Elijah Buford

The role of the Product Manager is being rewritten in real time. In 2026, the most impactful PMs aren't just writing requirements and waiting on engineering sprints — they're building. With AI-powered development tools and advanced prompt engineering, a single product leader can go from business problem to working prototype in hours, not quarters. But there's a growing gap between AI that looks great in a pitch deck and AI that survives contact with real users, real constraints, and real stakeholders. This session bridges that gap. I've built AI from both sides — as co-founder and CEO of Paperade AI, where we took a decision intelligence platform through Techstars '24 and secured a Cooperative R&D Agreement with the NSA, and as a Senior AI Product Manager at Stanley Black & Decker, where shipping means navigating a 48,000-person global enterprise. I'll share unfiltered lessons from both worlds: how to identify the right use cases, design human-in-the-loop workflows, evaluate outputs before they reach users, and build trust with stakeholders who didn't ask for AI. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for scoping and shipping AI features, a lightweight evaluation checklist, and a clear understanding of why the most important AI skill in 2026 isn't technical — it's translation. Whether you're a PM, founder, engineer, or career-switcher, this session gives you tools you can use Monday morning.