Manager - AI Strategy

Overview

Around 15 years ago, the Microsoft Strategy team made the case for Microsoft’s cloud transformation (Economics of the Cloud), which profoundly impacted how the business was rethought. Our team engaged deeply in subsequent years to realize our cloud ambition across every layer of the stack.

As part of the Office of the CEO, we are now doing it again with AI, which has emerged as the next big platform shift. In partnership with Microsoft Leadership, we are focused on Microsoft’s AI Strategy across the three key layers: Infrastructure, Platform, and Applications/Agents. Broadly speaking, this work falls into three categories:

• Thought leadership on the major shifts in the technology industry
• Rethink the ‘Economics of AI’ across all layers of AI
• Translating AI strategy into product reality across our portfolio: Infrastructure, Platform, Applications, Copilots & Agents. This includes both organic product strategy and targeted M&A (the team wrote the business case for the GitHub and Nuance acquisitions)

This team has always valued questioning the status quo and truth-seeking. We’re looking for a Manager - AI Strategy who shares that mindset, is passionate about technology, and brings deep curiosity and high IQ horsepower. Ideal candidates are eager to make an impact and come from strategy/consulting or product management/product architecture backgrounds.

You will play a key role in not only the transformation of one of the world’s largest software companies but also in transforming whole industries as we help customers chart their AI journey. You’ll contribute to the team’s projects with your expertise and experience while also being a strategic advisor who looks across the portfolio of Microsoft’s products and influences the direction of Microsoft’s current and future products.

This position requires relocation to the Seattle/Redmond area to co-locate with the team x3/week.

Responsibilities

• Contributes to one or multiple defined Strategy project(s), with guidance as needed with increasing independence.
• Dives deep into cloud and AI products and underlying tech in order to develop a position on Microsoft’s product portfolio, strategic priorities, competitive position, and potential opportunities.
• Performs analysis of the merger and acquisitions (M&A), venture funding, public market environment and trends.
• Distills complex data and analysis into concise, concrete insights that inform business decisions and strategic recommendations, with guidance from project leads.
• Clearly communicates insights and recommendations to business leaders through written docs, demos, presentations, and meetings.
• Collaborates effectively with teams across the company (e.g., Finance, Product, Marketing, Engineering). Builds working relationships with project stakeholders and business partners.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Liberal Arts, Computer Science, or related field AND 1+ year(s) marketing, strategy, business planning, consulting, banking, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience OR equivalent experience.

Additional/Preferred Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in Strategy, Management Consulting, and/or Finance OR equivalent experience (e.g., scaling a business, incubation, driving change in a large company, entrepreneurship).

Key skills/competency

• AI strategy
• Cloud transformation
• Product strategy
• M&A analysis
• Thought leadership
• Business intelligence
• Competitive analysis
• Stakeholder collaboration
• Data distillation
• Technology innovation