Frontier Industry Advisor Financial Services
Microsoft · Tokyo
OverviewJapan – Frontier Industry Advisor – Financial Services
Overview
Are you passionate about banking & Insurance industry transformation for the Frontier AI era? Financial Services(FSI) is undergoing a fundamental shift in how institutions grow, operate, manage risk, meet regulatory expectations, and serve customers. Banks/Insurers are moving from experimentation to enterprise-scale transformation, reshaping customer engagement, relationship management, lending, payments, deposits, treasury services, fraud and financial crime, credit and risk decisioning, compliance, operations, and core banking modernization. By applying trustworthy, secure, scalable AI, Microsoft is helping FSI reimagine their businesses from outcomes inward—using breakthrough technologies to simplify operations, improve decision quality, strengthen resilience, deepen customer trust, and unlock new sources of growth. Microsoft’s Frontier Industry Advisory team is at the heart of that innovation, working directly with banking business leaders to rewrite the playbook in light of disruption while staying grounded in the mission and business objectives of the industry.
Across Japan, banks/ insurers are navigating a distinctive regulatory and market environment, alongside supervisory expectations from FSA. This role brings that regional context to how Microsoft helps banks scale trustworthy AI.
As a Frontier Industry Advisor on the Asia Frontier Financial Services Industry team, you will help Microsoft’s most strategic banking/ insurance customers define and execute AI-led transformation agendas. This role is responsible for originating industry-led business opportunities and executive conversations that connect business outcomes to Microsoft cloud, data, AI, security, and partner capabilities. You will be the banking/ insurance industry subject matter expert engaging with senior business decision makers to identify, generate, and nurture transformational opportunities. You will go deep with select customers to help them move beyond isolated pilots toward governed, scalable AI adoption that delivers enterprise outcomes such as profitable growth, improved operating leverage, faster and more trusted credit decisioning, stronger fraud and financial crime controls, better customer and banker experiences, operational resilience, and regulatory confidence. You will also develop Microsoft’s frontier banking/ insurance practice through thought leadership, targeted customer engagements, and strategic planning with Microsoft’s account teams and industry leadership.
A defining element of Microsoft’s Frontier Company strategy is Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)—multidisciplinary, AI-accelerated engineering teams that embed with customers to co-build and productionize AI and agent solutions. As an Industry Advisor, you are a primary originator of FDE opportunities: you identify where embedded engineering can move a bank from AI ambition and isolated pilots to production-grade outcomes, and you partner closely with FDE teams and the account team to turn industry vision into deployed business value.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities
Planning and Engagement
Serves as the banking/ insurance industry subject matter expert in Japan, in digital and AI transformation and account planning. Engages internal stakeholders on account planning and partner business planning, including key business leaders, global systems integrators, independent software vendors, solution partners, and Microsoft account teams. Reviews customer industry plans and lends credibility by aligning Microsoft capabilities to strategic banking priorities.
Brings a multi-year strategic industry perspective to digital and AI transformation. Provides thought leadership via focus on broad global industry trends to evangelize worldwide industry strategies and/or large ecosystem plays into local market and/or must-win accounts. Drives stakeholder mapping to identify and influence key stakeholders and decision makers in the customer business. Partners locally with ISVs to inform industry knowledge. Participates in planning rhythms with the core account team and other team members to discuss strategy needed to deliver on the account plan. Increases the speed of adoption of Microsoft technologies by plotting the strategic, long-term vision of the customer’s/partner’s business strategy and driving appropriate actions to bring it to fruition.
Leads multi-horizon planning to outline an approach for industry-oriented solution selling with the customer. Creates segment-focused three-horizon roadmaps for impactful accounts based on business and technology priorities, as well as a deep understanding of their industry.
Builds and maintains relationships with external senior- and executive-level decision makers and partners, leveraging targeted stakeholders at the assigned customer.
Acts as an industry advisor to the executive-level business decision makers at the customer’s business by applying deep understanding of their business strategy, market dynamics, relevant technology trends, and Microsoft’s Industry point of view (POV).
