Phil Samuel

About Phil Samuel

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: Whether the business challenges are related to profit growth or revenue growth, I design, implement, and execute business transformations by mobilizing and collaborating with all the stakeholders. I believe in the leader-leader model of harnessing the creativity and passion of every employee to achieve the organizational vision. INNOVATION and DESIGN FOR EXCELLENCE: Drives organic growth through Front End of Innovation and Back-End of Design for Excellence. Leads Front-End of Innovation through Design Thinking sprints, Lean Startup and Rapid Prototyping. Executes Design for Excellence through Stage-Gate processes, and Design for X approaches such as Design for Reliability, Design for Robustness, Design for UI/UX, and Design for Serviceability. Orchestrates Intellectual property strategies such as Patent Bullet-Proofing and Patent Circumvention. PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS: Leads predictive analytics through Statistical Analsis and Machine Learning. Extracts organizational value through Process Mining and Intelligent Process Automation. STRATEGIC PLANNING: Leads strategic planning through developing organizational vision, extracting organizational (mid-to-long-term) strategic priorities, short-term objectives, supporting initiatives, metrics, and accountabilities. Implements strategic planning through Goal deployment, Hoshin Kanri, OKR or Balanced Scorecard frameworks. Manges projects through Agile framework STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT: Guides leadership in collecting information on changes in external environments (customer insights, market trends, technology trends, business model trends) and external/ internal capabilities (technology, process, and human talent). Facilitates strategy development through finding opportunities in the external environment and responding with internal/ external capabilities. Executes strategies through strategic planning, implementing agile transformation, and daily management OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: Design and implementation of enterprise-level process improvement (Business Excellence) initiatives to generate bottom-level impact with speed and simplification. Successful deployments in all functions such as Quality, Operations, Purchasing, New Product Development, Human Resources, Finance, and SalesSpecialties: Innovation and Product Development, Digital Transformation, Performance Improvement, Executive Coaching

Experience

1. Senior Director, Ai Continuous Improvement

   Microsoft

   Dec 2024 — Present · Redmond, WA, US

   I am building the future of continuous improvement at Microsoft leveraging the power of AI to streamline workflows, eliminate waste, and implement scalable, sustainable, intelligent, and efficient solutions. I partner with senior leaders to identify and optimize operational excellence through Lean and AI-driven solutions. My focus is to deliver measurable outcomes and empower teams to drive growth and innovation.

Education

• University of Calgary

  Ph. D, Mechanical Engineering

• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

  Aerospace Engineering

• Arizona State University

  MBA, Business Administration and Management, General

Skills

• Executive Coaching
• Management
• Organizational Design
• Product Development
• Lean Manufacturing
• Executive Management
• Problem Solving
• Business Planning
• Operations Management
• Strategy
• Business Process Mapping
• Growth Strategies
• Acquisition Integration
• Business Strategy
• Product Innovation
• Strategic Thinking
• Program Management
• Training
• Innovation
• Strategic Planning
• Change Management
• Process Innovation
• Innovation Management
• Project Planning
• Leadership Development
• Performance Improvement
• Leadership
• Start-Ups
• Creative Problem Solving
• Process Engineering
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Innovation Consulting
• Integration
• Project Portfolio Management
• Project Management
• Business Modeling
• Organizational Development
• Quality Management
• Strategic Consulting
• Consulting