Master stakeholder negotiation, validation techniques, and strategic decision-making in this 16-hour A-CSPO certification for experienced Product Owners.

Advanced Certified Product Owner® Training (A-CSPO Certification)
Transform From Backlog Manager to Strategic Product Leader
You can run a Sprint Review, write user stories, and prioritize a backlog. Those are the mechanics. But how do you negotiate with stakeholders who all believe their feature should be next? How do you validate whether you’re building the right thing before burning three Sprints on it? When do you push for more features vs. technical debt? How do you turn vague business goals into a product strategy that guides daily decisions?
These questions define the gap between managing backlogs and leading products strategically.
This Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO) course teaches you specific methods for these situations. Over 16 hours, you’ll practice:
- Stakeholder negotiation using facilitation techniques that produce decisions without endless meetings
- Validation methods built into your Sprint cadence through hypothesis-driven development and rapid experiments
- Strategic planning that connects vision to execution in ways teams can trace from roadmap to backlog
- Discovery techniques including jobs-to-be-done thinking and methods that get developers face-to-face with users
- Prioritization using value modeling and weighted criteria instead of gut feeling
- Risk assessment methods that help you kill bad ideas early
- Technical debt conversations that frame quality as a business choice
- Bias recognition to spot and correct flawed reasoning in your decisions
You’ll practice facilitation techniques with realistic scenarios, create actual hypotheses for your products, and experiment with validation approaches, all with expert coaching and peer feedback. You’ll leave with methods you can use Monday morning to have better stakeholder conversations, make defensible prioritization decisions, and test assumptions before they become expensive mistakes.

Who Should Take This Advanced Product Owner Course?
This course teaches the advanced skills that separate Product Owners who manage work from those who shape products strategically.
Prerequisites: Current Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification plus at least one year of practical experience working on a Scrum team. This advanced-level course prepares you for the Certified Scrum Professional – Product Owner (CSP-PO) designation.
Roles that benefit: Product Owners, Product Managers, Business Analysts transitioning to these roles, and others responsible for vision and backlog management.

Advanced Product Owner Certification Curriculum
Day 1: Product Ownership Foundations and Stakeholder Management
Morning: Beyond Product Owner Fundamentals
- Advanced Responsibilities: Understand strategic aspects of ownership beyond backlog mechanics
- Risk Assessment: Evaluate viability, feasibility, desirability, and usability before committing resources
- Cognitive Biases: Recognize how confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy, and anchoring affect your judgment
Afternoon: Stakeholder Management and Collaboration
- Managing Stakeholders: Map stakeholders, analyze power/interest dynamics, and build coalitions
- Technical Debt as a Business Decision: Negotiate quality improvements with feature-focused stakeholders
- Facilitation Methods: Run structured decision-making sessions that produce commitment, not just consensus
Day 2: Product Strategy and Backlog Management
Morning: Strategy, Vision, and Planning
- Purpose and Strategy: Connect business strategy to decisions and roadmap choices
- Visioning: Create vision that guides team decisions
- Roadmapping: Communicate direction without overpromising dates
- Planning: Balance stakeholder needs with team capacity and technical constraints
Afternoon: Backlog, Discovery, and Scaling
- Backlog Refinement: Organize and refine backlogs to prepare teams without premature decisions
- Prioritization: Apply weighted criteria and cost of delay to defend sequencing decisions
- Discovery and Validation: Design experiments that test assumptions and uncover jobs-to-be-done
- Scaling: Maintain coherent strategy across multiple teams while preserving autonomy

A-CSPO Certification & Professional Development Credits
Complete this course and you’ll earn:
- A-CSPO Certification from Scrum Alliance (upon meeting eligibility requirements)
- 14 PMI PDUs (Professional Development Units) for PMP credential maintenance
- 14 Scrum Alliance SEUs (Scrum Education Units) for CSPO renewal
- Two-year Scrum Alliance membership with access to exclusive resources and global community
- Progress toward CSP-PO designation

