Stephen Kaufman

Energizer
DISC Type : I

Chief Architect, Americas CTO Office at Microsoft

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Overview

Stephen is a Chief Architect in the Americas CTO Office at Microsoft, focusing on solving business challenges with innovative technology. A public speaker and published author of three books, he is passionate about AI, application development, and cloud computing strategies. People describe him as a highly dependable and trustworthy architect with strong integrity.

Fueled by a deep sense of curiosity, Stephen enjoys the constant learning and sharing that takes place within the tech community. He is an active contributor to architecture communities like IASA, where he enjoys brainstorming and exploring new concepts with fellow professionals. In his personal time, he enjoys photography.

Unique fact: Stephens first memory is of taking things apart and putting them back together, a trait that sparked his lifelong interest in how technology works.

Personality Overview

Full Of Energy

Believer

Relationship Oriented

Unlike C or D types, they are vocal with their opinions but not so much with their questions.  They are not always early adopters but can be pursuaded by leveraging strong relationships. They excel at seeing the bigger picture, and the long-term impact of their decisions.

Topics They Care About

Agentic AI
A frequent and recent speaker on Agentic AI, including at the Applied AI Conference. He also authored a CIO Magazine article on versioning AI agents.
AI Governance
He speaks and writes about managing the life cycle of large language models (LLMOps) and ensuring AI is implemented responsibly, safely, and securely within enterprises.
Cloud Architecture
As a principal architect and author of "Building Web Services with Microsoft Azure, " he has deep expertise in designing and building solutions on the Azure platform.

Media Appearances

Stephen has no verified media appearances

Work History

9-2024
Chief Architect, Americas CTO Office at Microsoft
8-2021 - 9-2024
Chief Architect at Microsoft
7-2016 - 8-2021
Global Senior Solutions Architect at Microsoft
Consultant at Shared Resource Management
Principal Consultant/Advanced Technologies Team Lead at SRM

Education

9-1992 - 5-1994
MBA from Metro State University
1987 - 1990
BA from University of St. Thomas

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 9 Location : Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Job Level : Leadership Designation : Chief Architect, Americas CTO Office at Microsoft
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Insights For Selling To Stephen

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Use phrases like ‘people will love’, ‘massive impact’ etc.
  • Do some small talk, ask them how things are going on their side
  • Use adjectives like ‘amazing’, ‘coolest’, ‘unbelievable’ etc.

DONT's

  • Don’t be too formal, focus on building comfort and trust
  • Don’t assume a yes just because they have not said no
  • Don’t be excessively objective, be a storyteller

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Stephen is

  • Relationship and trust can be vital with them, sometimes more than anything else.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Stephen

  • They are unlikely to say no directly, you have to make that decision yourself.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Stephen move?

  • They are not the fastest decision makers, their friendly approach can give false positive signals.
  • Can Stephen take some risk or not?

  • They can take certain risks that are unlikely to have personal consequences.

You And Stephen

Personality Compatibility


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