Somet Kipchilat

Empowering Africa’s Future: Innovating Technology, Transforming Possibilities

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Somet Kipchilat is a highly accomplished technology lead known for his extensive experience in the technology space. With close to a decade of expertise, Somet has been instrumental in building programs that empower engineering teams to achieve remarkable results for some of the world’s largest software companies. He has played pivotal roles in product management driving digital transformation, data protection and privacy, and cloud governance. Somet’s remarkable contributions have earned him recognition as a valued speaker and advocate on technologies and programs surrounding these critical areas.

Somet currently serves as a head of product at Poa Internet an organisation that seeks provides wireless broadband to low income and rural communities across East Africa, offering individuals a highly affordable Internet access.

Throughout his career, Somet has held significant positions at renowned technology companies such as Google and Microsoft, leaving a lasting impact in each role. As a Program Manager at Google since August 2022, his focus was on building User Experience Research (UXR) immersion programs for engineering teams working on projects targeted at the next billion users. His work on UX infrastructure within the organization has revolutionized the way engineers conduct research in emerging markets, making their processes more efficient. Somet’s expertise also led the development of operational tools that proactively identify improvements and future optimizations for the Next Billion Users (NBU) Studios Program, which supports UX teams conducting research in Sub-Saharan Africa and other emerging markets resulting in an increase in team efficiency.

Prior to his tenure at Google, Somet served as a Product Manager at Melanin Kapital, where he played a crucial role in building the technology infrastructure that enabled small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the climate space to access financing through a tech platform.

At Microsoft, Somet showcased his leadership abilities as a Senior Program Manager. Notably, he led the successful delivery of the Microsoft technology platforms to key stakeholders in the different industries (Agriculture, Finance and Insurance), reaching a significant number of customers. His role encompassed driving partnerships and collaborations with internal products/services as well as external partners, both on the technology and business fronts. Somet’s exceptional collaboration skills enabled diverse stakeholders, including engineering, product marketing, and customer support teams, to deliver the platform’s value proposition to enterprise customers and partners effectively. Additionally, he played a crucial role in defining the go-to-market strategy for the solutions, ensuring its scalability through strategic partnerships.

Somet’s career at Microsoft also included senior positions such as Senior Business Development Manager, ISV Partner Development Manager, Product Manager, Technology Evangelist, and Developer Experience and Platform Evangelist. In these roles, he consistently demonstrated his ability to drive growth and engagement across various programs and initiatives. His responsibilities encompassed building strategic visions, developing scalable programs, engaging with startups, enabling partners, and advocating for Microsoft platforms and tools within the developer community.

Beyond his professional achievements, Somet holds a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. His skills encompass a wide range of areas, including strategic initiatives, product management, process engineering, product design, go-to-market strategy, cross-functional team leadership, account management, solution architecting, and cloud architecture.

With a track record of driving innovation, empowering engineering teams, and advocating for transformative technologies, Somet Kipchilat stands as a prominent figure in the technology.