Certified Product Leader 1

From Product Owner to AI-ready Product Leader

CPL-1® helps Product Owners move beyond backlog management and develop the capabilities needed to create clarity, define strong product specifications, collaborate with modern AI-integrated delivery systems and lead product work toward real outcomes.

Why this Masterclass?

Product work is changing. AI accelerates analysis, prototyping and delivery, but it cannot replace product judgment. The faster teams can build, the more important clarity, evidence and verification become.

For Product Owners

CPL-1® helps Product Owners and Product Managers develop the skills and leadership capabilities needed to guide modern, AI-integrated product work beyond user stories, backlog items and sprint mechanics — and grow into real Product Leadership.

Knowledge to Competency

Learn to apply your knowledge in real-world situations: from discovery and product intent to specifications, verification criteria and delivery guidance for AI-integrated development teams.

Product Owner to Product Leader

Grow into AI-ready Product Leadership. Develop the skills to create clarity before development starts, define strong product specifications and guide modern product work toward measurable outcomes.

Immersion to Mastery

Stand out: Commit to taking the deep learning path to mastery and invest in your personal growth. This clearly takes more than two days.

Guided by Professional Coaches

Professional coaching and mentoring along your journey is an essential part of this program for your vertical growth.

Lead with Clarity

Gain clarity and direction about your role and development path. Diagnose root causes of your organizational & leadership blockers.

Leverage Potential

Leverage untapped potential by aligning AI-supported product design and engineering workflows around shared intent, evidence and measurable value.

Learning outcomes

Updated learning content

Leading product development with confidence

CPL-1® is a guided journey that builds the core competencies every Product Leader needs. After successful completion of this training, you will be able to:

  • create clear product intent from ambiguous demands
  • translate user and business needs into strong product specifications
  • define constraints, non-goals, examples and verification criteria
  • use AI to sharpen discovery, specifications and product decisions
  • use evidence and prototypes to align stakeholders earlier
  • guide product development towards modern, AI-integrated delivery
  • work with modern, AI-integrated delivery teams
  • deepen your understanding of users and requirements

Beyond Product Ownership

You leave the program with the ability to lead where basic product ownership ends. When decisions must be made under pressure, regardless of formal authority, you understand the importance of leading through clarity, stance and with a strong focus on value creation.

Stand Out

Technical product skills are now the baseline. What truly drives career progression is leadership impact. This is exactly what organizations need to succeed in today's complex environments. This program closes that gap by developing the capabilities that distinguish professionals from true Product Leaders and prepares you for your next level of responsibility and influence.

Curriculum

8 weeks · 49 lessons

  • 1.1 From Product Owner to Product Leader
  • 1.2 The Product Leaders Compass
  • 1.3 Judgment under Uncertainty
  • 1.4 Self-Leadership
  • 1.5 AI as a Thinking Partner (Introduction)

CC6 · + Intro CC7

Week 1: From Product Owner to Product Leader

Lay the foundation in yourself: product leadership doesn't begin with the backlog, but with stance and judgment. You sharpen what sets you apart from pure product ownership and choose your product case for the whole program.

Learning outcomes: You will be able to

  • distinguish your role as a product leader from pure product ownership and ground leadership in clarity rather than position
  • use the Product Leaders Compass as a self-diagnostic and derive two development priorities
  • decide under uncertainty, recognize cognitive biases, and use AI as a verified thinking partner

Results

Personal baseline assessment + chosen product case


Weekly schedule

Thu, Jun 18 – Thu, Jun 25, 2026

  • Thu, Jun 18, 2026 10:00am - 12:00pm — CPL-1 | Cohort Kick-Off
  • Thu, Jun 18, 2026 12:00pm — Weekly learning objectives via email
  • Thu, Jun 25, 2026 10:00 - 11:00am — CPL-1 | Group Mentoring & Coaching
  • Thu, Jun 25, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm — CPL-1 | Facilitated Group Review Week 1
All times are in CEST (UTC+02:00).

