In a recent LinkedIn post, Sachin Rekhi highlights a successful AI upskilling initiative undertaken by SmartRecruiters for their product and design teams. Rekhi, who delivered training for the workshop, breaks down the key elements that contributed to its effectiveness, emphasizing the importance of structure and prioritization in adopting new AI tools.
Rekhi points out that the company dedicated a significant amount of time to the initiative, emphasizing its mandatory nature. This approach, he suggests, is crucial for overcoming common barriers to learning new technologies.
“They dedicated two days to the workshop. This was a mandatory workshop, not an optional one and everyone was required to move their meetings to accommodate. I definitely recommend this because it’s one of the only ways to get past the common refrain of ‘I’d love to learn these new AI tools but I’m just too busy with my day job.'”
Executive Sponsorship and Investment in Tools
A critical factor in the workshop’s success, according to Rekhi, was strong executive backing. He notes that the VP of Product Design, Shefali Netke, led the effort, and even the CEO, Rebecca Carr, participated, signaling a company-wide commitment to AI upskilling.
Furthermore, Rekhi highlights SmartRecruiters’ investment in providing team-wide tooling. The company pre-provisioned Claude Code for the entire team, complete with setup instructions, ensuring participants could hit the ground running.
Actionable Training and Immediate Application
Rekhi details his role in delivering two actionable training sessions focused on Claude Code and AI Prototyping. He believed these skills would offer the most immediate leverage for the teams, enabling them to accelerate their product development efforts.
The workshop’s structure also facilitated immediate application of these newly acquired skills. Rekhi shares that the team managed to build over 40 prototypes by the end of the two-day session.
“They dedicated time as part of the workshop to immediately put these new skills to use. The team built 40+ prototypes by the end of Day 2.”
Sustaining Momentum Post-Workshop
Beyond the intensive workshop, Rekhi commends SmartRecruiters for establishing mechanisms to maintain the energy and learning momentum. An AI Task Force Slack channel was created to foster continued collaboration and sharing of best practices.
As Sachin Rekhi concludes in his post, effective AI upskilling for product teams doesn’t need to be overwhelming. It requires prioritization and a structured approach.
“AI upskilling your product team doesn’t have to be daunting. It just needs to be prioritized and structured.”
He offers his expertise to other organizations looking to implement similar training programs, indicating that the time to invest in AI skills is now.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Sachin Rekhi on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on April 20, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →