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Pragyan Prakash Pradhan

Senior Prouct manager | Fractional CPO & AI/ML Product Leader | Automotive OEM → AI/SaaS | PMP® · PSPO I | Mercedes-Benz · VW · Renault-Nissan · Tata Motors | Open to Global Remote Roles

Bangalore Urban

13+ years of work experience

Consulting
Dec 20259 mosPresent

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Providing fractional CPO and senior PM advisory services to early-stage and growth-stage startups across AI/ML, SaaS, and consumer technology — embedded as a strategic product partner, owning roadmap definition, discovery execution, team coaching, and go-to-market strategy. • Define product vision, 12-month roadmaps, and sprint-ready user stories for AI/ML-driven platforms, translating business objectives into clearly scoped epics for globally distributed engineering teams. • Lead end-to-end product discovery — user interviews, competitive analysis, and Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) frameworks — identifying high-impact opportunities and materially improving backlog quality. • Advise on ML model integration and data pipeline requirements; define model acceptance criteria, evaluation metrics, and human-in-the-loop feedback loops, bridging data science and business stakeholders. • Designed trust and safety product flows for a B2C mentorship marketplace: mentor verification, identity validation, abuse-prevention triggers, and end-to-end session lifecycle management. • Established OKR frameworks, sprint cadences, and executive reporting structures that increased milestone predictability and alignment across client organisations.
Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India
Jun 20223 yrs 7 mosDec 2025

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India (MBRDI) Digital Product Delivery | Senior Product Manager June 2022 – Present · Bengaluru ▸ Owned end-to-end product delivery for AI/ML-driven digital engineering platforms, translating complex R&D requirements into sprint-ready epics for globally distributed engineering teams across India and Germany. manufacturing accuracy for production programmes. ▸ Defined model acceptance criteria, evaluation metrics, and human-in-the-loop feedback loops for ML modules; bridged data science teams and business stakeholders to accelerate model deployment timelines. ▸ Drove product discovery for 3+ digital initiatives — conducting stakeholder interviews, competitive benchmarking, and JTBD analysis — improving backlog quality and aligning roadmap priorities with global R&D leadership. ▸ Established sprint cadences, OKR frameworks, and executive reporting structures across cross-functional teams (design, engineering, manufacturing), improving milestone predictability and reducing delivery variance by ~25%. ▸ Collaborated with counterparts across Mercedes-Benz AG (Stuttgart) to align digital product strategy with global vehicle programme timelines, managing dependencies across 5+ workstreams simultaneously.
ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited
Dec 20217 mosJun 2022

Pune District, Maharashtra, India

ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited Technical Project Manager & Program Coordinator December 2021 – June 2022 · Pune ▸ Led end-to-end feasibility and manufacturability assessments for sheet metal programmes across the VW Group India platform — integrating simulation outcomes into project plans to proactively identify and mitigate technical and schedule risks before tooling commitment. ▸ Coordinated cross-functional programme reviews across design, simulation, tooling, and supplier teams — maintaining alignment on milestone gates and ensuring DFM sign-offs met VW Group global quality standards. ▸ Translated forming simulation outputs (springback, thinning, formability) into actionable engineering briefs for programme leadership — enabling faster design freeze decisions and reducing late-stage design change costs. ▸ Managed concurrent deliverables across multiple body-in-white components — coordinating supplier readiness, tooling timelines, and internal engineering reviews to maintain programme schedule adherence within a compressed 7-month engagement. ▸ Acted as single point of contact between VW India engineering and external simulation/tooling vendors — resolving technical escalations and maintaining delivery momentum across a fast-paced programme environment.
RENAULT NISSAN MITSUBISHI ALLIANCE, INDIA
Nov 20174 yrs 8 mosJun 2022

