AI Innovation Specialist

Lakeshirts•Detroit Lakes, MN

1d•Onsite

About The Position

At Lakeshirts, we are committed to building the future and leveraging AI systems to enhance workflows, speed up turnaround times, and transform operations. This role supports our commitment to Continuous Improvement by exploring and experimenting with AI to identify opportunities for innovation and empower teams. The AI Innovation Specialist will discover where AI can make the biggest changes, document findings, and collaborate with teams to implement practical AI solutions. Reporting to the IT manager, this role involves working across departments to ask questions, run pilots, and turn promising ideas into reality. While project management remains with the PMO and department teams, the specialist's primary focus is applying AI expertise to existing systems to improve work quality.

Requirements

1+ years of experience working with AI tools, automation platforms, or emerging technology in a business setting.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate, test and clearly communicate the value of new technologies.
Strong analytical thinking able to spot inefficiency and frame an AI solution without overcomplicating it.
Hands-on experience with AI platforms, prompt engineering or automation tools (technical comfort is a must).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills able to present findings to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Curious and collaborative, must be comfortable working alongside different teams to come up with ideas and create lean processes.
Must love dogs.

Nice To Haves

Manufacturing, operations, or apparel industry experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

Research, evaluate and pilot emerging AI tools and technologies relevant to Lakeshirts' business operations.
Identify opportunities where AI can reduce manual effort, improve quality, or accelerate output in partnership with department teams.
Design and run structured AI pilots, document results and present clear recommendations to the IT manager.
Build and test AI prompts, workflows and automation scripts to validate concepts before broader rollout.
Partner with the IT manager to prioritize AI initiatives and communicate progress to leadership.
Stay up to date on new and existing AI tools, models and best practices bringing relevant insights back to the team.
Support team members across the organization in understanding and effectively using new AI tools.
Collaborate with departments and teams to understand their work and explore where AI fits in existing processes.
Perform additional duties as assigned to support the company's value of Team.