Valerie Sun

Current Work

Researching & procuring third-party AI tools

I currently work as a Product Manager at a financial services company, where I lead research and discovery for third-party artificial intelligence tools. My focus is identifying AI solutions that create real business value while meeting the rigorous security, risk, and regulatory standards our industry demands — from initial market scan through pilot and rollout.

Third-party AI tool research and procurement process: 1) Governance and Policy Alignment, 2) Stakeholder Needs-Gathering, 3) Vendor Evaluation and Scoring, 4) Security, Risk and Compliance Review, 5) Pilot / POC, 6) Business Case and Procurement, 7) Cross-Functional Rollout
A recurring cycle for every new AI tool under consideration
See the full process
  1. Governance & Policy Alignment — Review the opportunity with our AI governance and technology review board to confirm it aligns with internal standards and policy.
  2. Stakeholder Needs-Gathering — Partner with internal stakeholders to define use cases, requirements, and success criteria.
  3. Vendor Evaluation & Scoring — Run vendor demos and RFPs, and score options against a structured comparison scorecard.
  4. Security, Risk & Compliance Review — Coordinate with InfoSec and legal to assess data privacy, model risk, and regulatory fit.
  5. Pilot / POC — Run a proof-of-concept with shortlisted tools and measure results against defined criteria.
  6. Business Case & Procurement — Build the ROI/business case and support contract negotiation through procurement.
  7. Cross-Functional Rollout — Plan integration and adoption with engineering and operations teams.