Sales Execution
Identifies customer needs, industry readiness, and business-value opportunities across the banking value chain, including retail banking, commercial banking, corporate banking, payments, lending, deposits, treasury services, cash management, branch and contact center operations, customer service, marketing and personalization, financial crime and fraud, risk, compliance, regulatory reporting, data and analytics, core banking modernization, operations, and digital banking channels. Will also be needed to step in on insurance accounts as the situation demands.
Leads industry-led conversations that position Frontier AI as a catalyst for banking & insurer transformation, connecting Microsoft technology to measurable business outcomes across revenue growth, operating leverage, credit and risk decisioning, fraud reduction, regulatory confidence, customer experience, employee productivity, and enterprise resilience.
Applies an outcomes-inward approach to shape market-making opportunities, starting with the customer outcome and working backward to the process, architecture, data, AI, security, governance, and change-management requirements needed to scale. Focus areas include faster customer onboarding, improved relationship manager and banker productivity, accelerated loan origination and servicing, improved fraud detection, enhanced credit and risk insights, stronger compliance controls, more efficient regulatory reporting, modernized branch and contact center experiences, personalized digital engagement, and resilient banking operations. For insurers this will additionally include Underwriting, Claims management, actuarial operations, customer engagement across channels and distribution.
Collaborates with account teams, rapid deployment teams, industry solution teams, partner teams, and internal stakeholders to build and mature banking pipeline. Conducts customer and market research to understand operating models, revenue levers, cost pressures, credit and risk posture, regulatory priorities, data estates, and the highest-value opportunities to apply AI, cloud, and agentic workflow technologies to enterprise-scale transformation.
Represents the financial services industry perspective in customer conversations and ideation sessions, helping create a shared vision for how Microsoft can transform the business from customer acquisition and engagement to credit decisioning, risk and compliance, operations, data and analytics platforms, payments, digital channels, branch and contact center experiences, and core banking modernization.
Identifies, advances, and scales high-impact Frontier AI scenarios for strategic banking and insurance accounts, including AI-assisted relationship management, banker and contact center copilots, intelligent document processing, loan origination and servicing automation, credit decisioning support, fraud and financial crime investigation, customer service automation, personalized digital banking, treasury and cash management workflows, regulatory and compliance automation, enterprise knowledge assistants, branch modernization, payments modernization, and core banking transformation.
Helps customers move beyond AI pilots to enterprise-ready Frontier AI transformation by rethinking FSI operating models, redesigning workflows, modernizing data foundations, and embedding responsible AI, security, and governance at scale. Develops a banking/ insurer vision and business-value cases that connect Microsoft technology to growth, productivity, risk reduction, resilience, regulatory readiness, customer experience, and long-term commercial success. Acts as a trusted advisor to senior decision makers, leveraging customer success, market insight, and banking priorities to shape strategic opportunities, expand solutions across business lines and regions, and incubate early-stage transformation pipeline.
Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)
Champions Forward Deployed Engineering—a core motion of Microsoft’s Frontier Company strategy—helping strategic banking/ insurance customers move from AI ambition and isolated pilots to embedded, co-engineered, production-grade solutions delivered by Microsoft’s forward-deployed engineering teams.
Actively identifies, originates, and qualifies FDE opportunities across the account portfolio, recognizing the signals of a strong engagement—a material business problem with senior executive sponsorship, clear intent to reach production, a need for embedded engineering rather than staff augmentation, and meaningful use of the Microsoft platform—and works with the account team to bring those opportunities forward.
Partners closely with FDE engineering crews throughout the engagement lifecycle and acts as an industry front door for FDE—connecting business sponsors, account teams, and delivery leaders around a shared agenda, and aligning industry strategy and business-value cases with hands-on co-engineering so that banking/ insurer AI and agent scenarios scale securely and sustainably into production.
Collaboration and Partner Management
Collaborates with account teams, business strategy leads, business development managers, solution architects, technical specialists, industry solution teams, consulting teams, and partner organizations to plan, orchestrate, and execute customer opportunities.