Product Leaders Compass Coverage

You will learn how to turn ambiguous demands into clear product intent, connect user and business needs, define strong specifications, align stakeholders and guide delivery with confidence. The program combines practical product skills with leadership development.

At the end of CPL-1®, in a capstone event participants present a complete Product Leadership Package: stakeholder map, product intent brief, specifications, verification criteria and a delivery approach that shows how they create clarity and guide product work beyond backlog management — including an AI-generated prototype.

About the Compass

Compass coverage

The CPL-1® program covers the following main topics in each core competency area (but not limited to):

Core Competency 1

Discovering Product Opportunities & Demands

Learn how to understand user needs, business goals and organizational demands, and turn them into meaningful product opportunities.

  • Product discovery fundamentals
  • User-centric discovery
  • Understanding real user needs
  • Dealing with conflicting demands
  • Opportunity framing
  • Modeling and measuring business value
  • Defining MVPs as learning vehicles
  • Using AI to support research
Core Competency 2

Defining & Communicating Product Features

Move beyond writing user stories and learn how to create the clarity product development really needs.

  • User modeling
  • AI-ready product specifications
  • Examples, edge cases and constraints
  • Non-goals and trade-offs
  • Non-functional requirements
  • Understanding design systems
  • User stories as a legacy translation format
  • Managing the product backlog
Core Competency 3

Orchestrating Product Delivery Systems

Learn how product teams collaborate within modern, AI-integrated engineering and delivery systems.

  • AI-supported delivery workflows
  • Acceptance testing and verification
  • Understanding working software
  • Managing technical debt
  • Refining product backlog items
  • Estimating effort (human/machine)
  • Leading product teams laterally
Core Competency 4

Steering Product Flow & Value Delivery

Learn how to guide product work toward value, learning and measurable outcomes, not just delivery output.

  • Prioritizing product features
  • Scoping features and specs
  • Setting product goals
  • Short-, mid- and long-term planning
  • Basic flow metrics & forecasting
  • Differentiating output, outcome & impact
  • Understanding cost of delay
Core Competency 5

Working Strategically

Set product direction, connect product decisions with strategy, business goals and long-term value creation.

  • Product intent brief & product vision
  • Setting strategic goals
  • Connecting goals to business outcomes
  • Managing constraints
  • Strategy under changing market and technology conditions
  • Balancing short-term delivery pressure and long-term product direction
Core Competency 6

Self-Leadership & Judgment

Learn techniques to develop inner clarity, focus and judgment needed to lead product work under pressure.

  • Use the Product Leaders Compass
  • Use AI to improve clarity, judgment & data-driven decision-making
  • Self-management: time, focus and energy
  • Cognitive biases
  • Supportive mindset
  • Emotional intelligence & reflective action
  • Self-leadership frameworks
Core Competency 7

Leading Teams & Organizations

Learn how to lead without formal authority and help organizations move from output orientation toward real product impact.

  • Differentiating from other roles
  • Product Leader and the organization
  • Leadership Essentials
  • Solution Focused Communication
  • Understanding Psychological Safety
Core Competency 8

Aligning Stakeholders

Learn how to move from feature requests and status discussions toward constructive collaboration and better product decisions.

  • Transparency & communicating progress
  • Using suitable metrics
  • Stakeholder segmentation
  • Understanding constraints
  • Communicating trade-offs
  • Prototype-led stakeholder alignment
  • Feature requests to outcome conversations
  • Using evidence to support decisions
Preparatory & Additional

Online & virtual courses

  • CPL-1® complementary online course
  • Vibe-coding for Product Leaders
  • Leadership Essentials
  • Solution Focused Communication
  • Product Owner Essentials
  • Foundations Bundle including
    Agile-, Scrum & Kanban Foundations

