AI Solution Architect

Shelf • New York, NY

7h • Onsite

About The Position

The AI Solution Architect is Shelf's solution design authority in customer-facing engagements, translating complex enterprise data and GenAI challenges into concrete, deployable architectures. This role combines deep expertise in AI systems, enterprise architecture, and data modeling with the ability to engage senior technical stakeholders and design end-to-end solutions that prove measurable value and scale into production.
You'll engage early in the sales cycle, leading pre-sales technical conversations on architecture, security, and deployment strategy with senior prospect and customer stakeholders. Operating at a high level, you'll run technical discovery, design the target solution, and guide proof-of-value pilots that demonstrate Shelf's value on a prospect's real data, working directly alongside Engineering throughout. Beyond the initial win, you'll define the reference architecture that guides production rollout and expansion.
Reporting to the Field CTO, you'll partner with Account Executives throughout the sales cycle, with primary responsibility during technical evaluation and pilots. You'll collaborate with Customer Success through deal closing, onboarding, and initial enablement, and contribute to our land-and-expand growth strategy by architecting solutions that grow within existing accounts. Your insights from the field will feed directly into product direction through structured feedback to our CTO and Product leadership.

Requirements

• 8-12+ years in solutions architecture, technical pre-sales, enterprise architecture, or data/AI engineering in customer-facing roles
• Strong solution design and enterprise architecture experience, including security and deployment considerations
• Strong expertise in data modeling, data platforms, and ETL/data pipelines
• Strong, current command of AI/GenAI technologies (LLMs, RAG, agent-based systems)
• Deep understanding of enterprise data platforms and cloud architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Technical enough to be hands-on when needed; familiarity with scripting (Python) and modern AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) a plus
• Proven track record engaging senior technical stakeholders in customer-facing roles with demonstrated sales impact
• Exceptional presentation and communication skills with technical and executive audiences
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or related field
• Experience in B2B SaaS, AI/ML, or data quality solutions preferred

Nice To Haves

• Experience with knowledge graphs, ontologies, or semantic technologies strongly preferred

Responsibilities

• Lead pre-sales technical conversations on architecture, security, and deployment strategy with senior prospect and customer stakeholders
• Lead solution design and technical discovery, translating customer data architectures, GenAI initiatives, and integration requirements into concrete target architectures
• Design and guide proof-of-value pilots that prove measurable value on customer data, working directly alongside Engineering
• Define reference architectures and solution designs that guide production rollout and scale within accounts
• Present solutions to Enterprise Architects, Data Leaders, AI/ML Engineers, and senior technical decision-makers, translating technical capabilities into business value
• Support Account Executives throughout sales cycles with primary ownership during technical evaluation and pilot phases
• Collaborate with Customer Success through deal closing, onboarding, and initial enablement
• Support existing customer expansion opportunities as part of our land-and-expand strategy
• Build reusable ontology templates, reference architectures, and solution best practices in collaboration with the Field CTO and Engineering
• Provide structured field feedback to CTO and Product leadership to influence roadmap and strategic direction

Benefits

• Competitive salary, equity, & benefits
• Realistic, clearly communicated expectations
• Team-wide aligned values and goals
• Comprehensive health and wellness packages

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior