Home / About

About
The Product Signal

A podcast from Carnegie Mellon University that cuts through the noise — delivering sharp, practitioner-led conversations on product management, strategy, and building products that matter.

Product Management Strategy UX & Design AI & Technology Career Growth CMU MSPM
The Show

What is
The Product Signal?

The Product Signal is a podcast rooted in Carnegie Mellon University's renowned MS in Product Management program. It's designed to help aspiring and practicing product managers cut through the noise and tune into what really matters — the thinking, frameworks, and hard-won lessons that shape great products.

Each episode draws on the intersection of business strategy, technology, and human-centered design — the same disciplines that power CMU's MSPM curriculum. Guests include seasoned product leaders, startup founders, and practitioners who share candid insight into how they actually work.

Whether you're breaking into product management or leveling up as a senior PM, The Product Signal is your weekly dose of signal over noise — no filler, no fluff, just real conversations about what it takes to build products people love.

4.9★
Rated
The Product Signal
Signal over noise. Every week,
from Carnegie Mellon University.
50+
Episodes
100K+
Listeners
Weekly
Cadence
CMU
Origin
"Our mission is to make the wisdom of great product practice accessible to everyone — from engineers making their first career pivot to senior leaders navigating the AI era."
Brad Eiben & Debashish Sasmal — Co-hosts, The Product Signal
Your Hosts

Meet the voices
behind the signal.

BE
BE
Brad Eiben
Co-host & Executive Director, CMU MSPM

Brad is the Executive Director of the Master of Science in Product Management program at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. With over two decades of experience developing and directing teams across industries, engineering disciplines, and corporate cultures, Brad brings a uniquely practical lens to product leadership.

His career spans product launches and continuous improvement at Toyota, leadership roles at MSA, and now building the next generation of product managers at one of the world's top technical universities. Brad applies the same PM philosophies he teaches — lean thinking, user-centered design, and rigorous experimentation — to running the MSPM program itself.

On the podcast, Brad brings a coach's perspective: asking the hard questions, connecting academic frameworks to real-world practice, and helping listeners develop the habits of mind that separate good PMs from great ones.

Product Leadership Lean Thinking Design Thinking Toyota Way PM Education
LinkedIn Watch Episodes
DS
DS
Debashish Sasmal
Co-host & Sr Manager, Strategic Product Management, UPMC Enterprises

Debashish is a Senior Product Manager at UPMC Enterprises, the innovation and commercialization arm of one of the nation's largest integrated health systems. In this role, he leads investment strategy, digital health innovation, and portfolio management — bridging the gap between cutting-edge startups and large-scale healthcare delivery.

A 2019 graduate of CMU's MSPM program, Debashish made a deliberate career pivot from nine years in software and data engineering — spanning startups in India to roles at InsideView and PayPal — to product management. His engineering roots give him a uniquely technical perspective on product strategy, data platforms, and building for complex regulated industries.

On the podcast, Debashish brings the practitioner's voice: someone who has lived both sides of the PM journey — from aspiring career-switcher to leading multi-million dollar healthcare product initiatives.

Digital Health Data Engineering Healthcare PM Innovation Strategy CMU MSPM '19
LinkedIn Watch Episodes
Topics

What we cover.

Product Strategy
How great PMs frame problems, prioritize ruthlessly, and build roadmaps that survive contact with reality — without burning bridges.
User Discovery
Why most teams skip the most important step — and how leading practitioners run discovery that actually changes what gets built.
AI & Product
Separating AI gimmicks from genuine value — how product teams are building intelligent features that stick and earn user trust.
PM Career Paths
From IC to CPO — the real skills no one tells you about, how to navigate career transitions, and what hiring managers actually look for.
Growth & Metrics
Choosing north stars that actually guide teams, measuring what matters, and understanding the difference between vanity metrics and real signal.
PM Education
Insights from CMU's MSPM program — what formal training adds, how academic frameworks translate to industry, and how to keep learning on the job.
Our Approach

Principles we
podcast by.

01
Signal over noise
Every episode earns its runtime. We skip the filler, cut the platitudes, and go straight to the insight. If it doesn't make you think differently, it doesn't make the cut.
02
Practitioner-first
We talk to people doing the work — not just the ones writing about it. Real decisions, real tradeoffs, real consequences. Theory earns its place by proving it works in practice.
03
Rooted in rigor
Backed by CMU's MSPM program, our conversations are grounded in research, evidence, and the kind of structured thinking that separates good judgment from gut feel.
04
Accessible to all
Whether you're an engineer considering a pivot, a new PM finding their footing, or a director sharpening your edge — every episode is designed to meet you where you are.
Our Roots

Powered by Carnegie Mellon University

The Product Signal is produced in connection with CMU's MS in Product Management program — a joint degree between the Tepper School of Business and the School of Computer Science. The program uniquely blends business, technology, and design, and it's the same philosophy that powers every episode of this show.

When you listen, you're tapping into the same well of expertise that has helped hundreds of engineers, analysts, and business professionals successfully transition into — and level up within — product management careers at companies like Google, PayPal, Microsoft, Amazon, and beyond.

CMU MSPM
Master of Science
in Product Management
Tepper School of Business
Watch on
YouTube
→
Listen on
Spotify
→
Listen on
Apple Podcasts
→