Built the agile framework and scrum processes for 95 engineers across eight data and analytics programs.
01 — Learn
Learn the UFACTORY xArm 850 and xArm 6
The two courses cover the two arms of the same IntelliMake cell: the xArm 850 at S2 and the xArm 6 at S6.
Every fact is labelled with how sure we are: Verified, Inferred or Assumed.
The library lists every item, what you can do with each one, and how each part is opened.
Learn the UFACTORY xArm 850
An interactive course on the arm at station S2. Four depths, from no robotics background to the engineer who integrates the cell, a 3D model of the arm that acts out each lesson, and every fact linked to its source.
Station S2
Picks up incoming material and moves it between receiving, staging and production.
- 10sections
- 4tiers
- 132practice questions
- 88cited sources
3D model © 2018 UFACTORY Inc., BSD 3-Clause. Licences
Learn the UFACTORY xArm 6
A separate course on the arm at station S6, built to the same standard: four depths, a 3D model of the arm that acts out each lesson, and every fact linked to its source.
Station S6
Handles parts after processing, routing them to inspection, rework or shipping.
- 10sections
- 4tiers
- 132practice questions
- 92cited sources
3D model © 2018 UFACTORY Inc., BSD 3-Clause. Licences
Open to senior program, product & platform leadership roles
I'm Derek Stringfellow AI Platform Architect, Senior Technical Program Manager, Enterprise Platform Product Manager
20+ years leading product and program delivery across enterprise ecommerce and cloud platforms — from on-premise systems to multi-cloud SaaS. Currently completing an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence (Industrial AI) at Wayne State University.
DS
Derek Stringfellow
AI Platform Architect · Senior Technical Program Manager · Enterprise Platform Product Manager
20+
Years in product & program leadership
95
Engineers supported at Walmart Global Tech
$456.2M
Marketing GMV delivered (target $350M)
$12.75M
Operational capex reduced
Open to senior program, product and platform leadership roles
Innovative, customer-centric solutions that drive growth and efficiency.
With over 20 years of product and project management experience, I am a certified PMP, CSPO, and CSM professional who specialises in UI/UX, digital commerce development, and SDLC cross-functional team management. I have successfully transitioned on-premise platforms and applications to cloud-based SaaS models, using behaviour-driven development with Outcome Driven Innovation and a smattering of EQ grooming.
As a Senior Technical Program Manager at Walmart Global Tech, I led the development and implementation of the agile framework and scrum processes for the Data Engineering and Customer Analytics engineering teams, consisting of 95 engineers. I also designed, implemented, and maintained reporting mechanisms for senior program managers across data and analytics programs, ensuring senior leadership visibility, awareness, and risk management.
I contributed to achieving $456.2M on a Marketing GMV target of $350M, and improved capacity planning and visibility processes by 63%, resulting in a $12.75M reduction in operational capital expenditures. My mission is to deliver innovative and customer-centric solutions that drive business growth and efficiency.
$456.2M delivered against a $350M Marketing GMV target; $12.75M operational capex eliminated.
On-premise to SaaS transitions, AWS–GCP multi-cloud architecture, Terraform and CloudFormation governance.
Outcome Driven Innovation, behaviour-driven development, and EQ-led team building.
Two decades of
programme and product delivery.
Career timeline
Application Analyst 3
Great Lakes Water Authority Feb 2025 — Present · Detroit, Michigan · HybridLead change and deliver value by applying, configuring and supporting project management technology solutions for the capital improvement programme.
- Partner with internal and external stakeholders to define, document and enable the business processes and technology underpinning the Capital Improvement Program.
- Work directly with the Director and collaborate across engineering, operations, planning and IT to run the Capital Improvement Plan and complete projects efficiently.
- Support long-term enterprise-wide CIP efforts, including financial projections and budgets, and diagram current and future states of systems and processes.
Senior Technical Program & Product Consultant
Another Place — Product Management Group Mar 2024 — Present · Royal Oak, Michigan · HybridIndependent consulting practice covering enterprise implementation, multi-cloud architecture and cloud migration governance.
