The learning crossed roles, and the work crossed technical layers.

At Telos Alliance, Howard Pearlmutter created a custom AI-for-product-development seminar after preparation with the CTO, VP of Engineering, and division leadership.

About twenty attendees were expected. Forty-seven came across software and hardware development, product and project leadership, executives, and skeptics.

The audience's breadth fit an organization developing combined hardware and software products for broadcast infrastructure and operations. People needed different parts of the same larger understanding.

The seminar connected foundational knowledge, mental models, and practical opportunities in AI-assisted development. It also made room for skeptical concerns and the work around adoption.

Howard built AI-assisted prototypes and demonstrations during the engagement. The technical work included Apple Silicon CPU/GPU execution, MPSGraph, Java native integration, Netty, Vert.x, Quarkus, and Jakarta EE CDI.

Media-related prototypes joined enterprise software, high-performance computing, graphics, and simulation, making emerging requirements inspectable at several levels of detail.

That gave the explanation working foundations. The audience could examine AI-assisted engineering through practical implementation rather than announcements alone.

John Schur recognized requirements discovery, thought partnership, attention to skeptical concerns, practical risk treatment, and technical delivery. He wrote:

“I felt that Telos received multiple times the value of our investment.”

For another group, the relevant contribution may be a shared mental model, an applied example, a technical demonstration, or an opportunity to examine different expectations together.

A session can be shaped around that purpose. The audience need not all begin with the same enthusiasm, expertise, or responsibility.

Explore mixed groups, private-team learning, workshops, and feedback.

Begin with what your people need to understand and do together. Let the learning connect with the work they will carry afterward.