Tamil Nadu, India

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Technical Project Lead → Acting Technical Product Owner November 2017 – June 2022 · Chennai, Tamil Nadu ▸ Acted as technical PO equivalent for global vehicle programme deliverables across the Alliance — owned DFM review sign-offs, managed backlog of 50+ engineering milestones, and aligned cross-functional teams spanning France, Japan, and India. ▸ Led sheet metal forming feasibility and manufacturability assessments for 3+ global vehicle programmes — identifying structural risks early in the development cycle and preventing downstream cost escalations estimated at ₹2–5Cr per programme. ▸ Defined and maintained engineering milestone backlogs across concept, development, and pre-production phases — coordinating with design, tooling, simulation, and supplier teams to hit programme gates with <5% schedule deviation. ▸ Drove adoption of simulation-led validation (FEA/forming simulation) as a default gate criterion — reducing physical prototype iterations by ~30% and compressing time-to-tooling sign-off across programmes. ▸ Served as primary technical liaison between Alliance India engineering and European programme leadership (Renault, France) — translating complex simulation outputs into decision-ready briefs for non-technical stakeholders. ▸ Mentored and coordinated a team of 6–8 engineers across forming simulation, DFM review, and supplier quality workstreams — building team capability and maintaining delivery consistency across simultaneous programme timelines.
Tata MotorsLtd
Aug 20134 yrs 4 mosNov 2017

Pune Division, Maharashtra, India

Contributed to product delivery lifecycle across two OEM organisations; supported backlog of engineering design validation tasks aligned with cost, quality, and regulatory requirements.
Tata MotorsLtd
Jul 20134 yrs 5 mosNov 2017

Pragyan’s AI Stack

claude
claude
cursor
cursor
langchain
langchain
langgraph
langgraph
langsmith
langsmith
notion
notion

Education

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

Bachelor's Degree, Mechanical Engineering

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

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Headline

Senior Prouct manager | Fractional CPO & AI/ML Product Leader | Automotive OEM → AI/SaaS | PMP® · PSPO I | Mercedes-Benz · VW · Renault-Nissan · Tata Motors | Open to Global Remote Roles

About

Most product leaders come from either engineering or business. I spent 10 years inside Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan, and Tata Motors — solving hard, high-stakes engineering problems at global scale. Then I rebuilt myself as an AI/ML product leader. That combination is rare. And it's what I bring to every product I own. I now operate as a Fractional CPO and Senior PM, working with early-stage and growth-stage companies to define product vision, build ML-powered platforms, and scale from zero to one. I've led discovery for AI/ML-driven products, designed trust & safety systems for B2C marketplaces, and advised data science teams on model integration, evaluation metrics, and human-in-the-loop feedback loops. My edge: I speak fluent engineering AND fluent product. I can sit with a data scientist, a CTO, and a CFO in the same room — and translate across all three. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ What I've done: ▸ 14+ years across global automotive OEMs (Mercedes-Benz R&D India, VW Group, Renault-Nissan Alliance, Tata Motors) ▸ Fractional CPO & PM advisor to AI/ML, SaaS, and consumer tech startups ▸ Co-founder, Mentyours.com — B2C mentorship marketplace (zero to live) ▸ PMP® Certified | PSPO I Certified | Lean Six Sigma ▸ B.E. Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Currently open to: → Senior PM / Principal PM roles (AI/ML, Automotive Tech, SaaS) → Fractional CPO / Head of Product engagements → Global remote · Full-time or contract 📩 pragyanpp1992@gmail.com | 🌐 pragyanpp.com

Location

Bangalore Urban

AI stack

claude

cursor

langchain

langgraph

langsmith

notion

Work experience

AI/ML Product Manager & Fractional CPO at Consulting, Dec 2025 - Present · 9 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Providing fractional CPO and senior PM advisory services to early-stage and growth-stage startups across AI/ML, SaaS, and consumer technology — embedded as a strategic product partner, owning roadmap definition, discovery execution, team coaching, and go-to-market strategy. • Define product vision, 12-month roadmaps, and sprint-ready user stories for AI/ML-driven platforms, translating business objectives into clearly scoped epics for globally distributed engineering teams. • Lead end-to-end product discovery — user interviews, competitive analysis, and Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) frameworks — identifying high-impact opportunities and materially improving backlog quality. • Advise on ML model integration and data pipeline requirements; define model acceptance criteria, evaluation metrics, and human-in-the-loop feedback loops, bridging data science and business stakeholders. • Designed trust and safety product flows for a B2C mentorship marketplace: mentor verification, identity validation, abuse-prevention triggers, and end-to-end session lifecycle management. • Established OKR frameworks, sprint cadences, and executive reporting structures that increased milestone predictability and alignment across client organisations.

