Director of AI Practice

About Motivus: At Motivus, we believe in unlocking human potential through innovative, cutting-edge solutions. With over 1,600 team members across 5 countries, we provide a full spectrum of software and digital services. Our teams are dedicated to driving sustainability, pushing the boundaries of technology, and building the next generation of world-class digital solutions that empower our clients and make a lasting impact. As part of our team, you'll work alongside forward-thinking professionals committed to creating groundbreaking solutions that shape the future of the industry. About the Role: Oversees the practice's strategy and execution. Builds high-level relationships with client-side decision-makers (e.g., VPs of Engineering, CIOs) and becomes a key influencer in client discussions. Supports the Delivery team by advocating for complex solutions and ensuring client-side understanding and engagement. Contributes to Sales and Solutioning efforts on strategic pursuits, ensuring practice offerings align with client needs. Key Responsibilities: Vision & Strategy Define long-term AI/ML and practice-wide strategic roadmaps aligned with business and client needs. Select architectures, technologies, and offerings that position the practice for market relevance and innovation. Balance performance, cost, and risk in technical and business decision-making. Architecture & Innovation Architect scalable, distributed systems for real-time inference and large-scale training. Lead R&D initiatives, including prototyping of advanced methods (e.g., LLMs, meta-learning), and evaluate their feasibility. Drive the adoption of emerging technologies and ensure their integration into practice offerings and accelerators. Leadership & Talent Development Mentor senior engineers and key practice leaders; establish engineering standards and promote best practices. Develop team growth strategies, aligning career paths with Guild goals and retention initiatives. Lead team assignment strategies and hiring efforts to optimize talent deployment and close skill gaps. Business Development & Technical Sales Define and lead the practice's technical sales strategy; identify growth opportunities and drive expansion in key accounts. Deliver strategic demos, represent technical offerings in client conversations, and establish partnerships that enhance market presence. Professional Services & Client Advisory Oversee the delivery of high-quality consulting services, ensuring solutions are aligned with client strategies and long-term objectives. Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client leaders, guiding them on technology and AI strategy. Qualifications Education & Experience Master's or Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, or a closely related field. 10+ years of hands-on experience delivering production-grade ML/AI systems, with at least 8 years in a strategic or leadership role. Technical Expertise Deep knowledge of machine learning and AI frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, JAX), with expertise in model development, training, and deployment. Strong background in: Distributed computing and parallelization (e.g., Spark, Ray, Kubernetes). GPU/TPU acceleration and optimization techniques. MLOps best practices, including CI/CD pipelines, model monitoring, versioning, and retraining workflows. Cloud architecture proficiency in at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP), with familiarity across others. Strategic & Emerging Tech Leadership Demonstrated ability to define and execute ML/AI strategies aligned to business goals and technology roadmaps. Experience with advanced AI domains, such as: Foundation models (e.g., LLMs, Vision Transformers). Federated learning, edge AI, or privacy-preserving ML. Generative AI and reinforcement learning. Prompt Engineering and LLMs Fine-Tuning Agentic AI Workflows Thought leadership evidenced by Conference presentations, workshops, or keynotes. Contributions to open-source projects or peer-reviewed publications. Industry collaborations or patent filings. Organizational & Practice Leadership Proven success in leading global engineering teams or AI centers of excellence. Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills to interface with executive clients, partners, and technical teams. Ability to mentor senior engineers and set best-in-class engineering standards across the organization Our Values: Culture of Innovation: We pursue innovation relentlessly, encouraging our teams to explore new ideas and technologies. Responsibility: We give back to the communities that support us and our clients. Learning & Development: Our employees lead, learn, and grow, supporting themselves and our clients. Motivus is an equal opportunity employer and encourages diversity and inclusion in the workplace.