The AI Consulting Director leads client AI engagements, ensuring strategy delivery and exceptional outcomes, while guiding cross-functional teams and managing C-suite relationships.
AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.
Role Overview
The AI Engagement Director is a senior consulting leader accountable for the successful delivery of AHEAD’s agentic AI engagements. This role owns the full lifecycle of client transformations, from strategy definition through execution oversight and value realization. The Director works directly with C-suite and senior stakeholders, shapes vision, aligns teams, removes delivery barriers, and ensures AHEAD delivers measurable, durable outcomes.
This leader blends strategic advisory, program leadership, and hands-on engagement oversight. They are responsible for making sure the work is delivered, the risks are surfaced and managed, the client experience is exceptional, and the outcomes match what was promised.
Strategic Rationale
As enterprises adopt agentic AI at scale, they need senior leadership who can translate strategy into real implementation. This role ensures clients succeed across vision setting, execution, governance, and adoption while maintaining AHEAD’s high bar for delivery excellence.
Role Scope and Focus
- Engagement Ownership and Delivery Leadership
- Own outcomes for client engagements from design through delivery
- Lead day-to-day steering, issue resolution, prioritization, and executive alignment
- Ensure program governance, risk mitigation, and predictable execution
- Strategic Advisory
- Guide definition of AI strategy, operating models, and transformation roadmaps
- Translate AI capabilities into business outcomes and actionable plans
- Executive Engagement
- Serve as a trusted advisor to C-suite leaders
- Drive decision-making, secure alignment, and shape client investment priorities
- Oversight of Multi-Disciplinary Teams
- Lead cross-functional squads across AI engineering, data, cloud, and change management
- Ensure quality of deliverables and consistency in method and approach
- Shape team structure, expectations, and execution rhythm
- Governance, Risk, and Responsible AI
- Establish and operationalize governance frameworks
- Monitor regulatory shifts, security requirements, and responsible AI best practices
- Business Alignment and Value Realization
- Define KPIs and track value delivered
- Ensure programs generate measurable impact and sustainable adoption
- Thought Leadership and Market Presence
- Represent AHEAD in client forums and industry events
- Produce insights and reusable assets that elevate AHEAD’s positioning
Key Responsibilities
- End-to-End Engagement Delivery
- Lead planning, scoping, staffing, and execution of AI engagements
- Convene steering committees, guide delivery leads, and manage critical risks
- Ensure solutions meet business requirements, technical standards, and timeline commitments
- Strategy and Roadmap Development
- Create enterprise AI strategies, operating models, and implementation plans
- Ensure strategies are actionable, measurable, and tied to financial impact
- Executive Advisory
- Facilitate client decision-making across use cases, architecture, readiness, funding, and governance
- Build and maintain senior relationships and trusted-advisor credibility
- Governance and Risk Management
- Operationalize frameworks for responsible AI, compliance, and security
- Ensure AI systems meet regulatory and ethical expectations
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Lead teams of data engineers, ML engineers, product managers, and change leaders
- Drive clarity on roles, deliverables, dependencies, and quality standards
- Support talent growth, feedback loops, and performance coaching
- Value Realization and Business Impact
- Define KPIs, track benefits, and ensure outcomes are delivered and documented
- Shape adoption plans with change and OCM teams
- Internal Enablement
- Contribute to best practices, playbooks, and reusable engagement models
- Mentor emerging leaders in consulting craft and client leadership
Must-Have Qualifications
- 10 or more years of experience in consulting or enterprise leadership roles focused on AI, analytics, or digital transformation
- Strong track record leading complex engagements with ownership of outcomes
- Proven ability to manage executive stakeholders, facilitate decisions, and resolve issues at the senior level
- Experience guiding AI or technology programs through strategy, design, and delivery
- Deep understanding of AI technologies, enterprise data platforms, and modern architectures
- Familiarity with responsible AI, governance frameworks, and risk management
- Exceptional communication skills and executive presence
- Experience leading cross-functional engineering and product teams
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with AHEAD’s ecosystem: cloud, data, platform engineering, AI platforms
- Published thought leadership in AI or digital transformation
- Certifications in AI governance, program management, or change management
- Experience delivering multi-agent or agentic automation programs
Environment and Success Metrics
- High-impact engagements with clear and measurable business outcomes
- Strong executive feedback and expanded client relationships
- Predictable delivery with low escalation rates and high team morale
- Well-defined strategies and roadmaps adopted by client leadership
- Repeatable frameworks and playbooks contributed back into AHEAD
- Visible market-facing thought leadership aligned to AHEAD’s brand
Why AHEAD:
Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.
We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.
USA Employment Benefits include:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k)
- Paid company holidays
- Paid time off
- Paid parental and caregiver leave
- Plus more! See benefits https://www.aheadbenefits.com/ for additional details.
The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.
Top Skills
AI
Analytics
Cloud
Data Platforms
Enterprise Data Architecture
AHEAD Chicago, Illinois, USA Office
401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, 60611
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