Falak Sood

About Falak Sood

The most expensive problems in an organization are the ones nobody has named yet. That\'s where I start.I partner with VP and SVP leadership in fast-moving AI organizations to translate strategic ambiguity into clear operating models, get the right problems on the agenda before they become expensive, and build the decision infrastructure that keeps leadership aligned and moving.Over 9 years at Amazon and AWS, a few things I\'m most proud of:1. Rebuilt Alexa\'s engagement forecasting into a decision-grade operating system — diagnosed that 3+ week cycles were arriving after decisions were already made, cut cycle time to 5 days, reduced manual touchpoints 62%, achieved 100% on-time execution.2. Identified two separate systemic failures in AWS\'s workforce planning infrastructure — a model flaw distorting demand signals org-wide, and unconstrained demand submissions inflating hiring targets in the early-career program. Built the case, drove fixes AWS-wide — preventing 200+ excess hires and $45M+ in downstream cost combined. Both models still in use.3. Rebuilt a five-year-broken annual planning cycle from scratch — first on-time delivery in five years, six weeks early,~50% rework reduction. Became the standing operating model for VP-level investment decisions.4. Orchestrated the redeployment of 400+ FTEs in two weeks — coordinated HR, Finance, and Engineering simultaneously, zero leaks to a person organization, preserved roadmap continuity. High-sensitivity, high-stakes, no room for error.5. Built AWS AI/ML\'s early-career program from 0→1 — inherited a 1,100-participant, 700+ hiring manager program with no operating model. Built the full stack across 10+ VP organizations globally. Eliminated 100% of missed submissions, reduced escalations ~90%. Adopted as the Amazon-wide standard.What I bring to every environment: → Executive partnership at VP/SVP scale — decision support, briefings, pre-reads, talking points, and forums that make leadership more prepared and more decisive → Cross-functional influence without authority — engineering, product, legal, finance, communications → 0→1 operating model design — ambiguity to execution-ready structure where no playbook exists → Finance partnership — headcount planning, budget governance, forecast-to-actuals → Responsible AI governance — guardrails, human-in-the-loop mechanisms, automation that earns trust.Open to connecting — especially if you\'re operating at the frontier of AI and need someone who can hold the strategic and operational threads at the same time.

Experience

1. Program Leader, Alexa Business Telemetry and Decision Science

   Amazon

   Jul 2024 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   Building the operational and decision-making infrastructure for Alexa\'s AI product organization — portfolio management frameworks, planning cadences, AI-assisted workflows, and execution telemetry across 20+ product teams and 500+ stakeholders. Direct partnership with VP-level leadership across engineering, product, science, and finance.→ Rebuilt a five-year-broken annual planning cycle — first on-time delivery in five years, six weeks early,~50% rework reduction. Became the standing operating model for VP-level investment and roadmap decisions.→ Designed AI-assisted workflows with explicit guardrails defining what was safe to automate versus what required human judgment — scaled from 5 to 20+ teams, cut cycle times ~90%, freed ~50% of specialist capacity. Adopted as Amazon\'s internal best practice for responsible AI-assisted planning.→ Built real-time execution telemetry after identifying leaders were intervening too late — reduced SLA breaches ~40% and cycle time ~30% by standardizing intake, triage, and prioritization against capacity constraints.→ Built cross-functional portfolio framework from scratch — standardized how work is scoped, prioritized, delivered, and reported across 20+ product teams and 500+ stakeholders where no consistent model existed.

Education

• University of Washington

  Master's degree, Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia

  2018 — 2020

• St Anselm's Pink City School

  High School

  2009

• The NorthCap University

  Bachelor of Technology (BTech), Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering

  2009 — 2013

• Communication Leadership at the University of Washington

  Masterclass—Less Machine, More Learning: What You Need to Know Now About AI

  2019

• IMI Delhi

  Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General

  2013 — 2015

Skills

• Microsoft Office
• Recruiting
• Human Resources
• Powerpoint
• Microsoft Excel
• Talent Acquisition
• Employee Engagement
• Teamwork
• Screening
• Recruitments
• Performance Appraisal
• Customer Service