Principal AI Architect

Job Description

Role Summary

We are seeking a Principal AI Architect to lead VT Netzwelt's AI-first transformation. You will bridge business challenges with enterprise AI solutions, serving as a trusted advisor to clients while providing technical leadership across our AI practice.

The ideal candidate has a strong foundation in traditional AI and has successfully transitioned into enterprise Generative AI. You should combine deep software engineering, solution architecture and consulting experience to design scalable, secure and production-ready AI platforms.

This role combines enterprise architecture, client consulting, technical leadership and pre-sales, helping customers define AI strategy, architect solutions and successfully adopt AI at scale.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic AI Advisory & Readiness

• Lead AI discovery workshops and readiness assessments.

• Assess business processes, data maturity and technology landscape.

• Develop AI adoption roadmaps with measurable business outcomes.

• Advise executive stakeholders on AI strategy and transformation.

Outcome-Driven Solution Architecture

• Architect end-to-end AI platforms that solve business problems.

• Produce HLDs, LLDs, architecture documentation and implementation roadmaps.

• Design secure, scalable cloud-native solutions following modern engineering practices.

• Balance business value, scalability, maintainability and operational excellence.

Enterprise AI Transformation

• Integrate AI with CRM, ERP, eCommerce and enterprise platforms.

• Define API-first, event-driven and distributed architectures.

• Design production deployments emphasizing scalability, resilience and governance.

Generative AI & Agentic AI Leadership

• Architect enterprise GenAI solutions including RAG, AI Assistants, Enterprise Search and Agentic AI.

• Design modern agent ecosystems using MCP, A2A, tool calling, workflow orchestration, long-running agents, memory strategies and human-in-the-loop workflows.

• Define production standards covering evaluation pipelines, prompt versioning, guardrails, hallucination mitigation, AI observability, model routing, benchmarking and inference cost optimization.

• Recommend appropriate LLMs, orchestration frameworks and deployment strategies.

Software Engineering Excellence

• Establish engineering standards covering Git, branching, code reviews, CI/CD, automated testing, secure SDLC, Infrastructure as Code and documentation.

• Standardize AI lifecycle management including deployment, prompt versioning, evaluation automation and release management.

• Ensure AI systems are production-ready, maintainable, observable and reusable.

• Mentor engineering teams and promote engineering excellence.

Client Consulting & Pre-Sales

• Lead discovery workshops, technical consulting and AI strategy engagements.

• Collaborate with Sales during pre-sales, solutioning and proposal development.

• Translate business challenges into scalable AI architectures.

• Present AI strategy and solution roadmaps to executive and C-suite stakeholders.

Change Management & Adoption

• Guide enterprise AI adoption and organizational transformation.

• Support implementation, rollout and adoption of AI-driven business processes.

Technical Leadership & Governance

• Define enterprise AI architecture standards, design reviews and engineering governance.

• Establish Responsible AI, security, privacy, explainability, model governance, data lineage, AI risk management and compliance-by-design practices.

• Ensure compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2 and emerging AI regulations including the EU AI Act.

• Mentor architects and engineers while driving technical excellence and innovation.

Required Skills & Competencies

Experience

• 12+ years in software engineering, architecture or enterprise technology.

• 10+ years delivering traditional AI/ML solutions.

• 2-3 years building enterprise GenAI applications.

• Proven experience architecting enterprise-scale AI platforms.

Consultative Mindset

• Strong client-facing consulting and executive communication skills.

• Ability to translate business challenges into practical AI solutions and articulate measurable ROI.

Solution Architecture

• Experience producing enterprise architectures, technical proposals and implementation roadmaps.

• Strong understanding of distributed systems, API-first integration and cloud-native design.

Client Engagement

• Experience in discovery workshops, AI readiness assessments, technical consulting, pre-sales, solution presentations, proposal development and executive stakeholder engagement.

Technical Expertise Required

Traditional AI & Machine Learning

• Strong expertise in Computer Vision, NLP, Predictive Analytics, Recommendation Systems or related AI domains, including production ML pipelines, evaluation methodologies and MLOps.

Generative AI

• Hands-on experience with core Python, enterprise GenAI, RAG, Agentic AI, LLM orchestration (LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI or equivalent), evaluation frameworks, AI observability, guardrails and production monitoring.

Software Engineering

• Expertise in Git, CI/CD, automated testing, API development, microservices, design patterns, secure coding and Agile development.

Cloud & Platform Engineering

• Experience deploying enterprise AI on Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker and Vertex AI using Docker, Kubernetes, Infrastructure as Code and cloud-native deployment practices.

Enterprise Systems

• Experience integrating AI with CRM, ERP, eCommerce and enterprise platforms using modern APIs and distributed architectures.

Governance & Security

• Strong understanding of Responsible AI, explainability, model governance, AI risk management, data lineage, enterprise security, GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2 and AI regulatory frameworks, including protection against prompt injection and data leakage.

Preferred Skills

• Experience establishing enterprise AI standards, reusable frameworks and AI practice governance.

• Expertise in AI observability, automated evaluation, benchmarking, guardrails and production monitoring.

• Familiarity with MCP, A2A and advanced agent orchestration.

• Experience optimizing AI platforms for scalability, latency and cost.

• Industry experience in Healthcare, Retail, eCommerce, FinTech or EdTech.

• Strong executive communication skills with experience leading architecture reviews, AI strategy workshops and C-suite engagements.

About the Team

Our AI team focuses on building practical, purpose-driven solutions that integrate seamlessly into real-world business environments. We design and deploy generative AI systems that are technically robust, scalable, and aligned with business needs—enhancing efficiency without disrupting existing workflows. From identifying the right use cases to developing and refining solutions, we emphasize responsible innovation and delivering long-term value.

Why Join Us

• Opportunity to work on impactful projects for global clients

• Collaborative, growth-oriented, and learning-driven work environment

• Strong focus on career development and continuous upskilling

• Exposure to modern technologies, tools, and best practices