Principal Digital Product Manager
2019 - 2020Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield- Increased member adoption and retention by over 10% YoY by leading product management and DevOps for identity and access management infrastructure supporting Anthem's 32+ million members using SAFe methodologies.
- Increased member CSAT by over 7% YoY by creating unified, personalized experiences for members with strategic partners such as Google and Fidelity Investments leveraging data science insights and the implementation of HL7 and FHIR APIs.
- Reduced inbound call volumes by 6% YoY by leading member self-service and call reduction initiatives linking interactive voice response to customer records via an online virtual assistant programmed to handle the majority of call drivers.
Vice President | Product Development
2017 - 2019Quantarium- Led the business strategy, development of new products, marketing, and sales operations processes for a software engineering and Cloud computing business unit. Implemented core business metrics, revenue modeling, and customer and partner development.
- Developed a platform that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Computer Vision to make predictions and provide home valuations in the real estate industry.
- Designed, developed, and implemented a corporate spin-out from the parent company. Planned to unlock latent business value and position the company for an over 100% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
- Directed product development strategy, and the successful launch of a new Amazon Web Services B2B eCommerce portal to achieve greater distribution of products and services.
- Cultivated the development of an innovation and intellectual property pipeline, including the filing of numerous new patents.
- Designed and implemented business plans to grow booked revenue from $5 to $50 million in five years.
Co-Founder | Chief Product Officer
2015 - 2017Interos Solutions- Led the development and commercialization of Trensant’s patented portfolio of graph databases, text analytics pipelines, machine learning algorithms, and SaaS API’s–with monthly venture-funding.
- Secured board approval, and implemented a new Software as a Service (SaaS) business model, assembling value proposition, sales motion, and P&L to achieve geometric revenue growth with only linear increases in cost.
- Launched a new SaaS API, and landed numerous channel partners including Microsoft, Domo, Qlik, Tableau, and PointLogic.
Non-executive Director (NED) and Board Advisor
2015 - 2016G.A.E.M.S., Inc.- Focused on assisting the leadership team with corporate governance, business planning, intellectual property, finance, executive compensation, and M&A strategy.
- Led the finance committee, raising $15 million in debt financing to fund supply chain operations and product manufacturing in China.
- Led the CEO Search and Executive Compensation committees, which secured a new CEO for the company and established competitive compensation guidelines for all corporate directors.
Principal Program Manager | Artificial Intelligence
2013 - 2015Microsoft- Led the technical program management for several artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives on behalf of Microsoft Research’s Academic Outreach team.
- Developed and led the functional design of core features for Project CodaLab, and over 60 online executable papers for computer scientists to enhance productivity and consistency in data-driven research.
- Hosted and enabled more than 300 machine learning data science competitions.
- Identified and retained collaborators to specify, design, develop, and launch http://www.codalab.org as an open-source, GitHub-hosted project.
- Established and grew a highly specialized and technical community of machine learning experts from zero to over 3,000 members.
Director | Product Management
2011 - 2013Metavana- Launched the original Net Promoter® Score SaaS API, https://web.archive.org/web/20161103090641/http://spark-score.com/sparkscore/, enabling real-time NPS measurement based on online human sentiment.
- Designed and implemented a new Software as a Service (SaaS) business model that enabled exponential revenue growth without corresponding increases in cost.
- Recognized by Gartner Group as a 2013 "Cool Vendor" in content and social analytics.
Director | Business Strategy | Market Development
2010 - 2011Microsoft- Established new partnerships on behalf of Microsoft Research Asia for product development, technology transfer, and strategic sourcing with software development partners.
- Led Microsoft's innovation and market access agenda with the Chinese government, industry, and academia.
- Managed a USD $150 million P&L supporting an organization of 130 people.
- Grew Microsoft's investment in the China partner ecosystem by over 33% or USD $50 million.
- Established the company's first formal market research function focused on Microsoft Partners in China, unleashing a wave of Sino-centric insight.
Enterprise Partner Marketing Manager
2007 - 2010Microsoft- Drove executive engagement for Microsoft's top 150 financial services customers, expanding to cover enterprise partners across all sector and industry verticals.
- Conceived and delivered a balanced portfolio of relationship marketing programs to enhance Microsoft's relationships with CxOs, incorporating their feedback into actionable initiatives that drove Microsoft's solution, product, and biz dev.
- Secured a $1.3 billion per year marketing pipeline in financial services during the fiscal year 2008, fueling a 12% CAGR in sector sales.
- Increased Microsoft’s marketing-influenced enterprise partner sales pipeline during the economic downturn of 2008-2009 by 26% or $1.8 billion per year across all sector and industry verticals.
- Redesigned Microsoft Enterprise marketing’s entire business architecture, enabling teams of industry analysts to nearly double their customer-facing time while having the time required for operational tasks.
Erick Watson
Product Manager in Seattle, WA, United States
Member since September 23, 2019
Erick is a customer and market development leader with a record of client success and industry impact. His “superpower” lies in bridging the gap between great technologies and effective business application. He blends empathy, coaching, business mindset, and deep understanding of technology to create pioneering engagements that are consequential for all stakeholders. Erick has worked across many industries, with particular depth in financial services, real estate, healthcare, and supply chain.
Erick is now available for hire
Project Highlights
- Developed and led the functional design of core features for Project CodaLab.
- Led the development of a patented Internet Human Opinion Search Engine and resulting knowledge graph.
- Led the design, construction, and operation of a boutique 1,400 square foot, 1 Megawatt, 2.1 PetaHash, Tier 3 data center.
Expertise
- Agile Product Management
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- B2B
- Healthcare
- Product Strategy
- Program Management
- Project Management
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Education
- Louisiana State University
Employment
Project History
- CodaLab Platform for Reproducible Research and Data Science CompetitionsDeveloped and led the functional design of core features for Project CodaLab.
Led the technical program management for several artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives on behalf of Microsoft Research’s Academic Outreach team.
- Human Opinion Search EngineLed the development of a patented Internet Human Opinion Search Engine and resulting knowledge graph.
Led the development of a patented Internet Human Opinion Search Engine and resulting knowledge graph, which led to the parent company being acquired for this technology.
- Blockchain Mining Data CenterLed the design, construction, and operation of a boutique 1,400 square foot, 1 Megawatt, 2.1 PetaHash, Tier 3 data center.
Led a team of industry experts in the specification, site selection, construction, provisioning, and operation of a Tier 3 data center designed for ASIC blockchain mining of Bitcoin and related cryptocurrencies. This included the definition of all operational processes, such as maintenance, security, power, and heat management.
Education
- Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics1989 - 1993Louisiana State University - Louisiana, USA
