Sachin KukrejaEnterprise AI & transformation

Sachin Kukreja

I build enterprise AI that finance can actually sign off on. Chartered Accountant turned data scientist, accountable to the P&L.

Experience
23 years
Based in
Dubai, UAE
Open to
Relocation
Worked at
Microsoft · IBM · FAB
Value delivered
$147M+1
What I do

The same 23 years, read three ways. Pick whichever is closest to what you're working on.

Enterprise AI Strategy & Transformation Leader

A rare pairing of Chartered Accountant and data scientist, advising C-suite leaders on enterprise reinvention and AI-enabled operating models. I bridge bold AI ambition with concrete financial ROI, architecting machine learning solutions recognized by Microsoft's CEO and translating complex capability into value-driven roadmaps boards can fund.

What that covers
  • AI-enabled enterprise strategy
  • Generative AI & ML
  • Decision intelligence
  • Value realization & TCO modeling
  • C-suite advisory
  • Commercialization
What it added up to
ResultWhat it was
$18M5Annual savings from a predictive invoice risk model with real-time controls.
$129M1Value realized by reinventing the global P2P operating model.
18Power Platform products shipped by a citizen-developer team I incubated; one commercialized externally.
CEO5AI innovation presented to Satya Nadella and his leadership team.
Experience

Twenty-three years, one throughline.

Where I've worked, what I owned, and what came out of it. Sixteen of these years were at Microsoft, across Singapore and Gurgaon.

2023-present

Senior Management Consultant: IT Vendor Management, TCO & Cloud Economics

First Abu Dhabi BankDubai, UAE

Technology Business Efficiency & Performance, within the Group Chief Technology Office, partnering across Group Technology and Group Finance.

  • Built real-time spend visibility and a TCO framework across AED 2B+ of annual third-party technology spend, giving the C-suite actionable value modeling and data-driven budget reallocation.
  • Re-architected the IT vendor operating model, onboarding and risk-assessment governance in line with CBUAE regulatory and internal control standards.
  • Named brand ambassador for enterprise-wide Microsoft Copilot adoption across the technology organization, running executive briefings and building AI fluency.
AED 2B+3spend under TCO
2020-2023

Senior Manager, Data & Technology Solutions

MicrosoftSingapore
  • Designed AI/ML workflow orchestration for supplier invoices: predictive risk scoring, real-time controls, and automated exception handling with human oversight and audit trails. $18M in annual savings.
  • Deployed finance digital workers across P2P, retiring 110+ support aliases for 270K+ users and suppliers and cutting service tickets 50%.
  • Incubated a citizen-developer capability that shipped 18 automation products, lifting productivity 90% and freeing 20% of engineering capacity; commercialized one into Microsoft's external catalogue.
  • Partnered with sales teams to pitch AI and technology solutions to enterprise clients, contributing to deal origination and commercial pursuit leadership.
$18M5annual saving
2016-2020

Senior Engagement Manager, Procure-to-Pay

MicrosoftSingapore
  • Owned the end-to-end global P2P engine: 500+ professionals, 5 delivery centres, 200+ legal entities, $65B payout, 2M+ invoices, consistently meeting KPIs and SLAs.
  • Redesigned processes and controls to drive $129M+ in annual discount realization, materially improving cash flow and laying the foundation later AI work was built on.
$65B2annual payout
2007-2016

Senior Regional Process Owner › Finance Manager / P&L Controller

MicrosoftSingapore · Gurgaon
  • Reporting & Service Accounting (2013-2016): standardized FP&A to 90%+; transitioned Commercial Finance, Accounting and Controls & Compliance to shared services across Accenture, PwC and EY delivery relationships, cutting labor cost 30%.
  • Accounts Payable (2010-2013): as SOX Payables Sub-Cycle Location Owner, ran documentation, testing and remediation to zero audit exceptions.
  • Finance Manager / P&L Controller, Gurgaon (2007-2010): led the Sales & Marketing P&L and an F&A transition across 5 legal entities with zero leadership escalations.
30%9labour cost cut
2003-2007

Senior Manager, Operations

IBMBengaluru, India
  • Led 200+ FTEs on international-subsidiary reporting and continuous book close, at 100% accuracy on close and US filings. Rated Top Talent, 2006 & 2007.
  • Ran due diligence and F&A solutioning in business development, helping land 5 BPO deals.
200+FTEs led
2002-2003

Executive Officer

ICAIIndia
  • Revamped the post-qualification course the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India offers to its members.
Selected work

Things I built, and what they returned.

Messy, exception-heavy processes turned into systems people actually use. Adopted and controlled, not demoed.

WhatWhereResult
Predictive Invoice Risk Model

2M+ invoices a year made control a reactive, manual problem. I built real-time ML risk scoring to prioritize high-risk transactions and give operations decision support at the point of process.

Featured in The Wall Street Journal · presented to Satya Nadella via the Researcher of the Amazing program

Microsoft$18M5annual saving
Global P2P Service Transformation

A $65B payout portfolio ran through 110+ email aliases. I architected a digital-worker and SME escalation model with standardized intake, structured routing and real issue visibility.

