Director, AI and Emerging Technology

Emergent Holdings•Lansing, MI

5d•$187,660 - $314,325

About The Position

The Director, AI and Emerging Technology translates AF Group’s business strategy into AI and emerging technology execution that delivers measurable business value. The role partners with business leaders to define opportunities, build business cases, prioritize use cases, and develop an execution roadmap from evaluation through production adoption. It leads cross-functional delivery in partnership with Information Security, Platform, Application, and Data teams, and works closely with the Center of Excellence (CoE) and governance partners to apply established capabilities, standards, and responsible AI requirements. The position facilitates CoE operations but does not own governance functions. It provides strategic leadership, manages delivery resources and budgets, and develops leaders and team members to advance adoption, execution excellence, and value realization. The role evaluates AI and emerging technologies, including generative AI, machine learning, and intelligent automation, and leads focused proofs of value to determine whether initiatives should be scaled, refined, or discontinued. It coordinates delivery from discovery and experimentation through production deployment, including release readiness, support handoffs, and ongoing performance monitoring. It also partners with business owners and Learning and Development to redesign workflows, support training and change management, and drive adoption of AI-enabled solutions. The position directly supervises employees and performs related management responsibilities, including hiring, training, assigning and directing work, performance appraisal, and resolving employee concerns. The description indicates that duties may include other assignments and is not an exhaustive list.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Data Science, Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Computer Science, Operations Research, or a related field.
At least 9 years of related work experience, including translating business priorities into technology execution, leading cross-functional delivery, and implementing AI or related emerging technology solutions.
Advanced communication skills for explaining AI opportunities, limitations, delivery trade-offs, and business outcomes to executive, business, and technical audiences.
Advanced relationship-building, influence, and negotiation skills to align stakeholders on priorities, decisions, resources, and shared delivery commitments.
Advanced change management and strategy development skills, including workflow transformation, workforce readiness, adoption, business cases, use-case prioritization, execution roadmaps, and value measurement.
Expert execution and problem-solving skills, including leading cross-functional initiatives from experimentation through production, coordinating operational readiness and support, and evaluating technology risks and trade-offs.
Working knowledge of generative AI and machine learning solution lifecycles, evaluation methods, data quality, application integration, and production monitoring.
Working knowledge of cloud platforms, AI services, and scalable solution architectures, and ability to apply established security, privacy, and responsible AI requirements in partnership with designated owners.
Advanced project and portfolio management skills, including roadmap planning, dependency management, budgeting, delivery risk management, and benefits realization.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or PhD in a related field.
Previous experience working in the P&C Insurance industry.
Familiarity with Python, SQL, relational databases, ETL, and DevOps/MLOps practices.

Responsibilities

Translate business strategy and operational needs into AI and emerging technology opportunities, business cases, and measurable outcomes with business leaders.
Evaluate AI and emerging technologies for business fit, maturity, scalability, cost, and risk; lead proofs of value and recommend whether initiatives should be scaled, refined, or discontinued.
Lead cross-functional execution with Information Security, Platform, Application, and Data teams, aligning security requirements, architecture, infrastructure, application integration, and data needs.
Coordinate delivery from discovery and experimentation through production deployment; establish release readiness, support handoffs, and ongoing performance monitoring with delivery and operational owners.
Identify and prioritize use cases based on strategic alignment, expected value, feasibility, data readiness, risk, and delivery capacity.
Establish success measures and an execution roadmap with milestones, dependencies, and accountable partners.
Partner with business owners and Learning and Development to redesign workflows, support training and change management, and drive adoption of AI-enabled solutions.
Track adoption and business results against agreed success measures.
Facilitate and lead the cross-functional AI CoE; partner with governance and business partners to use reusable capabilities, implementation patterns, and approved standards.
Incorporate required reviews and responsible AI controls into delivery without assuming ownership of governance functions or CoE operations.
Manage delivery resources and budgets, and develop leaders and team members.
Supervise employees, including interviewing, hiring, training, planning and directing work, appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining employees, addressing complaints, and resolving problems.