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Dan Williams

Product Manager & AI Enthusiast

About Me

Product and People Leader with 12+ years scaling consumer and enterprise products at high-growth companies like Justworks, Instacart, WorkMarket (ADP), and Rakuten Kobo. I've led cross-functional teams of 15+ engineers, designers, and analysts to deliver products serving millions of users.

Recent Impact

  • • Led international workforce management experiences
  • • Delivered Enterprise post-order experiences at Instacart
  • • Achieved WCAG 2.0 accessibility certification
  • • Established satellite offices twice as Site Lead
  • • Reduced onboarding timeline from weeks to 2-3 days

Technical Leadership

  • • Building AI applications with modern dev tools
  • • Full-stack AI development: React, Node.js, Python
  • • Deep learning: Transformers, Vector DBs
  • • Computer Engineering (University of Waterloo)

Currently exploring AI-first product development through hands-on projects, from building LLM-powered applications to studying transformer architectures. I'm passionate about bridging the gap between technical possibility and user value, especially in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Professional Journey

March 2022 - Feb 2025

Justworks

Group Product Manager and Site Lead

Integrations, Employer of Record, Site Operations

Feb 2020 - Feb 2022

Instacart

Senior Product Manager

Mobile Enterprise Platform, Enterprise Accessibility

Jan 2016 - Feb 2020

WorkMarket (ADP)

Director of Product and Site Lead

Freelancer Experience (Mobile & Desktop), Employers Managing Talent

Apr 2010 - Dec 2015

Rakuten Kobo

QA → QA Lead → Team Manager → Product Manager

Content Management Systems, iOS, Windows Mobile

2009

University of Waterloo

Bachelor of Science, Computer Engineering

AI Projects

Research with Focus: PMs who Build

Research with Focus: PMs who Build

Explored differences between conversational LLMs and AI IDEs through hands-on testing & prototyping.

Created self-paced AI learning courses and shared them with PMs in my network (10-15)

  • AI Study Guide: Google Doc & Podcast
  • AI Tools Landscape: Google Doc & Podcast

Links:

AI Study Guide:

AI Tools Landscape:

"Thanks Dan! This is all great and exactly the sort of thing I need for AI." - Former PM co-worker
"Whoa, thanks for all of this!" - Former Eng co-worker
Canada Reverse Income Calculator

Canada Reverse Income Calculator

A tool to determine necessary gross income based on desired monthly expenses.

AI Goal: Create a simple, fully closed system app with AI-based IDEs

User Problem: What gross income must I make for my expenses/budget?

Solution: Based on the amount a user wants to spend each month, determine the necessary gross income

Links:

Motivation Bot

Motivation Bot

An AI-powered motivation assistant to help users take action.

AI Goal: Leverage an LLM within an app

User Problem: Unclear on next steps in any situation, and unmotivated

Solution: Provide motivation, action items and historical reference based on a user's current sentiment

Links:

Softball Lineup Creator

Softball Lineup Creator

A tool to create optimal softball lineups for recreational leagues.

AI Goal: Leverage static & dynamic information & rules to build a softball lineup using AI tools

User Problem: What lineup gives us the best chance of winning this game?

Solution: Create a lineup that has the best chance of winning by leveraging softball player traits, roster rules & attendance. Deploy and make public for everyone playing through this recreation league.

Links:

Calendar Analyzer (In Progress)

Calendar Analyzer (In Progress)

AI-powered tool to identify important events and prepare accordingly.

AI Goal: Leverage external data to use with a local LLM

User Problem: What is important for me to focus on this week? How should I prepare?

Solution: Based on key calendar event indicators, determine priority events and how to prep