Chief AI Office

About the Client

The customer is a long-term owner and operator of established software companies serving specialized vertical markets. The organization focuses on acquiring resilient and proven products, with clear opportunities for sustained expansion, supporting them in strengthening their competitive position and leadership in their respective niches.

Its portfolio spans multiple categories of enterprise software, including human capital systems, fleet and mobility technologies, asset and infrastructure management platforms, digital healthcare solutions, document and workflow management tools, and other purpose-built software that serves regulated and mission-critical environments. The client is backed by experienced investors and advisors with a track record of building and expanding software businesses to significant levels of recurring revenue and driving lasting value creation.

About the Opportunity

As Chief AI Office, you'll be responsible for identifying, deploying, and scaling practical AI initiatives across a portfolio of vertical-market software businesses. The position is focused on driving measurable economic impact through AI, enhancing products, improving internal efficiency, and creating reusable AI approaches that can be adopted by multiple operating companies while preserving their autonomy.

This is not a centralized role of research or experimentation. Success is defined by speed to value, real-world adoption, and tangible business results achieved at the operating enterprise level.

Main Responsibilities

AI Strategy and Value Creation

• Develop and execute a portfolio-wide AI strategy, aligned with long-term value creation, customer retention, and operational efficiency.
• Identify high-impact AI applications across internal products and workflows, including pricing optimization, customer support, forecasting, data abandonment mitigation, compliance processes, and workflow automation.
• Prioritize initiatives based on return on investment, technical feasibility, data readiness, and repeatability across industries.

Product and Platform Enablement

• Partner with product leaders in operating companies to embed AI capabilities into existing software products, rather than rebuilding platforms.
• Create shared AI frameworks, reusable patterns, and reference architectures that can be leveraged across the portfolio.
• Support build-vs-buy decisions related to AI tools, models, and infrastructure.

Operating Enterprise Support (Decentralized Model)

• Act as a trusted advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and product leaders across the portfolio.
• Enable adoption through practical frameworks, manuals, and proven results, rather than centralized mandates.
• Provide hands-on guidance during early pilots and support transitions from prototype to production.

Data, Governance and Risk Management

• Establish pragmatic governance standards for AI covering data privacy, security, model risk, and regulatory requirements such as SOC 2 and GDPR, where applicable.
• Ensure that AI-enabled solutions are transparent, auditable, and suitable for critical software environments.
• Promote the responsible and sustainable use of AI, aligned with customer trust and long-term ownership principles.

Talent and Capacity Development

• Build AI literacy across the portfolio through training programs, manuals, and shared best practices.
• Support operating companies in hiring, assessing, and developing AI-related talent.
• Collaborate closely with existing engineering and analytics teams, rather than creating a large, centralized AI organization.

Measures of Success

• Demonstrable EBITDA improvement or cost savings driven by AI initiatives
• Customer adoption and value gained from AI-enabled product capabilities
• Reusable AI solutions successfully implemented across multiple operating companies
• Speed from idea to pilot to production
• Operational company satisfaction and voluntary adoption

Ideal Candidate Profile

Basic Qualifications

• At least five years of experience in software, data, analytics, or AI roles, ideally in B2B SaaS software environments or vertical markets.
• Proven experience in delivering production AI solutions with clear and measurable impact to the business.
• Strong understanding of modern AI and machine learning approaches, including large language models, predictive analytics, and automation, without relying on use cases based on hype.
• Experience working in decentralized, multi-company or private equity-backed contexts.
• Ability to translate technical concepts into business value for non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in vertical market software such as ERP, industry-specific SaaS, or mission-critical systems.
• Experience in product management, platform engineering, or analytics leadership roles.
• Familiarity with long-term ownership or investment models of purchase and conservation.
• Exposure to regulated or compliance-oriented industries.

Personal Attributes

• Highly pragmatic, execution-focused, and ROI-oriented.
• Comfortable influencing outcomes without formal authority.
• Long-term thinker aligned with models of permanent ownership of capital.
• Low-ego employee who respects the autonomy of the operating company.
• Trend toward simplicity, maintainability, and durability rather than experimentation with no clear business value.