- Facilitated enterprise implementation consultations using agile frameworks and scrum processes for internal business units and engineering teams.
- Designed and deployed systems audits to drive KPIs for data-driven multi-cloud architecture, leveraging AWS and Google Cloud Platform to meet diverse business needs.
- Established project governance for internal and external units, identifying optimal migration strategies and ensuring seamless transitions.
- Directed governance of automation scripts and templates using Terraform and AWS CloudFormation, standardising deployments across environments.
- Led performance optimisation and cost analysis initiatives to maximise resource utilisation and reduce operational expense.
Senior Technical Program Manager
Walmart Global Tech Oct 2021 — Mar 2024 · Remote · ContractOwned the agile framework and delivery reporting for the Data Engineering and Customer Analytics organisation — 95 engineers across eight major data programs.
- Established the agile framework and scrum processes for the Data Engineering and Customer Analytics (DCA) engineering teams, comprising 95 engineers.
- Designed, implemented and maintained reporting mechanisms for program managers across Privacy, Segmentr, Identity, Real-time Data Platform, Facets, C360, Customer Data Lake, and Audience & Data Sharing.
- Improved capacity planning and visibility processes by 63%, contributing to a $12.75M reduction in operational capital expenditures.
- Contributed to achieving $456.2M against a $350M Marketing GMV target.
- Drove cross-program communication and transparency through accurate tracing of initiatives and projects to the wider organisation.
Ecommerce Senior Product / Program Manager
Mi9 Retail Jul 2016 — Sep 2021 · Los Angeles Metropolitan Area · RemoteEnd-to-end product ownership of a multi-tenant SaaS commerce platform, from AWS→GCP replatforming through a full order management rebuild.
- Orchestrated cloud service replatforming from AWS to Google Cloud Platform and extended the platform pipeline via new internal app marketplace infrastructure.
- Designed and delivered the Rewards Point System, micro-transactions, merchandising system, promotions engine, segmentation targeting, enhanced CRM tooling, multi-tenant management and banner management.
- Rebuilt the Order Management System with a rules-based UI and microservices, enabling predictive inventory availability, Available-to-Promise logic, BOPIS/BOSFS rules, fulfilment optimisation and order orchestration.
- Established the Ecommerce PMO on Agile and Lean foundations and authored a custom SDLC framework specific to the organisation's SaaS needs.
- Managed the full implementation and deployment lifecycle — requirements gathering, specifications, WBS, UAT, QA task lists, status reviews, scope and risk management using PMI standards.
- Mentored new project managers and team members in developing their professional skillsets.
Senior Product / Project Manager
Upshot Commerce Sep 2001 — May 2016 · RemoteTook a two-person operations team to a cross-functional organisation of 34 and converted a hosted product into an AWS SaaS business.
- Partnered with the CEO to transition the business to a SaaS model, increasing year-over-year revenue by 238%.
- Transitioned the recurring-fee hosted solution to an AWS cloud platform, and drove redevelopment of the CGI platform to PHP.
- Designed and implemented a modular framework covering Order Management, Procurement and Allocations, Inventory Management, Order Pipeline management and Last Mile Fulfilment.
- Grew a two-person operation into a cross-functional team of 34 spanning project managers, engineering, UX/UI, design and DevOps.
- Led rebranding from Make-a-store, Inc. to Upshot Commerce, and refactored the platform from monolith to modular infrastructure and an apps marketplace.
- Owned product vision and roadmap, the partner programme and integrations, payment gateway vault initiatives, and a Customer Advisory Panel.
- Mentored project managers and product development engineers, and defined and introduced the organisation's agile process.
President
Another Place — Marketing, Advertising & Promotions 1992 — 2001 · CanadaVertical advertising and marketing boutique focused on GLBT and youth marketplaces in Canada.
- Developed, launched and managed the initial website and online business initiatives for Viacom's Famous Players Theatres — then Canada's largest cinema chain — for two years.
