About

I help organizations move from reporting on the past to operating in real time with AI.

For more than 15 years across Microsoft, SaaS, retail, manufacturing, and consulting, I have worked with executive teams to rethink how data, analytics, and AI function inside the enterprise. My focus has been building systems where analytics is not just a reporting layer, but part of how the business runs.

At Microsoft and through advisory work, I have partnered with C-suite leaders to modernize data estates, strengthen analytics foundations, implement real-time and streaming architectures, and apply AI and ML in live business workflows where speed, trust, and decision quality matter.

My work sits at the intersection of analytics modernization, operational intelligence, and enterprise AI adoption. I am especially drawn to helping organizations reduce the distance between signal and action by creating more trusted metrics, better operating visibility, and data systems that support decisions in the moment rather than after the fact.

I have led teams of up to 20, owned initiatives exceeding $5M, and helped shape executive and board-level conversations around AI, data strategy, and the future operating model of the business.

I am also the creator of the WhyDidItFail framework, a model for tracing column-level causality across data systems so both people and AI agents can better trust, explain, and act on data in real time.

I am most energized by helping enterprises evolve toward a model where data is not something the business looks at later, but something it operates through.

Reach me

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christophermschmidt