powered Product Requirements Generator

Fractional PM Consulting Engagement · 2025

Designed and shipped an internal AI tool for a SaaS client that uses LLMs to generate structured PRDs, user stories, and acceptance criteria from raw discovery notes — cutting PM documentation time significantly.

  • Reduced PRD creation time by 60% for a 6-person PM team
  • Defined LLM prompt architecture, output validation schema, and human review workflow
  • Integrated with Jira via API for one-click story creation from AI-generated output
  • Established model evaluation criteria and feedback loop for continuous improvement
LLM IntegrationGenAIPM ToolingJira APIWorkflow Automation
AI/ML Product

Predictive Maintenance Intelligence Platform

Fractional CPO Engagement — Industrial IoT Client · 2024

Served as Fractional CPO for an Industrial IoT startup building an ML-powered predictive maintenance platform for manufacturing equipment — defining product strategy, data product requirements, and go-to-market.

  • Defined 18-month product roadmap from sensor data ingestion through anomaly detection dashboard
  • Structured ML-ready sensor data schema and defined model retraining triggers
  • Led customer discovery across 5 manufacturing clients to validate failure prediction use cases
  • Established product-market fit signal through 3 paid pilot engagements
Industrial IoTPredictive MaintenanceAnomaly DetectionData ProductFractional CPO
Consulting Project

AI Inventory Optimisation — B2B SaaS Roadmap

PM Consulting Engagement — Supply Chain SaaS · 2024

Led product strategy for a B2B SaaS client looking to evolve from basic inventory tracking to an AI-powered operations platform — including forecasting, smart replenishment, and workflow automation.

  • Defined 3-year AI product vision: from tracking to intelligent inventory orchestration
  • Prioritised forecasting and replenishment features against adoption, retention, and NRR OKRs
  • Designed ML data requirements for demand forecasting models with 85%+ accuracy target
  • Delivered GTM strategy and customer success playbook for AI feature launch
B2B SaaSInventory AIForecastingOKRsGTM
Platform Product

Global Employee Platform — AI Programme Delivery

Programme Architecture Consulting · 2025

Advised a global HR-tech SaaS client on structuring their AI programme delivery framework — building operating mechanisms that could govern LLM feature rollouts across a 180-country platform.

  • Designed Go/No-Go framework and launch readiness checklist for AI feature releases
  • Built RAID log automation using AI tooling to synthesise weekly status across 8 concurrent programmes
  • Established model evaluation criteria for compliance-sensitive HR AI features
  • Delivered executive reporting cadence framework adopted across the product organisation
HR-TechProgramme DesignAI GovernanceLLM RolloutRAID Automation
04Consulting

Fractional PM & CPO Services.

I embed as a strategic product partner — not just an advisor. Here's what I bring to the table for clients.

AI/ML Product Strategy

Startups & Scale-ups

From defining ML-ready data requirements and model evaluation criteria, to building the product roadmap that makes AI capabilities customer-facing — I help teams ship AI products that are credible, adoptable, and measurable.

3
AI MVPs shipped
60%
Faster doc cycles

Roadmap & OKR Design

Series A–C SaaS Founders

I work with founders and heads of product to build 12–18 month roadmaps rooted in customer discovery, competitive positioning, and business model constraints — with OKR frameworks that create alignment from team to board.

5+
Roadmaps delivered
100%
On-time milestones

Trust & Safety Product Design

Marketplace & Platform Products

From identity verification flows and content moderation systems to session lifecycle management and abuse-prevention triggers — I design trust architecture that protects users without friction killing conversion.

2
Platforms secured
0
Major incidents

Programme Operating Mechanisms

Engineering & Product Orgs

I design the operating infrastructure that turns strategy into shipped software: intake processes, sprint cadences, RAID log automation, Go/No-Go frameworks, and executive reporting structures built for AI-era delivery speed.

4+
Orgs transformed
30%
Faster delivery
05Credentials

Education & Certifications.

Continuously investing in the skills that matter for AI-era product leadership.

2026
AI Product Management Specialisation
Duke University via Coursera
2026
Microsoft AI Product Manager Professional Certificate
Microsoft via Coursera
2026
Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I)
Scrum.org
2026
Lean Six Sigma Foundation
IASSC
2025
Project Management Professional (PMP)
PMI
2017
B.E. Mechanical Engineering
BITS Pilani
06Contact

Let's build something remarkable.

Open to Senior PM roles, Fractional CPO engagements, and AI/ML product consulting partnerships. Remote-first. Global reach.

pragyanpp1992@gmail.comLinkedIn Profile+91 9960214523
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