AI COE Lead

About the Client:

A leading global IT services and technology distribution company.

Role
:
Artificial Intelligence - Centre of Excellence Lead (AI COE Lead)

Location
: Chennai

Role Summary:

The
AI Lead
will champion the enterprise-wide adoption and strategic deployment of Artificial Intelligence, with a strong emphasis on
Generative AI
and scalable
LLMOps
. This is a critical leadership role responsible for translating complex business challenges into high-impact, production-ready AI/ML solutions. You will be instrumental in building a robust AI innovation pipeline, leading a high-performing technical team, and defining the architecture required for secure, ethical, and performant AI systems that drive significant business transformation and efficiency.

Responsibilities & Deliverables

1. Generative AI Strategy & Architecture

2. Establish and Own the Generative AI Stack:
   Architect and implement a complete Generative AI ecosystem, encompassing fine-tuned Large Language Models (LLMs), domain-specific knowledge graphs, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems.

3. LLM Development and Optimization:
   Lead the development, training, and fine-tuning of proprietary LLMs using advanced techniques to ensure relevance and accuracy for business operations.

4. Data Foundation:
   Design and enforce an
   enterprise-level data architecture
   and data governance strategy (clean, complete, and accessible data) essential for fueling advanced AI/ML and analytics.

5. MLOps & Production Scaling

6. Scalable AI Infrastructure:
   Direct the implementation of
   LLMOps
   and robust MLOps practices to achieve seamless, automated deployment, monitoring, and versioning of all AI/ML models across enterprise systems.

7. Performance Engineering:
   Optimize inference pipelines and AI model efficiency using frameworks like
   ONNX
   and
   DeepSpeed
   to ensure low-latency, high-throughput performance in production.

8. System Integration:
   Ensure secure and resilient integration of AI services and APIs with core business applications and existing infrastructure.

9. Team Leadership & Business Impact

10. Technical Leadership:
    Recruit, mentor, and lead a diverse team of
    Data Scientists, AI Engineers, and MLOps Professionals
    , fostering a culture of technical excellence, accountability, and continuous learning.

11. Business Automation:
    Identify and execute AI-powered automation initiatives that result in measurable improvements in operational efficiency, workflow simplification, and enhanced business decision-making.
12. Ethical AI & Compliance:
    Define and uphold standards for
    AI Ethics, bias mitigation
    , and regulatory compliance in all AI solution designs and deployments.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Educational Background

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related quantitative field.

Essential Technical Expertise

• Extensive experience in leading and shipping enterprise-scale AI/ML products.
• Deep, demonstrable expertise in
  Generative AI, LLMs, and RAG systems
  .
• Hands-on, production-level experience
  with MLOps and LLMOps practices (e.g., orchestration, CI/CD for ML, monitoring).
• Expert proficiency in major AI/ML frameworks:
  PyTorch, TensorFlow
  , and optimization frameworks like
  ONNX or DeepSpeed
  .
• Proven experience in
  NLP, Computer Vision, or time-series AI solutions
  .
• Strong background in cloud-native AI development and services (e.g., AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, Google AI Platform) is a significant advantage.

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex AI concepts and strategies to both technical teams and non-technical
  Senior Leadership/Stakeholders
  .
• Proven track record of driving
  tangible business impact
  through deployed AI solutions.
• Exceptional team leadership, mentorship, and project management capabilities.