Rebekah Williams

About Rebekah Williams

I turn infrastructure complexity into business value.Over 20+ years, I\'ve built a career at the intersection of engineering and business operations. What drives me is understanding how systems actually work, then partnering across teams to make them work better. Whether I\'m negotiating vendor contract renewals or digging into cost attribution, I focus on outcomes that matter: reduced costs, improved efficiency, and stronger cross-team collaboration.I\'m passionate about efficiency—not just cutting costs, but eliminating waste and simplifying processes that have grown unnecessarily complex over time. Some of my best work has come from asking \"why do we do it this way?\" and discovering that a convoluted workflow could be streamlined, or that expensive tooling could be rightsized without sacrificing capability.My approach is straightforward: learn the technical details deeply enough to ask the right questions, build relationships with the people who own the work, and create systems that scale beyond individual projects. I\'ve found that the best solutions come from bridging technical and business perspectives—understanding both the architecture decisions and the P&L impact.What I do:Cloud cost optimization (AWS, Datadog) with measurable ROICross-functional program leadership for high-visibility initiativesBudget management and executive reportingInfrastructure planning and operational efficiencyWhat I bring:Technical curiosity without formal programming background—I learn what I need to get resultsRelationship-first approach to solving complex organizational problemsTrack record of turning cost centers into strategic advantages

Experience

1. Senior Manager Strategy & Operations

   Marqeta

   Mar 2025 — Present

   Developed and led a comprehensive Cost-to-Serve (CTS) program focused on optimizing cloud spend across platforms such as AWS and Datadog, resulting in ~$20M in savings over two years-Delivered actionable cost visibility through curated AWS QuickSight dashboards, enabling month-over-month and week-over-week spend trend analysis by team-Implemented proactive cost management strategies, including optimization of RDS Reserved Instances and EC2 Savings Plans, decommissioning of unused infrastructure, and strategic contract negotiations-Successfully reversed cost growth velocity and aligned cloud investments with business priorities-Led executive reporting initiatives for the Board and Executive Team, ensuring transparency and alignment-Streamlined vendor management and contract renewal processes, contributing to budget operational excellence-Served as Chief of Staff to the SVP of Techology, driving cross-functional initiatives, aligning strategy, and supporting organizational priorities at the leadership level.

Education

• DePauw University

  Bachelor of Arts (BA)