Upcoming cohorts

Jun 18 - Aug 13, 2026
Guaranteed
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 5
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • German
  • Thursdays, 10am - 12pm (9x)
EUR 2,790
(excl. VAT)
Regular
Book Now
Jul 16 - Sep 10, 2026
Planned
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 6
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • English
  • Thursdays, 4pm - 6pm (9x)
EUR 2,715
EUR 2,790 (excl. VAT)
Early Bird
Book Now
Aug 17 - Oct 12, 2026
Planned
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 7
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • German
  • Mondays, 10am - 12pm (9x)
EUR 2,640
EUR 2,790 (excl. VAT)
Super Early Bird
Book Now
Sep 15 - Nov 10, 2026
Planned
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 8
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • English
  • Tuesdays, 4pm - 6pm (9x)
EUR 2,640
EUR 2,790 (excl. VAT)
Super Early Bird
Book Now
Oct 8 - Dec 3, 2026
Planned
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 10
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • German
  • Thursdays, 4pm - 6pm (9x)
EUR 2,640
EUR 2,790 (excl. VAT)
Super Early Bird
Book Now
Nov 3, 2026 - Jan 12, 2027
Planned
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 12
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • English
  • Tuesdays, 4pm - 6pm (11x)
EUR 2,640
EUR 2,790 (excl. VAT)
Super Early Bird
Book Now
Dec 3, 2026 - Feb 11, 2027
Planned
8-week Bootcamp | Cohort 13
  • Live Online (via Zoom)
  • German
  • Thursdays, 10am - 12pm (11x)
EUR 2,640
EUR 2,790 (excl. VAT)
Super Early Bird
Book Now

You know the framework. Now learn to lead.

Move beyond backlog management and start owning your product end-to-end — creating clarity under pressure, driving real outcomes, and influencing teams without relying on formal authority. Backed by professional coaching, not just course content. As a CSPO or PSPO graduate, you qualify for a special rate.

Standard pricing

Regular enrollment

Open to everyone. Early bird pricing available.

Discounts vary

EUR 2,790

excl. VAT · 8-week bootcamp

Save up to EUR 200

Requirements

No prerequisites

Discounts applied automatically

Existing PO-credential holder

Upgrade from CSPO or PSPO

For current holders of a valid CSPO or PSPO certification.

EUR 2,790

EUR 1,790

excl. VAT · 8-week bootcamp

Save EUR 1,000

Requirements

Valid CSPO or PSPO 1 certificate

Active & inactive certificates accepted

Send certificate PDF to confirm

Limited seats per cohort available

Alumni discount

MPIRICS CSPO alumni upgrade

For graduates of the CSPO program delivered by MPIRICS / Product Leaders.

EUR 2,790

EUR 1,590

excl. VAT · 8-week bootcamp

Save EUR 1,200

Requirements

CSPO completed with MPIRICS

Confirmed in our alumni records

Send certificate PDF to confirm

Limited seats per cohort available

What the upgrade means

You get full access to all of the above benefits of the CPL-1® program, including learning material, live online sessions, assignments, mentoring and coaching — same as regular enrollees. You are required to complete the assignments and quizzes to earn the CPL-1® certification, just like everyone else. The only difference is the price and the fact that you can skip the learning modules covered by your existing CSPO/PSPO certification, allowing you to immerse yourself in the new and more in-depth material to get the most out of the program.

How to get the discount

Use the button below to send us an email and attach a copy of your existing certificate (CSPO or PSPO 1) to confirm your eligibility. Please also provide your name and the email address you used originally to register, in case you are writing from a different address. We will then provide you with a unique discount code to use during online registration. You can use the code for any upcoming cohort of the CPL-1® program for both formats, the 8-week bootcamp or the 3-day live workshop. Please note that the code will have an expiration date by which you need to use it.

Become a Certified Product Leader.

Finishing this masterclass including assignments and quizzes awards you the "Certified Product Leader CPL-1®" designation.

Join a cohort

Frequently asked questions