So last year I got the opportunity to join Microsoft as a Customer Success Account Manager (CSAM) Intern, if you check my profile you will probably ask how this role relates to my background, but it does.

As CSAM, you are the middle man standing between Microsoft and her customers, you work to drive the realization of maximum value from the customer's view, and drive adoption, maximum consumption, and retention from Microsoft's view. Sometimes this is a really hard place to be but is your job to find a balance.

Now, back to how this relates to my Data Science/Data Analyst background.

Let me share a little story with you. My journey into the world of Information Technology was around 2012, as friends and colleagues, often appreciated my tech assistance through comments like "Wow, my phone is now functioning very well, thanks Winner for the configuration" etc. This and more kept me going as my interest/passion has always been to help people realize the value technology can bring to their life, career, or organization.

Fast forward to 2017, as a software engineer, I was not finding fulfillment in what I was doing so I started co-leading/leading different tech communities like Ingressive Campus Program, DSC, OSCA, GCA, and many others I have volunteered as a core member, all to drive "IMPACT" leveraging on technology. This allowed me to teach, mentor, and inspire individuals, I always felt fulfilled after each engagement.

But in contrast, being a software engineer didn't give me complete job satisfaction as I didn't get to relate with people/customers/clients.

So this brought about my transition to Data Science. I'm happy to have made this decision in early 2020. This transition has brought me close to people, customers, and businesses. And I have been able to train people, advise customers and clients on how to leverage Data Science for maximum business impact, and how to leverage historical data for business insight and value.

Now you see how the two are coming together, as a CSAM you need some analytical and technical skills to read patterns in consumption and assist your customer when needed.

My background, skills, and experience give me an edge in any customer-facing role.

(Customer < CSAM > Business) | (Data < Data Science > Business)

This is how I see it.

Interning with Microsoft was a great milestone reach for me, I can't list out all that I was able to learn from this experience, from managing a sell pipeline, stakeholder management, and owning and orchestrating customer success engagements. Or is it soft skills, communication, patience, collaboration, etc.

Yes, I mentioned patience, this is one of the soft skills you need to have to work efficiently in a remote setting.

I'm grateful for this opportunity, and to my team, Shola Abimbola, Dami Osude, Peter Mgbolu, Kanyinola Adeniyi, Kingsley Chibundu, and my manager, Mohammed Bouhmouch. Thank you for all your support, and for sharing your experiences with me, I look forward to more.

And to my recruiter, Abdulaziz Alhabib, thank you for your constant checkup on me and for keeping in touch with me even after the engagement.