- Initiated, launched and managed a national live event spanning 50 nightclubs for Paramount Pictures' premiere of "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar".
- Co-managed media buys and promotions for BMG Music Canada, Sony Music Canada and RCA Music Canada.
- Created the Canadian Gay Newspaper Guild, giving corporations a national vehicle to reach the GLBT community.
Serviceman
US Army 1985 — 1990 · United StatesDeveloped teamwork, leadership, and the ability to think laterally to achieve shared goals.
- Fort Jackson, SC — Basic Training, Squad Leader.
- Redstone Arsenal, AL — Pershing Missile Repair, Security Clearance.
- Fort Monmouth, NJ — United States Military Academy Preparatory School; admitted as a candidate for USMA.
- United States Military Academy, West Point NY — attended until junior year.
Education
Wayne State University
In progress · final year
United States Military Academy at West Point
1987 – 1990
Wayne State University
1990 – 1991
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
1991 – 1992
Certifications
Project Management Professional (PMP)
2020
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
2021
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
2021
kBuilder Developer Certification
2025
Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional
2024
IBM Data Science Specialization
2024
Machine Learning with Python (with Honors)
2024
Databases and SQL for Data Science (with Honors)
2024
Data Visualization with Python
2024
Volunteering
Data Analyst — Dashboard Developer
DataKind · Sep 2024 – Nov 2024 · Economic Empowerment
Florida Housing Availability DataKit Challenge — turned fragmented public housing data into an interactive dashboard anyone can read.
- Designed and developed an interactive dashboard using Python, Panel and Plotly to visualise housing availability across Florida counties.
- Integrated multiple data sources, including Census and HUD data, to surface housing types, vacancy rates, population and unit structures.
- Enabled dynamic county selection with per-year metrics for homeowner and rental vacancy rates and unit structures by type.
- Applied advanced data cleaning, transformation and visualisation techniques to keep the insights accurate and meaningful.
- Volunteered to drive public data transparency on Florida housing metrics.
Expert Reviewer — AI2AI Challenge
DataKind · Jul 2024 – Aug 2024 · Science and Technology
Scored and critiqued proposals applying AI to social impact, with a focus on economic inclusion.
- Evaluated and scored proposals from nonprofits, social enterprises and academic institutions worldwide applying AI for social impact, particularly economic inclusion.
- Completed orientation on the scoring rubric, review process and the Award Force scoring platform.
- Provided detailed, constructive feedback highlighting areas for improvement and ways to increase potential social impact.
- Contributed 5–20 hours of expertise across the review period, and was recognised on the AI2AI Challenge website for the contribution.
Things I've built
and the numbers behind them.
Autonomous AI Agent Platform
AI Platform · R&D
Filed three provisional patent applications with the USPTO covering autonomous AI companion architecture, token-based identity systems, and hierarchical ethical constraint enforcement. Prototype in development as an IE6010 capstone at Wayne State University.
3provisional patents filed
Mi9 Retail Ecommerce Platform
SaaS Platform · End-to-End Product Ownership
Led the rebrand and platform evolution from Upshot Commerce through the Mi9 Retail acquisition — introducing agile process, launching an internal apps marketplace, and owning product vision, roadmap and a customer advisory panel.
5years owned
Distributed Order Management System
Order Orchestration · Mi9 Retail
Order orchestration platform collecting orders from external channels, optimising package selection and routing each one to the best fulfilment location for BOPIS and BOSFS. Owned scoping, architecture, scalability and fail-safes across internal and external development teams.
Dell Financial Services — Global DTC Replatform
Global Commerce · Mi9 Retail
Global B2B and DTC ecommerce replatform spanning five storefronts across three countries — RFP response, SOW authoring, C-level liaison, data normalisation, payment gateway integration and language/currency localisation.
5storefronts launched
Hard Rock Cafe — Global DTC Replatform
Global Commerce · Mi9 Retail
Global direct-to-consumer replatforming with C-level liaison, UX process improvement, 3PL and warehouse integration into the online supply chain, ERP integration, and an in-store/online rewards points programme.