Digital product delivery |Senior Product Manager at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, Jun 2022 - Dec 2025 · 3 yrs 7 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India (MBRDI) Digital Product Delivery | Senior Product Manager June 2022 – Present · Bengaluru ▸ Owned end-to-end product delivery for AI/ML-driven digital engineering platforms, translating complex R&D requirements into sprint-ready epics for globally distributed engineering teams across India and Germany. manufacturing accuracy for production programmes. ▸ Defined model acceptance criteria, evaluation metrics, and human-in-the-loop feedback loops for ML modules; bridged data science teams and business stakeholders to accelerate model deployment timelines. ▸ Drove product discovery for 3+ digital initiatives — conducting stakeholder interviews, competitive benchmarking, and JTBD analysis — improving backlog quality and aligning roadmap priorities with global R&D leadership. ▸ Established sprint cadences, OKR frameworks, and executive reporting structures across cross-functional teams (design, engineering, manufacturing), improving milestone predictability and reducing delivery variance by ~25%. ▸ Collaborated with counterparts across Mercedes-Benz AG (Stuttgart) to align digital product strategy with global vehicle programme timelines, managing dependencies across 5+ workstreams simultaneously.

Project Program Coordinator at ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited, Dec 2021 - Jun 2022 · 7 mos, Pune District, Maharashtra, India, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited Technical Project Manager & Program Coordinator December 2021 – June 2022 · Pune ▸ Led end-to-end feasibility and manufacturability assessments for sheet metal programmes across the VW Group India platform — integrating simulation outcomes into project plans to proactively identify and mitigate technical and schedule risks before tooling commitment. ▸ Coordinated cross-functional programme reviews across design, simulation, tooling, and supplier teams — maintaining alignment on milestone gates and ensuring DFM sign-offs met VW Group global quality standards. ▸ Translated forming simulation outputs (springback, thinning, formability) into actionable engineering briefs for programme leadership — enabling faster design freeze decisions and reducing late-stage design change costs. ▸ Managed concurrent deliverables across multiple body-in-white components — coordinating supplier readiness, tooling timelines, and internal engineering reviews to maintain programme schedule adherence within a compressed 7-month engagement. ▸ Acted as single point of contact between VW India engineering and external simulation/tooling vendors — resolving technical escalations and maintaining delivery momentum across a fast-paced programme environment.

Technical Project Lead → Acting Technical Product Owner at RENAULT NISSAN MITSUBISHI ALLIANCE, INDIA, Nov 2017 - Jun 2022 · 4 yrs 8 mos, Tamil Nadu, India, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Technical Project Lead → Acting Technical Product Owner November 2017 – June 2022 · Chennai, Tamil Nadu ▸ Acted as technical PO equivalent for global vehicle programme deliverables across the Alliance — owned DFM review sign-offs, managed backlog of 50+ engineering milestones, and aligned cross-functional teams spanning France, Japan, and India. ▸ Led sheet metal forming feasibility and manufacturability assessments for 3+ global vehicle programmes — identifying structural risks early in the development cycle and preventing downstream cost escalations estimated at ₹2–5Cr per programme. ▸ Defined and maintained engineering milestone backlogs across concept, development, and pre-production phases — coordinating with design, tooling, simulation, and supplier teams to hit programme gates with <5% schedule deviation. ▸ Drove adoption of simulation-led validation (FEA/forming simulation) as a default gate criterion — reducing physical prototype iterations by ~30% and compressing time-to-tooling sign-off across programmes. ▸ Served as primary technical liaison between Alliance India engineering and European programme leadership (Renault, France) — translating complex simulation outputs into decision-ready briefs for non-technical stakeholders. ▸ Mentored and coordinated a team of 6–8 engineers across forming simulation, DFM review, and supplier quality workstreams — building team capability and maintaining delivery consistency across simultaneous programme timelines.

Research And Development Engineer at Tata MotorsLtd, Aug 2013 - Nov 2017 · 4 yrs 4 mos, Pune Division, Maharashtra, India, Contributed to product delivery lifecycle across two OEM organisations; supported backlog of engineering design validation tasks aligned with cost, quality, and regulatory requirements.

Research And Development Engineer at Tata MotorsLtd, Jul 2013 - Nov 2017 · 4 yrs 5 mos

Education

Bachelor's Degree, Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani