Michelle Kesselem

About Michelle Kesselem

I build systems that bring clarity to complexity, and I\'ve spent 15+ years doing it inside some of the most fast-moving, high-stakes environments in marketing and advertising.As a Senior Program Manager, I sit at the intersection of strategy and execution. My work is about taking big, multi-workstream programs and making them run, keeping cross-functional teams aligned, clients confident, and delivery on track across scope, budget, and timeline. I\'ve managed programs totaling $8.5M+ in combined budgets, led portfolios spanning 16+ brands, and served as the operational backbone for enterprise clients across integrated marketing, digital strategy, media, creative, CRM, analytics, and technology.But the work I\'m most energized by right now lives at the intersection of program management and artificial intelligence. Over the past year I\'ve been collaborating with AI along with designing and building AI agents that do what good program management has always done, taking complexity and turning it into clarity. The most developed example is a budget reconciliation agent I built from the ground up. It takes raw project data and transforms it into financial reporting that tells a story: flagging what\'s on track, what\'s trending sideways, and what needs attention now. Every output is designed to drive a decision, not just inform one. Building it required prompt engineering using CRAFT and COSTAR frameworks, designing the agent\'s logic and architecture to handle real-world data complexity, and structuring outputs so they\'re immediately usable by the people who need them.I believe the best program managers don\'t just manage work, they build the conditions for great work to happen. That means transparent communication, proactive risk management, and a relentless focus on making things easier for the teams and clients I serve.If you\'re working on something at the intersection of operations, delivery, and AI, I\'d love to connect.

Experience

1. Senior Program Manager

   Mod Op

   Oct 2025 — Present · OH, US

   Central point of operational accountability across complex, cross-channel marketing programs for enterprise clients, managing strategy through delivery- Manage multiple concurrent client programs totaling $1M+ in budget across integrated marketing, brand and digital strategy, media, creative, CRM, analytics, and technology- Own scope, budget, forecasting, and resource utilization across programs, ensuring profitability and on-time delivery- Build and maintain senior client trust through transparent communication and proactive risk management- Directly manage a Project Manager and mentor cross-functional teams, fostering accountability, clarity, and high performance- Design and implement process improvements that elevate delivery efficiency across engagements- Design and deploy AI agents using prompt engineering frameworks (CRAFT, COSTAR) to automate financial reporting and surface real-time project health insights, reducing manual effort and enabling faster decision-making- Architect agent logic and output structure to flag at-risk projects, identify trends, and prioritize action, transforming raw budget data into decision-ready reporting distributed across teams and stakeholders

Education

• Kent State University

  Bachelor of Arts, Public Communication Studies

• Perry High School

  High School Diploma