Based in
Seattle, WA
Recognition
Richter Scholar
Technical Solutions Manager · AI Lead

Spencer
Strei.

I build AI tools for Microsoft finance that people actually use. Builder on the Source-to-Pay team, AI adoption lead for all of Finance Operations.

$28M in payouts protected
Anomaly detection across a ~$350M incentives program
$700K in payroll errors cut
Redesigned multi-vendor leave-of-absence workflow
1,700+ hours saved / year
AI email assistant, owned end to end
#1
Copilot adoption, FinOps
5+
Years at Microsoft
6+
Tools shipped at Microsoft
170+
Users on shipped platforms
Spencer Strei
Case Study

Catching $28M before it walked out the door

01
Situation

Microsoft’s ~$350M partner incentives program relied on manual review to catch bad payouts. Reviews were slow, sampled, and happened after the money moved.

02
Insight

Suspect payouts weren’t random. They followed patterns a system could flag before the money moved. Nobody had scoped what that system needed to be.

03
Build

Scoped the requirements, developed an anomaly detection system, and presented the results to senior leadership.

04
Result

$28M in payouts protected. Leadership adopted the approach and it transitioned to engineering for enterprise-wide implementation.

Spencer Strei at Blanca Lake, Washington
Microsoft · Technical Solutions Manager
Univ. of Tennessee
About Me

Shipping products that move the business

I ship AI and automation tools for Microsoft's Source-to-Pay team, part of Finance Operations. The building earned me a second hat: AI adoption lead for the whole division. When a GM wants to know what AI can actually do for their team, I'm the one they call.

I got here through supply chain, where I learned to find the friction in a system and build the thing that removes it. That instinct doesn't switch off after work. I recently built a SwiftUI iOS app with a private, on-device AI workout tracker, now in App Store review. When I'm not building, I'm in the mountains. The photo is Blanca Lake.

The builder

Anomaly detection that protected $28M. A $20M bid analysis tool. An AI email assistant saving 1,700+ hours a year. An iOS app on the side.

The AI leader

#1 Copilot adoption across Microsoft FinOps. Internal hackathons, GM demos, and workshops that lifted AI confidence 60%.

AI agents & prompts Lean workflow design Change management Agile / SDLC UAT & go-live Power BI & SQL SAP
University of TennesseeUniversity of Tennessee · BSBA Supply Chain, Stats Minor · 3.95 GPA · President, CSCMP
AzMicrosoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
PProsci® Taking Charge of Change
R. Gene Richter Scholar, premier national supply chain award
Work History

Where I've delivered impact

Microsoft 2020 – Present
Technical Solutions Manager
Source-to-Pay Solutions · Finance Operations · Seattle, WA Oct 2023 – Present
$28M protected $20M savings 1,700+ hrs saved
  • Protected $28M in payouts across a ~$350M incentives program by scoping requirements, developing an anomaly detection system, presenting to senior leadership, and transitioning to engineering for enterprise implementation.
  • Developed a $20M savings-targeted competitive bid analysis tool for indirect procurement, delivering a forecasting model and interface enabling managers to evaluate supplier bids and drive sourcing decisions.
  • Frontier finance lead for AI adoption: drove #1 Copilot adoption division-wide, created an internal hackathon and coached the winning FinOps team, and led workshops and live GM demos that lifted self-reported AI confidence 60%.
  • Owned end-to-end delivery of an AI email assistant (requirements, UAT, deployment, and change-management rollout), saving 1,700+ hours annually.
  • Cut $700K in payroll errors by redesigning a multi-vendor leave-of-absence workflow and automating flagging and forms.
Technical Program Manager
Finance Data & Experiences · Miami, FL Mar – Oct 2023
170+ users P&L variance UI
  • Owned full project lifecycle of a platform for 170+ users: requirements, sprint management, UAT, launch, and training, managing dependencies across design, engineering, and business teams.
  • Designed variance visualization methodology and automated commentary for a P&L analysis tool.
  • Co-led global building utilization forecasting analysis, delivering data-driven recommendations to senior leadership.
Operations Program Manager
Global Field Operations · Miami, FL Sep 2021 – Feb 2023
$1B+ in deals 45% time saved
  • Owned the Southeast US deals program, de-risking $1B+ in deals as sole operations partner and trusted advisor to a 35+ person sales team, running stakeholder discovery across legal, finance, and compliance to structure ambiguous requirements.
  • Reduced pre-billing processing time 45% and lowered disputed revenue by leading a capstone workflow analysis, identifying concurrency opportunities to recommend engineering and ops improvements.
  • Drove 10% efficiency gains by leading UAT testing, defining go/no-go criteria, and managing feature prioritization for a Deal Management Portal processing a multi-billion dollar pipeline.
Operations PM Intern
Advertising Operations · Remote May – Aug 2020
$38K saved 95% yield
  • Saved 200+ hours and $38K annually by engineering an automated credit adjustment workflow handling $61M in transactions, achieving a 95% first-pass yield improvement.
Recognition

Selected achievements

Hackathon
Chief of Staff Agent
Microsoft 2025 Hackathon
Built an agentic AI executive workflow assistant; placed among top entries in the company-wide hackathon.
AI Enablement
FinOps AI Lead
Microsoft · Finance Operations
Frontier finance lead for AI adoption. Workshops and live Copilot demos for GMs, an internal FinOps hackathon, and a 60% lift in self-reported AI confidence across the org.
Competition
1st Place, Conexus Indiana Case Competition
Conexus Indiana
Won the bachelor's-degree track with a 4-person UT team; 150+ students from 27 schools solved a real-world business case in 24 hours.
Supply Chain Foundations

Where it all started

Before Microsoft: production scheduling in SAP at Colgate-Palmolive, indirect procurement at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, and merchandising at Fortnum & Mason in London via the Smith Global Leadership Scholars program. Plus a stint in analytics at Reviewbox, an early-stage startup later acquired by Talkwalker.

Fortnum & Mason · London Colgate-Palmolive · SAP MM Sunovion · Procurement Reviewbox · Analytics
Contact

Let's connect

Recruiting, collaborating, or comparing notes on AI in operations? Email me.

Resume

Core skills
Lean workflow design Prompts & AI agents Change management UAT & go-live readiness Power BI & SQL SAP
Contact me for my resume