Going back to when he initiated a correspondence with the CEO of KB Toys as a child, Bryan Stromer knew he wanted a future in the business world. In this Real Humans: Alumni, he shares how the case method and more drew him to Harvard Business School, and how the MBA shaped how he thinks about his work today, launching AI products for Microsoft.
Bryan Stromer, HBS MBA ’25, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft
Age: 31
Hometown: New York City
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Vanderbilt University, Human & Organizational Development
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Product Marketing Manager, Marketing, 5 years, and technology industry and Sr Technical Product Manager, Amazon, and technology industry
Post-MBA Work Experience: Copilot Growth, Sr Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft
Why did you choose to attend business school?
I chose to attend business school because I’ve always been drawn to how businesses work.
In elementary school, my parents wanted me to practice writing letters. I didn’t know who to write to, so I sent one to the CEO of KB Toys, my favorite store, explaining why I loved it and how I thought they could improve (mainly: more toys). His secretary reached out, and we ended up having a real conversation about how KB Toys differentiated itself from Toys “R” Us.
That moment stuck with me. I realized business wasn’t just about selling things, there was strategy, positioning, and understanding people. I was hooked.
Business school felt like a way to sharpen that.
Why HBS? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I love the case method, to me they feel like a fun story. Even before HBS, I would often find myself looking for HBS cases on companies that I admired. I was thrilled to learn that as an HBS student, you can request a PDF of any HBS case for free. I took full advantage of this.
But the bigger driver for me was something more personal: I like to look for “rocket ships.”
To me, rocket ships are the environment, jobs, experiences, schools that take you somewhere you probably couldn’t get to on your own. I had a strong feeling that HBS would be one of those. It was.
One example: I worked with Chip Bergh, the former CEO of Levi’s, on an independent project about the future of retail. That led to me taking the Amtrak to Freeport, Maine, on a rainy spring day to interview the CEO of L.L.Bean and walk their flagship store with him.
It was one of those experiences that just doesn’t happen in normal life. It felt very “HBS” in the best way.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career? How do you feel that your MBA has been an asset when it comes to navigating new challenges, such as AI?
My role now is focused on launching AI products at Microsoft, and HBS really shaped how I think about that work.
In my second year, I took Launching Tech Ventures with Jeff Bussgang. He had redesigned the class around AI, and one of our assignments was to build an entire company using AI tools in under a week.
That changed how I saw AI. It stopped feeling like a feature and started feeling like a platform.
I ended up using some of those tools during my Microsoft interview process to mockup a marketing idea I had. That ability to go from idea to something tangible quickly is something I use all the time now.
More broadly, HBS made me a lot more comfortable operating in ambiguity. And with AI, that’s basically the job.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I interned at Verily (Google’s life sciences company) on their product design team, focused on accessibility and inclusion.
Before that, my experience was mostly in product marketing and technical product management, so this was my first real exposure to design. It pushed me to think more deeply about how products are actually experienced, not just how they’re positioned.
Verily is also heavily invested in AI, so it reinforced that this was a space I wanted to go deeper in.
I also really liked the environment, it had the feel of a startup, but with the backing of Google. That combination made it a great place to learn.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
Very plainly put, I have always felt cared for at Microsoft.
It’s a company that’s willing to reinvent itself, whether that was the cultural shift under Satya Nadella or now the focus on AI. But what’s stayed consistent is a focus on building products that help people at scale. I like being part of that.
I was a little hesitant to return because I do think there’s value in experiencing different companies. But a mentor encouraged me to look at what Microsoft was building in AI, and I’m glad I did.
Now I get to work on products that are shaping how people interact with technology every day. And as a bonus, my broader team actually has an AI research partnership with HBS. I always smile when HBS comes up in meetings.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Take my time.
One of my mentors, Angela Crispi, really pushed me to focus on finding the right role, not just the first offer. That made a big difference. I’ve seen people land quickly and realize it’s not a great fit. I waited longer, and I’m really happy with where I ended up.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
I wouldn’t compare myself to my peers as much.
I didn’t finalize my role until early fall, and it was easy to feel behind when others had things locked in months earlier. In hindsight, that didn’t matter at all. Fit matters way more than timing.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
How important your network is.
People I had worked with at Microsoft before were incredibly supportive during the process. It was a good reminder that relationships compound over time and they matter when it counts.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
The MBA is going to be busy no matter what. You’re not going to do everything.
The simple filter I used was: What am I going to remember in ten years?
That helped me prioritize the things that mattered to me, instead of just what felt urgent in the moment.
