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Call for Speakers, 2026

About the Conference

ProductLab Conference 2026 will bring together 350–450 product leaders (over 5 years of experience) in Berlin this September for three days of learning, collaboration, and community building. Building on the success of our fully bootstrapped 2025 debut (250 attendees), we’re expanding the conference with an additional day dedicated to deeper, hands-on learning. The focus will be on building AI-powered products, leadership, and go-to-market strategy in a world where technology development and content creation have never been easier. Together, we’re rethinking what it takes to succeed amid a saturated market of AI agents and the possibility of the burst of the AI bubble.
Deadline to Apply: 31st March

What We're Looking For

We look for speakers who share learnings from their real experience—what you’ve done, tested, and learned firsthand. Rather than predicting the future or explaining abstract frameworks, we value practical insights that only you can share.

Your experience should be relevant to the European product context. Location doesn’t matter, but understanding does: the types of companies our audience works in, their current challenges, and the cultural differences compared to other tech hubs.

We value speakers who actively share knowledge, for example through writing, podcasts, or product communities.

Who Is Not a Good Fit

This event is not a promotional platform.
You are not a good fit if:
- You plan to promote services, products, or personal branding
- Your content includes sales pitches or marketing-driven narratives

We also do not feature speakers who:
- Work for or are affiliated with companies selling products or services to PMs
- Represent companies that would financially benefit from event visibility (marketing, hiring, or PR)

To keep the event fair and independent, companies that could gain financially should pursue sponsorship opportunities instead of applying through this call.

Also Not a Good Fit If

Your day-to-day role is primarily that of a professional speaker, freelancer, or facilitator, rather than an active practitioner.

You appear very frequently on product event stages or are bringing the same talk on a conference tour. We aim to create a unique program and make space for new voices and perspectives.

You rely heavily on titles or status. We believe the best talks come from lived experience, including challenges and failures—not from seniority alone.

Your main focus is being a LinkedIn voice or personal brand. While audience-building is understandable, we look for speakers who engage with communities for learning and contribution, not primarily for visibility or reach.

Conference Topics:

Who is winning?
How companies are accelerating product strategy, discovery, and delivery: AI tools and techniques—illustrated with fresh, real-world examples of how to build effective AI-powered products.
How to build right?
When ideas to prototype accelerate, we can't build it all. Filtering priorities, spending time on discovery, and how to distribute—from aligning with commercial teams to standing out in a world flooded with generated content.
The economics and compliance behind AI-powered products What mean build products for Human and Agents? How things scale, what agents can really do, and what the legal team is most worried about.
Open topics for those thinking differently What does it mean to make our product stand out when we're living in a summarized world where tools are selecting for us? We're open to how non-traditional product managers are building and deciding what's next.

Conference Format

Conference Day: Thursday, September 17, 2026 Conference place: Kino International (to be confirmed) Partner hotel: The Social Hub Berlin (near Alexanderplatz)
Format: 20 min presentation + 10 min Q&A / Roundtable of 50 min / Lighting Session of 50 min
Extra: We’re considering offering lunch with the speaker to foster stronger connections between the speaker and participants.
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What We Offer

Payment processed end of September in EUR upon invoice submission, talk delivery, and slide sharing
Travel & Accommodation (for non-Berlin speakers):
2 nights at our partner hotel (September 16-18th)
Walking distance to the conference venue
Booked and covered by ProductLab €250-300 flight/train reimbursement
Visibility & Support:
Speaker Aperitif on the day before Full conference ticket
Professional photo/video content for your personal brand
Promotion to our 3,000+ member community
Content distribution post-conference on our YouTube, IG, LinkedIn, and Substack channels Team discount of 10%, from 5 people
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What We Need From You

Before the Conference:
LinkedIn support: Share about your talk a few times in the lead-up Submit your final deck: Early August
Pre-conference dry run: From mid-August till we run one or two dry runs with the ProductLab team or the Board members Optional: Podcast
During the Conference:
September 17: Run your proposal: Talk, Lighting Session, or Roundtable Lunch: We run lunch roundtable with selected participants
After the Conference:
Share your talk material
Submit invoice for payment processing (end of September) Double-check our Newsletter recap about you

What Makes a Great ProductLab TALK

Our community values authenticity and practical application.
Balanced between teaching and doing
Creating space for peer learning and discussion
Grounded in real experience, not just theory
Appropriate for a particular ICP: from senior ICs to CPOs

Acceptance of the above T&C, Speaker Guidelines, and deliverable.

Acceptance of the above T&C, Speaker Guidelines, and deliverable.

Content Usage Agreement

Content Usage Agreement