Katy Simmons

Product, Consumer Experience & AI Operations Leader

501-680-9288  | katy@katysimmons.work | LinkedIn | Website

Operations and AI-enabled organizational design leader with 16+ years building product operating models for how organizations plan, decide, execute, and scale. Specializes in treating customer experience, support, and internal operations as products—with clear ownership, roadmaps, operating standards, and measurable outcomes. Uses AI as delegated capacity to reduce coordination overhead, improve decision quality, and accelerate execution across complex, cross-functional environments. Proven at translating ambiguity into durable operating systems that compound over time, including AI-first support ecosystems, enterprise AI enablement, and scaled operational platforms driving 400% market share growth and $20M ARR, while aligning product, engineering, legal, marketing, and operations around shared goals.

Experience

Senior Product Manager, Consumer Experience — The Weather Company | 2025–Present

  • Led transformation of consumer support into a product-led, AI-first experience with clear ownership, metrics, and operating principles

  • Designed and launched AI-first support entry, positioning the AI Agent as the primary consumer interface

  • Redesigned Support into a unified enablement hub combining troubleshooting, education, and product value

  • Defined automation confidence thresholds, AI operating procedures, and trust standards

  • Established analytics for containment, CSAT/BSAT, deflection, and content gaps to guide investment decisions

Director of AI Operations — SoundCloud | 2024–2026

  • Built and operated an AI-first operating model, aligning Product, Engineering, Legal, Marketing, Trust & Safety, and Operations

  • Established a data-driven AI roadmap surfacing highest-impact opportunities across the business

  • Centralized enterprise AI access, routing, and governance, enabling scalable automation with cost and risk controls

  • Founded and led the AI Collective, accelerating responsible experimentation without approval friction

  • Deployed AI agents for customer operations, reducing ticket volume and increasing self-resolution

  • Owned AI support strategy and operating metrics (containment, CSAT, deflection), reporting outcomes to executive leadership

  • Built reusable AI Ops patterns and guardrails that continue to scale beyond initial implementations

Mentor & Principal Program Manager — Venture Center | 2024–2024

  • Built and managed recruitment and onboarding operations for entrepreneurs across accelerator programs and mentorship platforms, improving program readiness and participation quality

  • Advised founders on product strategy, positioning, and go-to-market execution to accelerate traction and investor readiness

  • Partnered with Entrepreneurship and Innovation leadership to plan, align, and execute program delivery across multiple initiatives

  • Designed and launched a new sector-focused accelerator for energy and transportation, expanding organizational reach into emerging markets

Senior Product Manager — Apptegy | 2019–2024

  • Led an international EdTech portfolio through startup-to-scale, driving 400% market share growth (800 → 4,000 customers)

  • Contributed to sustained growth resulting in $20M ARR

  • Launched a second major product, scaling adoption from 2 to 436 customers in two years

  • Established durable product strategy and operating models that became the foundation for long-term growth

Head of Product, On-Campus — BBA Corp (acquired by Valore) | 2010–2018

  • Led national mobile and e-commerce product launches across higher education

  • Owned product roadmaps and go-to-market strategy for on-campus commerce and billing solutions

Education

  • B.S., Computer Systems Engineering — University of Arkansas at Little Rock

  • A.S., Computer Programming & Applied Science — University of Arkansas at Pulaski Tech

Leadership

  • Head Coach, Girls on the Run

  • Co-Founder & Board Director, Arkansas Women’s Outreach

  • Co-Founder, Leborne Racing