AI Principal Consultant, AI Services

What You’ll Do

Lead client engagements from strategy through execution 

• Lead complex AI and digital transformation engagements from initial diagnostic through roadmap design, implementation planning, and execution support.  
• Structure ambiguous client problems into clear hypotheses, workplans, analyses, decision points, and executive-ready deliverables.  
• Manage day-to-day engagement delivery, including workstream planning, team leadership, synthesis, quality control, issue resolution, timelines, and client communication.  
• Facilitate executive workshops and align senior stakeholders across business, technology, data, risk, and operations.  
• Serve as a trusted advisor to client leaders on where AI can create measurable value and what is required to scale it responsibly.  

2. Shape AI strategy, transformation roadmaps, and business cases 

• Identify and prioritize AI opportunities across productivity, growth, customer experience, decision-making, software delivery, and operational efficiency.  
• Conduct AI maturity and readiness assessments across strategy, data, platforms, governance, talent, process, and change management.  
• Build practical AI roadmaps that sequence pilots, platform enablers, governance actions, operating model changes, and value realization milestones.  
• Develop business cases and value-tracking approaches that connect AI initiatives to measurable client outcomes.  
• Help clients redesign workflows and operating processes to capture value from AI, automation, and agent-assisted ways of working.  

3. Partner with technical teams to move ideas into implementation 

• Translate business priorities into implementation-ready initiatives in partnership with architects, engineers, data specialists, and security/governance experts.  
• Help define pilot scope, success metrics, adoption plans, governance requirements, and scale-up pathways.  
• Ensure AI recommendations are practical, credible, and grounded in enterprise technology realities.  
• Bridge communication between executive stakeholders and technical delivery teams.  

4. Lead and develop teams 

• Lead multidisciplinary teams across one or more client workstreams.  
• Coach consultants and specialists through structured problem solving, client communication, synthesis, and executive-ready output.  
• Create a high-performance team environment with clear ownership, strong feedback, and a consistent quality bar.  
• Help build reusable methods, tools, templates, and delivery approaches for AHEAD’s AI Services practice.  

5. Support business and practice growth 

• Identify follow-on opportunities within client engagements and help shape the path from initial advisory work to broader transformation programs.  
• Contribute to proposals, solution design, client presentations, and account growth efforts.  
• Help develop AHEAD’s AI offerings, points of view, go-to-market materials, and thought leadership.  
• Stay current on enterprise AI trends, including generative AI, agentic AI, AI governance, responsible AI, AI-enabled software delivery, data platforms, and cloud ecosystems.  

What You’ll Bring

Required qualifications 

• Typically 7–12+ years of experience in management consulting, technology advisory, digital transformation, enterprise technology, AI strategy, or related client-facing roles.  
• Proven experience leading client engagements, workstreams, or project teams with senior business and technology stakeholders.  
• Strong structured problem-solving skills, including the ability to break down ambiguous problems, develop hypotheses, conduct analysis, synthesize insights, and communicate recommendations.  
• Excellent executive communication and facilitation skills, including experience creating and presenting senior-leadership-ready materials.  
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: AI strategy, digital transformation, use case prioritization, business case development, process redesign, automation, operating model design, AI governance, or technology-enabled transformation.  
• Sufficient AI and technology fluency to work credibly with business leaders, CIO / CTO organizations, architects, engineers, data teams, and risk/governance stakeholders.  
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams, coach talent, manage timelines, and maintain a high bar for client-ready work.  

Preferred qualifications 

• Background in top-tier management consulting, Big 4 advisory, technology consulting, enterprise transformation, or a similar high-performing professional services environment.  
• MBA or other advanced degree preferred.  
• Experience working with AI, data, cloud, software delivery, MLOps, responsible AI, or enterprise technology platforms.  
• Experience helping clients move from strategy and roadmap development into pilot delivery, implementation, adoption, and value realization.  
• Prior experience supporting business development, proposal development, account growth, or practice-building activities.  

What is not required 

• You do not need to be a hands-on machine learning engineer.  
• You do not need to have deep coding experience.  
• You do need to be comfortable leading business and technology conversations, asking the right questions, and translating between executive priorities and technical delivery realities.