IIM Kozhikode and Emeritus announce Core Product AI-powered Strategy Officer Program to create AI-first product leaders

The CPAIO program is designed for senior product professionals, business leaders, and entrepreneurs who want to grow their organizations through product-led and AI-enabled strategies. It is ideal for chief product officers, product heads, product strategy consultants, product-led founders, and functional heads across product, engineering, and marketing who wish to strengthen cross-functional leadership and deliver measurable growth through AI-powered innovation.

Speaking in the programme, Late. Pro. Debashish Chatterjee, Director, IIM KozhikodeSaid, “For the ambitious, forward-thinking product leader, this program expands multiple horizons, from a bird’s-eye view of product drivers in a dynamic global economy to hands-on, data-driven product execution. By blending product strategy, product finance, advanced analytics and AI-first thinking, we are preparing CPO-caliber leaders who can deliver sustained product growth.”

Avnish SinghalExecutive Vice President, Head India & APAC, Emeritus, said, “Organizations need product leaders who can transform AI potential into business outcomes. The CPAIO program combines the deep academic rigor of IIM Kozhikode with the delivery excellence of Emeritus to prepare leaders for product-led growth in the age of AI.”

Chief Product and AI-powered Strategy Officer (CPAIO) Program is an 11-month blended learning program consisting of live online sessions by IIM Kozhikode faculty, pre-recorded sessions by Kellogg Executive Education, and a 3-day campus immersion at IIM Kozhikode. The curriculum provides a holistic foundation in three pillars: product strategy and vision, product-led growth and innovation, and product leadership. It integrates core disciplines including strategy, design thinking, product finance and control, lifecycle management and AI-first product innovation.

Participants will explore modules such as AI-powered marketing and growth, generative AI and agentic AI applications, product lifecycle and rapid prototyping, cloud and DevOps for product leaders, ethics, governance and legal considerations for AI products. AI Strategies for Business Transformation is complemented by a dedicated Kellogg Executive Education online certificate course, providing a global perspective on how AI enhances customer experience, operations, and strategic decision making.

program’ Highlights include 90+ hours of synchronous online sessions, 15+ hours of live IIMK in-campus sessions, 16+ hours of Kellogg sessions, two business simulations (Product Strategy and Leadership and Change Management) and a capstone project. Participants will also participate in a three-day campus immersion at IIM Kozhikode for in-person learning and networking.

Through this programme, participants will be able to:

• Design and lead product strategies that integrate AI and data capabilities across the product lifecycle
• Convert financial and analytical frameworks into accountable, results-based product decisions
• Apply AI-first approaches including LLM, NLP, RAG, and computer vision to accelerate ideation and go-to-market strategies.
• Lead teams through business simulations and real-world case applications
• Create ethical, responsible and scalable AI-based product systems
• Strengthen professional credibility with credentials from IIM Kozhikode and Kellogg Executive Education, and gain eligibility for IIM Kozhikode Executive Alumni status.

Program Description

• start date: 30 December 2025
• Duration: 11 months
• Format: Live Online Session (IIMK) + Pre-Recorded Certificate Course (Kellogg) + 3-day Campus Immersion (IIM Kozhikode)
• Eligibility: Graduate/Diploma holders (10+2+3) with minimum 8 years work experience.
• Program Fee: INR 5,45,000 + GST
• Certification: On successful completion of the program, participants will receive a certificate from IIM Kozhikode and a certificate from Kellogg Executive Education.

For more information, visit Program page here.

About Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode

Started in 1997 with its Post Graduate Program (PGP), the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) is today on a high growth trajectory, offering a wide range of academic programs in the field of management education. These include Fellow Program in Management, Executive PG Program, Management Development Program and Faculty Development Program. IIMK established a satellite campus in Info Park, Kochi in 2013, dedicated to executive education. IIMK has the unique distinction of introducing new dynamic programs such as One Year Post Graduate Program in Business Leadership (2019), MBA in Finance and MBA in Liberal Studies and Management (2020), besides introducing PhD (Practice Track) programs for working professionals. The institute is also home to IIMK LIVE, a first-of-its-kind start-up incubation program and the Indian Business Museum.

NIRF India Ranking 2025: IIMK has been ranked 3rd according to management. The institution regularly features among the top global institutions in the QS World University Rankings for its flagship MBA (PGP) and EMBA programs (EPGP). According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024, the institute has jumped 100 places to be ranked among the top 151-200 institutions in Business and Management Studies globally. IIM Kozhikode is also globally accredited by EQUIS (EFMD) and AMBA (UK) and is on the verge of the triple-accreditation crown.

IIM Kozhikode also made its debut in the prestigious Financial Times rankings in 2023 and was recently ranked #76 among the top-80 open-enrolment executive program providers globally for the year 2025. This achievement further strengthens the position of the 29-year-old IIM in an exclusive list of leading providers of executive education in the world. The institute also entered the global top-100 for its full-time MBA program at rank #69 for the FT Masters in Management (MIM) 2025 ranking. IIM Kozhikode has successfully delivered approximately 1300 MDP programs over the last two decades, training over 41,000 participants from 150+ organizations, including several Fortune 500 companies in the process.

About Emeritus

Emeritus Customized and open programs in India, Singapore, Dubai and other global locations in collaboration with IIM Calcutta Executive Education, IIM Lucknow Executive Education, ISB Executive Education, Harvard Business School (HBS), MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, Kellogg Executive Education, Berkeley Executive Education and Wharton Executive Education, among other leading institutions. Provides. Our world-class executive education programs, supported by renowned program experts, provide a comprehensive learning experience integrated with actionable insights and practical business applications and delivered across multiple formats: in-class, online and blended programs. Emeritus Group has more than 1,750 employees globally and has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Palo Alto, Mexico City, New York, Boston, London and Dubai. The company is backed by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Leads Illuminate, Prosus Ventures, GSV Ventures, Peak XV, Bertelsmann, CPPIB, Accel, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. For more information, please visit https://emeritus.org/

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