Lead Rackspace's AI strategy and execution with P&L accountability: improve internal productivity and cost discipline, build monetizable customer AI offerings, maintain market intelligence, and run a lean AI Labs to incubate commercial IP aligned to GTM.
Rackspace is at an inflection point. AI is no longer a supporting theme — it is the central strategic lever for how we operate, compete, and grow. This role exists because AI requires more than executive sponsorship; it requires a full-time operator with authority, financial accountability, and the discipline to convert narrative into measurable impact.
The Chief AI Officer will own four interconnected mandates: driving internal productivity and cost discipline, building monetizable customer AI offerings, maintaining strategic market intelligence, and incubating focused AI IP through a lean Labs function. This is a P&L-accountable role with cross-functional authority across IT, Product, Engineering, and Delivery — and compensation tied directly to outcomes. Reports directly to the CEO.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Internal Productivity and Cost Discipline
- Own and drive engineering productivity lift targets, measured through cycle time, code velocity, and defect reduction
- Lead AI-driven cost reduction initiatives across IT and support functions
- Conduct a full audit and rationalization of Rackspace's AI licensing footprint, eliminating duplicative programs and spend
- Report quarterly on quantified productivity gains with results tied directly to compensation milestones
2. Customer AI Offerings and Sales Plays
- Define and launch 3–5 standardized AI sales plays segmented by vertical and workload within the first 6 months
- Translate Rackspace's private cloud and AI runtime capabilities into packaged go-to-market motions
- Embed AI positioning into key partner relationships including VMware, Palantir, Uniphore, and Rubrik
- Equip the Sales organization with clear AI messaging, competitive framing, and active deal support
- Establish tracking infrastructure for AI-influenced pipeline and revenue attribution
3. Market Intelligence and Strategic Translation
- Monitor model releases, inference economics, developer ecosystem shifts, and AI governance developments on a continuous basis
- Translate market shifts into concrete strategy adjustments within 30–60 days of identification
- Advise the CEO, marketing leadership, and Board on AI competitive positioning and narrative
- Drive AI messaging alignment across earnings communications, analyst relations, and partner narratives
- Deliver a formal competitive brief to the CEO and Board on a quarterly cadence
4. AI Labs and Incubation
- Lead a lean AI Labs function with a bias toward speed and commercial relevance
- Incubate 1–2 focused, defensible IP assets per year aligned to GTM priorities
- Apply rigorous ROI discipline — kill low-return experiments quickly and reallocate resources
- Ensure Labs output directly supports customer-facing revenue strategy, not standalone research
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related technical field required
- Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in AI, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related field strongly preferred
- 15+ years of progressive technology leadership, with at least 7 years in senior roles operating at the intersection of AI, cloud infrastructure, and commercial strategy
- Demonstrated track record of translating AI initiatives into quantifiable business outcomes — revenue generated, costs reduced, efficiency delivered
- Experience operating in or alongside managed services, cloud, or enterprise infrastructure businesses strongly preferred
- Prior P&L ownership or accountability for a business unit, product line, or cost center
- Deep fluency in the current AI landscape: foundation models, inference infrastructure, agent frameworks, AI governance, and enterprise deployment patterns
- Ability to operate simultaneously as strategist, operator, and commercial leader — without losing effectiveness in any mode
- Strong executive communication skills; able to advise a Board, align a sales force, and challenge an engineering team in the same week
- Financial discipline: comfortable building business cases, owning targets, and reporting results with rigor
- Partner ecosystem fluency, particularly with hyperscalers, infrastructure ISVs, and AI platform vendors
- Comfortable making decisions with incomplete information in a fast-moving market
- Earns cross-functional trust quickly; can lead without direct control
- Holds themselves and their team to high standards; ties effort to outcomes relentlessly
"Remote postings are limited to candidates residing within the country specified in the posting location"
About Rackspace Technology
We are the multicloud solutions experts. We combine our expertise with the world’s leading technologies — across applications, data and security — to deliver end-to-end solutions. We have a proven record of advising customers based on their business challenges, designing solutions that scale, building and managing those solutions, and optimizing returns into the future. Named a best place to work, year after year according to Fortune, Forbes and Glassdoor, we attract and develop world-class talent. Join us on our mission to embrace technology, empower customers and deliver the future.
More on Rackspace Technology
Though we’re all different, Rackers thrive through our connection to a central goal: to be a valued member of a winning team on an inspiring mission. We bring our whole selves to work every day. And we embrace the notion that unique perspectives fuel innovation and enable us to best serve our customers and communities around the globe. We welcome you to apply today and want you to know that we are committed to offering equal employment opportunity without regard to age, color, disability, gender reassignment or identity or expression, genetic information, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, military or veteran status, nationality, ethnic or national origin, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any legally protected characteristic. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
Top Skills
Agent Frameworks
Ai Governance
Ai Platforms
Ai Runtime
Foundation Models
Hyperscalers
Inference Infrastructure
Palantir
Private Cloud
Rubrik
Uniphore
VMware
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