Works across the Microsoft partner ecosystem to bring together capabilities that solve complex banking business problems. Helps customers understand how Microsoft cloud, data, AI, Frontier AI, security, low-code, productivity, business applications, and partner solutions come together into practical, outcome-oriented transformation patterns.
Coordinates with commercial, legal, compliance, engineering, and customer success teams to establish formal partnerships and advance strategic programs that support customer transformation, Microsoft growth, and long-term trust.
Industry Expertise
Proactively builds and maintains knowledge of Microsoft’s and other industry-relevant solutions and capabilities. Proactively builds strong knowledge of the industry, including trends, policy implications (e.g., privacy), and competitors to act as a subject matter expert and inform decisions on pursuit or withdrawal.
Leads communication to provide feedback across the ecosystem (i.e., cross-pollinating information across teams/industries) to other teams (e.g., sales, marketing, engineering) on future product trends or sales blockers, and to guide industry solutions team members in a wide variety of specialties, leveraging deep industry knowledge to articulate nuances and anticipate gaps.
Advises and presents at industry and customer communities. Provides recommendations on accounts and establishes a learning baseline for less experienced colleagues. Proactively seeks out additional training to build on career competencies, including information that adds to the understanding of customers’ businesses, and shares it with team members.
Qualifications
Attitude Requirements
Embody our culture and values.
Should have a “Can do“ attitude
Must be a strong collaborator, maturity to navigate complex and matrixed internal org with the ability to manage through influence
Building relationships in the organization is key to getting things done
Someone who demonstrates perseverance, grit and finds a compliant way to get things done, when obstacles are encountered
Should be able to lead with an “entrepreneur” and “owner mindset” and lead with accountability to bring value to customers and therefore Microsoft
Required / Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 7+ years customer-facing experience in financial services, management consulting, consultative selling, technology, or industry-relevant equivalent management or technical work experience,
OR Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Health Sciences, Supply Chain, Education, Business, or related field AND 5+ years customer-facing experience in financial services, management consulting, consultative selling, technology, or industry-relevant equivalent management or technical work experience,
OR equivalent experience.
7+ years of experience in a consultative sales, advisory, strategy, business development, transformation, or technology leadership capacity, either directly within the Banking industry or with enterprise technology, fintech, payments, data and analytics, core banking, management consulting, systems integrator, or advisory firms serving Banking clients. Experience may include work with retail banks, commercial banks, corporate banks, investment banking groups within banks, payments organizations, lending businesses, deposits, treasury services, cash management, risk, compliance, fraud, financial crime, regulatory reporting, customer experience, branch and contact center operations, digital banking, core banking modernization, or banking operations, with a focus on driving digital transformation through cloud, data, AI, Frontier AI, automation, security, and modern platform capabilities.
Additional or Preferred Qualifications (PQs)
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 10+ years customer-facing experience in financial services, or industry-relevant equivalent management or technical work experience,
OR Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, or related field AND 7+ years customer-facing experience in financial services, management consulting, consultative selling, technology, or industry-relevant equivalent management or technical work experience,
OR equivalent experience.
Experience working with Banking business leaders on transformation opportunities across areas such as retail banking, commercial banking, corporate banking, payments, lending, deposits, treasury services, cash management, customer onboarding, branch and contact center modernization, digital banking, credit decisioning, fraud and financial crime, risk management, compliance, regulatory reporting, data and analytics, core banking modernization, and banking operations.
Ability to engage senior business decision makers, shape business value propositions, and translate strategic banking priorities into technology-enabled transformation opportunities.
Working knowledge of cloud, data, AI, Frontier AI, automation, security, and modern application capabilities as applied to regulated banking and financial services environments.
Proven ability to work across account teams, solution teams, engineering, partners, consulting organizations, and senior customer stakeholders to shape complex transformation programs and drive execution.
Experience with Asian banking markets and familiarity with the Asian/Australian regulatory environment (e.g., FSA, Japanese insurance regulator).Fluency in both English and Japanese is needed.
Experience identifying, originating, or collaborating with forward-deployed or embedded engineering teams (e.g., Microsoft’s Forward Deployed Engineering / FDE motion) to co-build and scale production-grade AI and agent solutions with customers.
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.