270K+ users served · CRM tickets down 50% · part of $147M+ annual value

Microsoft270Kusers served
TCO & Technology Efficiency Platform

Cost transparency for AED 2B+ (about $550M) of annual IT spend was manual and slow. AI-assisted reporting and application classification turned it into a live TCO framework the C-suite can act on.

Reporting cycle 7-10 days › 1 day · chargeback and cost-to-serve foundations for AED 2.2bn

First Abu Dhabi Bank10×reporting speed
Transformation Playbook

A reusable product pattern for exception-heavy processes: standardized intake, workflow automation, embedded controls, dashboard visibility. Scaled across Tax, Treasury, HR, Compliance and Finance.

Productivity up to +90% · 20% of engineering capacity freed · first 100% finance-grown solution in Microsoft's catalogue, sold at $100k per customer

Cross-enterprise+90%productivity
How I work

Intelligence in the process. Governance around it. Value on the record.

I'm not a model builder. What I'm good at is making AI usable, adopted, controlled and commercially measurable inside large, regulated organisations. Six things have to happen for that to work.

  1. 01

    Find the problem worth solving

    Product discovery first: which business problems and operational inefficiencies actually carry value, and which are noise.

  2. 02

    Embed intelligence into core processes

    Beyond automation: AI/ML, Azure and Power Platform applied as decision intelligence on high-volume, data-driven processes.

  3. 03

    Design the whole operating model

    Intake, workflow, escalation and governance, not just the technology layer. The solution is the business design, not the build.

  4. 04

    Align the people who can block it

    C-suite, business, technology, risk and compliance brought to the same definition of done before anything ships.

  5. 05

    Build the controls in early

    Auditability, control points and risk-tiered governance (CBUAE, SOX) designed in from the start rather than retrofitted.

  6. 06

    Prove the value in hard numbers

    Success measured as financial ROI, productivity gain and risk reduction. Adoption and measured value are the deliverable, not the demo.

Recognition & qualifications

On the record.

What other people have said, and what I'm formally qualified in.

Recognition
  • Finance BOT rollout and the Invoice Risk prediction model given honorable mention in The Wall Street Journal.5
  • Invoice Risk Scoring selected for Microsoft's Researcher of the Amazing program and presented to CEO Satya Nadella and his leadership team.5
  • Recognized by Microsoft CFO Amy Hood for innovation; awarded off-cycle stock in December 2020 for outstanding impact.8
  • Invited speaker at Microsoft Modern Finance Activate, 1 of 2 employees selected worldwide; the talk was filmed and published on LinkedIn.8
  • Awarded for exceptional leadership, initiative and teamwork; rated Top Talent at IBM, 2006 and 2007.
Qualifications7
Executive Program, AI Strategies & Agentic Intelligence

Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern

2026
Microsoft Certified Trainer · Azure Data Scientist Associate · Power Platform App Maker

Microsoft

2023
Postgraduate Program, Data Science & Business Analytics

University of Texas at Austin, McCombs

2021
Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP-I)

SCCE, USA

2016
Project Management Professional (PMP)

PMI, USA · Six Sigma Yellow Belt, IBM (2007)

2011
Chartered Accountant

ICAI, India

2002
B.Com (Hons)

University of Delhi, India

2000
Where the numbers come from

The detail behind the figures

  1. [1]

    Aggregate annual value: $129M+ in discount realization from the global P2P redesign (2016-2020) and $18M in annual savings from the predictive invoice risk model (2020-2023).

    Value delivered
  2. [2]

    Annual payout across Microsoft's end-to-end global P2P engine, covering 200+ legal entities, 5 delivery centres and 2M+ supplier invoices a year.

    Global P2P
  3. [3]

    Annual third-party technology spend at First Abu Dhabi Bank, about $550M, brought under a Total Cost of Ownership framework, 2023 to present. Chargeback and cost-to-serve foundations laid for AED 2.2bn.

    TBM & Operations
  4. [4]

    Professionals led across five delivery centres as Senior Engagement Manager, Procure-to-Pay, 2016-2020, meeting KPIs and SLAs throughout.

    TBM & Operations
  5. [5]

    The invoice risk model was given honorable mention in The Wall Street Journal, selected for Microsoft's Researcher of the Amazing program, and presented to CEO Satya Nadella and his leadership team.

    Selected work
  6. [6]

    Zero audit exceptions as SOX Payables Sub-Cycle Location Owner, 2010-2013, covering documentation, testing and remediation.

    Global P2P
  7. [7]

    Chartered Accountant (ICAI, 2002) and Postgraduate Program in Data Science & Business Analytics (University of Texas at Austin, McCombs, 2021); Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate.

    Qualifications
  8. [8]

    Recognized by Microsoft CFO Amy Hood for innovation, with off-cycle stock awarded December 2020. Invited speaker at Microsoft Modern Finance Activate, one of two employees selected worldwide.

    Recognition
  9. [9]

    Labour cost cut 30% by transitioning Commercial Finance, Accounting and Controls & Compliance to shared services across Accenture, PwC and EY delivery relationships, alongside 90%+ process standardization.

    2007-2016, Microsoft
Let's talk

Ready to own the function, not just advise it.

Best for
AI, TBM or P2P leadership
Based in
Dubai, open to relocation
Qualified
CA · PMP · CCEP-I
Written up in
The Wall Street Journal
Sachin KukrejaDubai, UAE · open to relocation
Substantiation