Upshot Commerce → AWS SaaS Transformation
Business Transformation · Upshot Commerce
Converted a recurring-fee hosted product into an AWS cloud SaaS business, growing a two-person operation into a cross-functional team of 34 and refactoring the platform from monolith to modular infrastructure.
+238%YoY revenue
2→34team growth
Building autonomous
manufacturing at Wayne State.
IntelliMake is Wayne State University's proof of concept for autonomous manufacturing — not a simulation exercise. Every MS student in the Industrial Engineering, Artificial Intelligence programme contributes coursework toward the same working system. My final year is going into stations S2 and S6, the xArm 850 and the xArm 6.
Now responsible for both of the cell's cobots
My role on IntelliMake has grown. I've been given ownership of both of the cell's cobots: the xArm 850 at station S2 and the xArm 6 at station S6. That covers hands-on access to both arms, the safety recommendations for their use, the automation of both stations, and their documentation and training.
The xArm 6 gets its own course, alongside the xArm 850's and built to the same standard: separate learning paths, every fact traced to its source. The agent work now covers both arms.
The cell is IntelliMake's proof of concept for a live showing with Wayne State at the Detroit Auto Show events, January 14–17, 2027. The goal is an autonomous production run: the system accepts orders, personalises the parts and sends them on for shipping, all done by the stations' agents interacting with each other. What the stand shows will depend on what every student team delivers.
Joining the xArm 850 team at station S2
I'm on the team for station S2, the UFACTORY xArm 850: the arm that picks up incoming material in IntelliMake's Phase 1 cell and moves it between receiving, staging and production.
Two pieces of work come out of it. The first is a learning platform for the 850: ten sections, four tiers from no robotics background to the engineer who integrates the cell, a 3D model that acts out each lesson, and every fact traceable to its source. The second is the arm's own agent, working toward Level 5 autonomy: simulation first, deterministic safeguards beneath the AI, and safety recommendations to the team leads before anything moves on the physical arm.
It's a different kind of problem from the enterprise platforms I've spent twenty years on. Here, a claim nobody can source isn't just bad documentation; near a moving arm it's a safety problem.
Learn the xArm 850What I bring
to a team.
Program & Portfolio Leadership
Agile & Scrum frameworksPMO establishmentCapacity planningRisk & dependency managementSDLC governanceRoadmappingBudget & financial trackingCross-program reporting
Product Management
Product vision & strategyMVP definitionGo-to-market planningCustomer focus groupsMarket & competitive analysisOutcome Driven InnovationBehaviour-driven developmentCustomer advisory panels
Data Science & Analytics
Python (Pandas, Plotly, Panel)SQLRegression & classificationClustering (k-means, DBSCAN)Random Forest & Gradient BoostingCross-validation & tuningData storytellingTableauPower BI
Platform, Cloud & Engineering
AWSGoogle Cloud PlatformTerraformAWS CloudFormationDockerKubernetesMongoDBSolution architectureMulti-cloud architectureCloud migration strategyMicroservices
Enterprise Ecommerce & SaaS
B2B & DTC commerceOrder management systemsSaaS platformsERP integrationPayments & gatewaysFulfilment (BOPIS / BOSFS)Rewards & promotions enginesCRM & segmentationCapital improvement programmes
Leadership & Communication
Teams up to 95 engineersMentoring & coachingEmotional intelligence (EQ)Change managementExecutive stakeholder alignmentCross-functional facilitationStrategic partnershipsDesign thinking
Endorsed by colleagues on LinkedIn
E-commerce 45Online Marketing 26Product Management 21Strategy 16Marketing Strategy 15Management 13Project Management 11Business Development 11SaaS 9SEO 8
What colleagues say.
08 — Contact
Let's build
Let's build
something solid.
Hiring, partnering, or just want a second opinion on an architecture? Send a note — I reply to everything.