Meet Your Instructor
Fadi Stephan, Certified Scrum Trainer®
For over 20 years as VP of Product Development at Excella and Director at DATABASICS, Fadi has built and led product and engineering teams at Fortune 500 companies, startups, and government agencies. His experience spans hospitality, financial services, telecom, and technology sectors.
In 2014, Fadi became one of only 200 professionals worldwide to earn the distinguished Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) designation from the Scrum Alliance. Since then, he has trained more than 6,000 students across 400+ classes. He teaches advanced concepts without overpromising results, showing you what’s worked in his 20 years of experience, what hasn’t, and why both matter.
Fadi holds dual graduate degrees in Computer Science and Management of Information Systems. Based in Washington DC, he co-organizes the DC Scrum User Group and presents regularly at Agile and Scrum conferences worldwide. Students consistently note his ability to connect frameworks to their specific contexts.
What Our Advanced Product Owner Students Say

What's Included in Your A-CSPO Training
Your registration includes everything you need:
- 16 hours of live interactive training
- Comprehensive course workbook with frameworks and templates
- A-CSPO certification fee (upon meeting eligibility requirements)
- Two-year Scrum Alliance membership ($100 value)
- 14 PMI PDUs and 14 Scrum Alliance SEUs
- Post-class 1-on-1 coaching session to discuss implementation challenges
- Access to Scrum foundations video library
- Complete money-back guarantee if not satisfied by end of Day 1
- Flexible cancellation policy (full refund up to 2 days before start)

A-CSPO Certification Money Back Guarantee
We stand behind the quality of this training. If the course doesn't meet your expectations, simply let us know by the end of Day 1 and receive a full refund. No questions asked, no hassle.
A-CSPO Flexible Cancellation Policy
Life happens. Cancel at least two calendar days before class for a 100% refund. Later cancellations receive full credit toward any future class with no expiration.

Advanced Scrum Product Owner Class Frequently Asked Questions
Expand the questions below for answers about certification, prerequisites, and course requirements. Need clarification or have a specific situation? We're here to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need CSPO certification before taking A-CSPO?
Yes. You must hold an active CSPO certification and have at least 1 year of experience working with Scrum teams to qualify for A-CSPO certification. The course builds directly on CSPO foundations, so everyone starts with shared baseline knowledge.
What if I don't have exactly 1 year of Scrum experience yet?
You can attend the training before reaching the 1-year mark, but Scrum Alliance won't issue your A-CSPO certification until you document the required experience. Many students take the course at 9-11 months to apply the learning while completing their experience requirement.
Is this course useful if my organization doesn't use pure Scrum?
Absolutely. The stakeholder negotiation, discovery validation, and strategic thinking apply regardless of your development framework. Students from Kanban, and hybrid environments consistently report the learning transfers directly to their contexts.
Can I get reimbursed by my employer?
Most organizations support A-CSPO training since it directly improves outcomes. We provide detailed invoices and course descriptions for your reimbursement request. The 14 PMI PDUs also make this valuable for PMP holders.
What equipment do I need for virtual training?
A computer with webcam, microphone, and reliable internet connection. We use Zoom and collaborative tools like Mural for exercises. No additional fees nor prior experience are needed with these tools. We give you access and we teach you how to use them during the course.
Are there discounts for multiple people from my organization?
Yes. Private corporate training for teams of 6+ participants includes volume pricing and custom scheduling.
What happens if I need to cancel?
Cancellations at least 2 days before start receive a 100% refund. Later cancellations receive full credit toward any future course with no expiration.
Upcoming A-CSPO Classes
You can also check out the full schedule of all our upcoming directly on eventbrite.
Private Corporate A-CSPO Classes
Can't find a public session that fits your team's schedule? We offer private A-CSPO training customized for your organization with on-site or virtual delivery, flexible scheduling to match your team's availability, and customized focus on your specific challenges.
Minimum group size: 6 participants. Volume discounts available for larger teams.