SPM – The Foundation.
The ISPMA Foundation syllabus, in English, on Eastern time, taught by someone who has run the P&L. You leave with three artefacts for your own product: a positioned strategy canvas, a requirements spec for an AI feature, and a 90-day plan. And you leave ready for the ISPMA Foundation exam, if you want the certificate.
The course
The job is hard because it sits between everything.
A software product manager is the link between the market outside and every function inside: executive management, engineering, marketing, sales, operations, support. You own the business model of the product over its whole life cycle. Nobody reports to you, and everyone depends on you.
This three-day course teaches the complete discipline of software product management as defined in the ISPMA Foundation Syllabus V2.1: five educational units, every sub-unit, in syllabus order. It covers software sold as a product, as a service, and embedded in other products.
Product Advisors is an official ISPMA training provider, and the course prepares you for the ISPMA Certified Software Product Manager – Foundation Level exam (CSPM-FL).
What is different is who is teaching it and how. The worked example in every unit is an operator case from the trainer's own products: what changes when the product is AI-based, when it is regulated, and when a private-equity sponsor owns the company. And every day ends with an exercise on your product, not a textbook case.
Syllabus
Five ISPMA units. Every sub-unit. One operator case each.
- Day 1 · EU1 Introduction and Foundations · EU2 Product Strategy, part 1Ends with: position your product; name the three assumptions that, if wrong, break the strategy.
- 1.1–1.2SPM Essentials · SPM FrameworkCase: the role inside a PE-backed portfolio company
- 2.1–2.6Product Strategy Essentials · Positioning and Product Definition · Delivery Model and Service Strategy · Sourcing · Pricing · Financial ManagementCases: pricing AI products (seat, usage, two-part tariff) · the product P&L and the CFO conversation
- Day 2 · EU2 Product Strategy, part 2 · EU3 Product Planning, part 1Ends with: a one-page requirements spec for an AI feature, including a compliance consideration.
- 2.7–2.9Ecosystem Management · Legal and IPR Management · Performance and Risk ManagementCase: FDA 510(k), HIPAA, EU AI Act as product constraints
- 3.1–3.5Product Planning Approaches · Customer Insight · Product Requirements Engineering · Release Planning · RoadmappingCase: requirements for model behaviour and failure modes
- Day 3 · EU3, part 2 · EU4 Strategic Management · EU5 Orchestration of the Organization's UnitsEnds with: a 90-day product plan, then exam preparation with sample questions.
- 3.6Product Life Cycle Management
- 4.1–4.8Strategic Management Essentials · Corporate Strategy · Portfolio Management · Innovation Management · Resource Management · Compliance Management · Market Analysis · Product AnalysisCase: portfolio decisions under an exit timeline
- 5.1–5.5Development · Marketing · Sales and Fulfillment · Delivery Services and Support · The Role of the Software Product Manager as OrchestratorCases: agile in regulated environments · PLG vs. SLG before the sales hire
What you build
Three artefacts, on your own product.
Certification
Ready for the ISPMA Foundation exam.
After the course you can sit the ISPMA Certified Software Product Manager – Foundation Level exam (CSPM-FL): 45 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes, 60% to pass, administered by the International Software Quality Institute (iSQI). The exam is optional, booked directly with iSQI at their list price of $145, and day three closes with a syllabus walk-through and sample questions so you go in prepared.
Who this is for
Product managers with up to five years in the role.
Also engineering leads, marketers, and founders with three or more years in software who need the full discipline, not a fragment of it. You should understand how a software business works. No specific technical or commercial background is required.
Your trainer
Vibhuti has built AI-based products since 2010, each one harder, more regulated, and more global than the last: machine-learning fraud and counterfeit detection at eBay across 90M+ users, a €120M product line carried from private equity to IPO at AutoScout24, deep-learning computer vision cleared under FDA 510(k) at GE Healthcare, and supply-chain digital twins for Fortune 50 enterprises at EY.
He is a Board Member at ISPMA, is developing the AI Product Management body of knowledge through ISPMA, and sits on the Board of Advisors at Stevens Institute of Technology, and has taught the ISPMA Foundation syllabus in public cohorts since 2024. He teaches the syllabus from the inside: the decisions he made, what they cost, and what he would do differently.
Upcoming cohorts
Three public cohorts a year. In-house on request.
| Dates | Course | Location | Language | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8–10, 2026 | SPM – The Foundation | Online, live (ET) | English | Seats open | Reserve |
| Mar 2–4, 2027 | SPM – The Foundation | New York, in-person | English | Waitlist | Join waitlist |
| Jun 8–10, 2027 | SPM – The Foundation | Online, live (ET) | English | Planned | Join waitlist |
Reserve
The seat is reserved for people who will use it.
Book 25 minutes. We confirm fit, answer questions, and hold your place in the December cohort. Payment by invoice or card link confirms the seat.
Product Advisors is an official ISPMA training provider. This course is based on the ISPMA SPM Foundation Syllabus V2.1. Copyright © International Software Product Management Association (ISPMA), used with acknowledgement. ISPMA and Certified Software Product Manager are trademarks of ISPMA. The CSPM-FL exam is administered by iSQI and is not included in the course fee.