With APOGEE ’26 approaching fast, the APOGEE English Press interviewed Samarth Kothari, the President of Product Management Club (PMC), to get a glimpse into the club’s vision, preparations, and the events for the upcoming fest.

Samarth said that PMC was among the newer clubs on campus. Founded in 2019-20, it was working towards fostering a ‘strong product culture among students’. Over the years, the club has actively organised speaker sessions, collaborated with companies like The Product Sprint for workshops, and connected with clients to take up real-world industry projects. He added their partnership with NextLeap further enabled them to explore product management through structured fellowships at discounted rates.

During this APOGEE, Samarth said that PMC would be organising the third edition of its flagship Product Case Competition. Building on the success of previous editions—which saw high-profile speakers like the Head of Product at Swiggy—he said that they were aiming to maintain the same standard this year.

He stated that while the format of the competition would remain largely the same compared to last year, they were expecting higher participation. Additionally, he mentioned that they were planning to host a talk by the Chief Guest before the competition. Samarth remarked that they were expecting the talk alone to draw an audience of around 100 students, while the final presentation round would involve approximately 50-60 participants. The number of finalist teams was expected to increase from 8 to around 10-12. The top three teams would share a prize pool of 15,000 Rupees.

He shared that their preparations were well underway on the organisational front. The problem statement for the competition had already been released, and coordination with various campus bodies had been smooth. The primary task remaining was finalising the judges, and the team was in the process of reaching out to industry professionals.

Samarth remarked that the journey hadn’t been without its challenges. He shared that they had faced some hurdles because two of the POR holders faced health issues during the preparation window.

When asked about his experience as a Coordinator, Samarth remarked that it was like a sine wave—with both highs and lows. Despite the challenges, he emphasised the learning curve involved in managing people and organising events, and called it a valuable experience for the future. He believed that the most rewarding part would be interacting with industry experts, witnessing participant creativity, and seeing the event come to life on campus.

He concluded by inviting the students to attend the product management talk. With career paths in tech and finance often dominating campus discussions, Samarth highlighted product management as a rapidly growing and exciting alternative.