Willem Vermaak

Trainer

Willem is a Product Management trainer with a passion for leadership and creating the highest possible valuable product. These two passions come to life in everything revolving around product management, product leadership, product strategy, and product ownership.

He is a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org and is on a mission to help companies figure out their value potential and maximize the outcomes for their customers. 

As a previous Armed Forces officer and a voluntary firefighter, Willem has his roots in leadership. As a Product Owner, Studio Lead, consultant, and trainer, Willem has become passionate about validating and solving the problems and challenges of customers.

Helping companies to learn from customers very quickly and adapt to their feedback while improving their product management capabilities is what makes his world go round. 

To share his passion and knowledge of product management, Willem is also a keynote speaker at events. And to claim a bit of eternal fame, he co-wrote the book “Master the art of NO“, together with colleague and friend Robbin Schuurman.

Willem Vermaak - Trainer at Xebia Academy

Books by Willem

Product Owner | Product Manager

Master the Art of No

When asking product professionals what they find difficult in their work, a typical answer is: “Saying no.” But how do you deal with your stakeholders? And how do you say no? These and other questions are answered in this book: ‘Master the Art of No’.

Learn from the many practical examples and insights that the authors, Robbin Schuurman and Willem Vermaak, have drawn from their experience as product managers, professional trainers, and consultants. Get valuable tips and tools in order to take action in the area of stakeholder management. Even if you’re not a product professional, this book is an absolute must-read!

Product Owner | Product Manager

The 50 FAQs of a Product Owner

During the many Product Management courses we teach, we’ve collected more than 250 questions about the Product Owner and Product Manager role. From that, we selected the 50 most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and bundled them into this convenient yet highly valuable, comprehensive little e-book.

To answer all the questions in this FAQ e-book, we used our more than 20 years of experience in working Agile and teaching world-class Product Management across the globe. Take full advantage of this knowledge and apply it in your daily activities.

Upcoming courses

OBM Reconnect

A special OBM Reconnect afternoon, dedicated to reconnecting, reflecting, and reigniting the insights gained during your OBM training.

Evelyn van Kelle

1 day
In Person

Next:

8 May, 2025

From:

€495

View training
Architecting with Google Compute Engine 

Ready to master Google Cloud in just 3 days? This training equips you to design, develop, and manage robust Google Cloud infrastructure, setting you up for certification success.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
3 days
In Person

Next:

17 Dec, 2025

From:

€2095

View training
Deep Learning and AI in One Day

Enrico Erler

Deep Learning
1 day
In Person

Next:

3 Jun, 2025

From:

€725

View training
Polars Essentials

Enrico Erler

1 day
In Person

Next:

18 Mar, 2025

From:

€725

View training
Docker in One Day

Learn exactly how Docker containers work — how to build them, how to place your applications in them and how to run them.

David Coba

Data and AI
Docker
1 day
In Person

Next:

22 Sep, 2025

From:

€775

View training

Can’t find the course you’re looking for? There’s more!

Trainer expertise

Disciplines

Product Management

Certifications

PSPO 3 badge