An apparatus includes a plurality of registers to store sets of state information that represent a state history of a processing unit. The apparatus also includes a power management advisor (PMA) to generate a signal based on the sets of state information, wherein the signal indicates a probability that a power state transition of the processing unit achieves a target outcome. In some cases, the signal is provided to a power management controller including hardware circuitry that initiates a power state transition of the processing unit based on the signal and inputs to the power management controller that represent a subset of the state information corresponding to a current power state of the processing unit.