Nick Simons

I'm a product leader with over 25 years at Microsoft, most recently building Fluid Framework, the platform where AI agents and humans collaborate on shared, structured data in real time.

Outside of work, I'm building Piggy Banks Online.

Product strategy and design, prototyping, TypeScript, React, SwiftUI, AI agents
Experience
2026 - Present
Piggy Banks Online
Founder and Partner

Building Piggy Banks Online, a novel approach to personal money management based on a system I've used successfully since my 20s.

2019 - Present
Microsoft
Principal Product Manager

Led product for the Fluid Framework – a platform purpose-built for AI agents and humans to collaborate on shared, structured data in real time.

2012 - 2019
Microsoft
Principal PM Manager

Managed a team of PMs instrumental in designing and delivering Office on the Web.

Collaborated across org. boundaries to integrate Office with Microsoft Teams and Outlook.

Drove the modernization and simplification of the entire Office web user experience.

Architect of the program that allows 3rd-party file storage hosts to integrate with Office web and mobile endpoints. This program includes 100s of partners and accounts for 15% of Office web usage.

Led the modernization of a large-scale web service including moving from discrete hardware to Azure and the transition from a traditional update cadence to continuous delivery.

2001 - 2012
Microsoft
Senior Program Manager

Drove integration between Office on the Web and SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Exchange Online.

Delivered an on-premise version of the Office service for enterprises not ready to move to the Cloud.

Modernized Office comments and brought them into Office on the Web.

Designed the first web-based Office experiences for delivering help, templates, and clipart.

Owned and ultimately removed the Office Assistant (Clippy) from Office. Yes, I killed Clippy.

1999 - 2001
Microsoft
User Education Manager

Managed a team of Programmer Writers who delivered the technical documentation for the object models of all Microsoft Office products.

1998 - 1999
Bell Canada
Senior Project Manager

Drove the development of Bell Canada's first browser-based employee survey.

1995 - 1998
Corel
Documentation Manager

Managed a team of writers delivering documentation for the suite of Corel graphics products.

1994 - 1995
The Fulcrum
Production Manager

Designed and produced a weekly newspaper with a circulation of 10,000 and a largely volunteer staff of about 50.

Education
1990 - 1994
University of Ottawa
BA (hon.) in Philosophy

Magna Cum Laude – Focus on Logic, Philosophy of Science, Cognitive Science, and Moral Philosophy

© Nick Simons