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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

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

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.

Open to senior product leadership roles at AI-forward companies where technical depth and product intuition drive breakthrough user experiences.

AvailableAI-Forward Companies

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