Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Timeline
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Melissa Rinch

Toronto,ON

Summary

Software Product Manager with a robust track record of developing AI-powered experiences at Microsoft and Cisco. Background in Biomedical Engineering with a passion for advancing healthcare technology through AI innovation.

Skills: Product Strategy, AI Product Management, User Research, User Centric Design, Prioritization, Communication

Overview

4
4
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Product Manager

Cisco Systems
Toronto, ON
01.2024 - Current
  • Led the development of Cisco's first AI assistant for network engineers within a span of 3 weeks, achieving a 75% reduction in time required for critical security and network operations such as performing security updates on vulnerable devices, through AI automation in a natural language interface.
  • Spearheaded the redesign of a new user authorization framework and permissions migration plan for Cisco Partner Experience Cloud, streamlining the authorization flow by over 50% for 40,000+ Cisco Partners and establishing a scalable authorization system that could accommodate to user permissions across 8 Cisco partner tools.
  • Worked on shaping the product strategy for Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric for AI, a pioneering GPU cluster management solution for AI workloads in collaboration with NVIDIA. Conducted in-depth market research to assess networking competitors, prioritized key features for the Hyperfabric roadmap, and conducted customer interviews to align product development with critical user needs, driving strategic alignment and accelerating market adoption.

Product Manager II

Microsoft Canada Inc.
Toronto, Canada
12.2022 - 12.2023
  • Developed end to end the first generative AI-powered chat-based scheduling feature for Outlook Calendar Copilot from ideation to a flighted MVP within an ambitious 4-week timeframe. Collaborated seamlessly with cross-functional teams, including design, engineering, and user research across Office M365.
  • Established design principles and patterns for Outlook's Core Chat infrastructure in collaboration with design teams, laying the foundation for future chat flows. Streamlined the user interaction model by creating process maps to enable faster design of scheduling flows and facilitate an easier implementation of the middle tier.
  • Defined requirements for desk booking by interviewing customers to understand hybrid work needs and working with design to create a layout for a solution that addressed top user needs while meeting engineering constraints.
  • Addressed a top customer ask by creating a spec for allowing attendees to add conference rooms to the meeting invite. Exhibited strong technical acumen by also defining backend requirements in the absence of platform PM resources, thereby unblocking feature development to meet customer timelines.

Product Manager

Microsoft Canada Inc.
Toronto, ON
09.2020 - 12.2022
  • Defined requirements and created project milestones to lead the execution of scheduling focus events through Outlook calendar. Collaborated with stakeholders across 6 different teams and 10 client applications in Microsoft to ship the feature.
  • Spearheaded the Quiet Time feature in Outlook, an initiative to promote user wellness by muting notifications across Teams and Outlook mobile outside working hours. Worked with design and engineering to establish feature requirements, develop project milestones, and determine appropriate timelines for product development.
  • Ensured alignment in project requirements and drove clarity across stakeholders by acting as a liaison between Teams, Insights, and Outlook. Resolved conflicts by prioritizing user needs with research and telemetry. Helped unblock engineering by identifying upstream dependencies around migration and release.

Education

Bachelor of Applied Science - Biomedical Engineering

University of Waterloo
Waterloo, ON
06.2020

Timeline

Senior Product Manager

Cisco Systems
01.2024 - Current

Product Manager II

Microsoft Canada Inc.
12.2022 - 12.2023

Product Manager

Microsoft Canada Inc.
09.2020 - 12.2022

Bachelor of Applied Science - Biomedical Engineering

University of Waterloo

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Melissa Rinch