SPEAKERS
Chris Pirie SMSG Readiness General Manager
Christopher Pirie serves as General Manager of Microsoft’s Sales, Marketing and Services Group Readiness (SMSG-R) organization, delivering field readiness and training for 42,000 field employees worldwide. Through Chris’ leadership, the SMSG-Readiness team delivers 190,000 days of conference, classroom, online and virtual training each year, and manages over 2.4 million hours of social and online learning for Microsoft Consultants, Sales, and Marketing professionals. Programs are focused on landing product, industry, and compete knowledge as well as professional skills at scale. They are based on role profile of field personel, and tied to business strategy and outcomes.
Chris joined Microsoft in September 2004 as Senior Director of Learning Product Development. He was responsible for a 200 person team which developed portfolios of learning products used to train and certify millions of Microsoft customers and partners. Chris then served as General Manager for Microsoft Learning where he led the worldwide marketing and sales team to drive reach, revenue and increased customer satisfaction across all markets. The team’s focus was helping customers, partners and the field realize their potential by promoting Microsoft Learning’s comprehensive catalogue of certifications, trainings, learning references and resources.
Chris began his professional career in his native England as a trainer and technical writer. He moved to the United States in 1991 and joined his previous employer Oracle in 1994. Chris has spent the bulk of his career in software training and adult education, including content development, product and services marketing, business development and sales management roles.
During his last three years at Oracle Corporation Chris was Vice President of Online Learning and responsible for defining and implementing a strategy to move customer, partner, and employee training online using an Oracle Learning Management System. He continued on to become Product Unit Manager for HRMS and Learning Management Systems Chris has a Degree in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Essex in England, and will take any opportunity to travel and sail with his English wife and two American boys.
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses and supports software products and services. It designs and sells hardware, and delivers online advertising to the customers. It has five segments: Windows & Windows Live Division, Server and Tools, Online Services Division, Microsoft Business Division, and Entertainment and Devices Division. Its products include operating systems for personal computers, servers, phones, and other intelligent devices; server applications for distributed computing environments; productivity applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games, and online advertising. In April 2012, LeGuide.com SA acquired shopping sites in seven European countries from the Company. In July 2012, the Company purchased Edgewater Fullscope's Process Industries 2 (PI2) software and intellectual property, and Comcast Corp. acquired the Company's 50% stake in MSNBC.com.