Who is an AI Product Expert and what do they do?

The AI Product Expert serves as a bridge, translating the potential of AI into solutions that are truly usable, desirable, sustainable, and aligned with people’s needs. To achieve this, they combine:

• Machine learning expertise;
• Strong skills in product and service design;
• A critical and responsible approach to technology;
• An innovation- and business-oriented mindset.

This professional works closely with designers, engineers, developers, and data scientists, helping define which problems genuinely benefit from AI, what advantages it can provide, and how it should be designed to deliver real competitive value: improving processes, enhancing features, creating new digital experiences, or completely redefining a service model.

• Analyzes business objectives and translates them into design opportunities, assessing where AI can generate measurable impact.
• Works with data scientists to select and evaluate the data required for AI models, ensuring quality and consistency.
• Selects and tests the most suitable algorithms, evaluating technical, ethical, and design implications.
• Collaborates with designers and developers to integrate AI into the product, defining interactions, user experiences, and information flows.
• Monitors metrics and KPIs to measure the value generated by AI and guide continuous improvements.

The first step is pursuing an academic path that combines design thinking, strategic approaches, and knowledge of AI tools. Excelling in this role requires more than understanding the technology: it requires designing it, situating it within use scenarios, interpreting ethical implications, and imagining future impacts.

A training programme should provide:

• Solid foundations in design and methodology;
• Practical skills in machine learning and data analysis;
• Critical abilities to evaluate models, datasets, and metrics;
• Sensitivity in translating complex insights into real concepts, services, and products.

Field experience in design studios, tech companies, R&D centers, or startups, is essential to experiment with AI in real contexts, understand complex dynamics, and build a strategic portfolio.

• Strategic and entrepreneurial thinking: Ability to read trends, interpret needs, and identify real opportunities where AI delivers measurable value.
• Knowledge of machine learning models: Understanding how they work, how to train them, and how to evaluate them—with a strong focus on design context.
• Data literacy: Ability to collect, analyze, and select data that feeds reliable and fair models.
• Experimentation and measurement skills: Aptitude for rapid prototyping, testing, evaluating impact, and iterating.
• Ethical and responsible approach: Essential for designing AI that is transparent, safe, and respectful of people.
• Excellent communication skills: To engage with designers, stakeholders, and technical teams, translating technological complexity into clear solutions.

Thanks to their versatility, they can operate in:

• Innovation and design consulting firms;
• Design studios integrating AI into processes and methodologies;
• Tech startups developing AI-powered products and services;
• R&D departments of large companies experimenting with emerging technologies.

Domus Academy in Milan offers Annual Masters and Semester Courses that train professionals capable of designing AI responsibly, innovatively, and user-centered.

The Master in Design x AI is the most directly targeted path for those aspiring to become AI Product Experts, as it combines:

• Advanced AI skills applied to design;
• Design of products, services, and experiences enhanced by AI;
• A strategic vision oriented toward business evolution;
• A responsible, ethical, and critical approach to technology.

Through lessons, workshops, and projects with partner companies, students learn to experiment with new ways of designing with AI, starting from complex insights and developing concrete concepts and prototypes. Internships in leading companies complete the training with hands-on experience on real projects, developing skills that are immediately applicable in the job market.