Director, Data & AI Architect

Salesforce•Austin, TX

3d•$216,370 - $289,380

About The Position

About Salesforce Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all. Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce. The Data & AI Architecture team is an innovative group of technical architects at the heart of Salesforce's newest innovations: Data360 and Agentforce. They do not just work with today's technology. They help customers architect for what comes next. This is a startup within a massive organization, focused on next-generation Data + AI + CRM + Analytics at Salesforce. This team sits at the center of our GTM strategy, connecting the dots between Data & AI Products, Product Marketing, Enablement, Customer Success & Support, and the Partner Ecosystem. But their impact does not stop at the sale. This team operates across the full customer lifecycle, helping ensure customers do not just buy Data360 and Agentforce, but genuinely succeed with them.

Requirements

You are a people builder and architecture leader, with a proven ability to scale deep technical talent:
10+ years in Solution Engineering, Technical Architecture, Technical Sales, or related technical GTM leadership across Data, Analytics, and AI domains.
Demonstrated success hiring, developing, and scaling teams of senior technical architects or equivalent customer-facing technical leaders.
BS in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or equivalent experience; advanced degree preferred.
Strong technical credibility across enterprise data platforms, AI/ML concepts, integration patterns, and Salesforce architecture, including practical familiarity with Agentforce, Data360, and the broader Salesforce platform.
Working knowledge of agent interoperability standards, for example MCP and A2A, and the broader external agent ecosystem, enough to coach architects, evaluate new patterns, and shape Salesforce's architectural point of view.
Understanding of agent design, prompt and instruction patterns, evaluation strategy, and applied Generative AI, enough to set standards and review the work of senior architects in these areas.
Proven ability to engage and influence C-level executives, including CDOs, CIOs, and CTOs, while remaining grounded in hands-on architectural realities.
Data-driven leader with a history of defining and outperforming against technical GTM metrics such as architectural win rates, attach influence, reusable asset adoption, and time-to-value for AI and data initiatives.
Experience driving success inside large, matrixed enterprise sales organizations.
Track record of leadership recognition, customer impact, and measurable business outcomes.
Deep understanding of enterprise data governance, industry-specific data challenges, modern architectural patterns, and complex integration strategies across heterogeneous environments.
Exceptional communicator and storyteller, able to translate complex Data and AI architectures into executive-level value narratives.
Ability to scale impact through reusable patterns, AI-native workflows, and strong operating discipline, not just by adding headcount.
Data Architecture & Platforms: Strong grounding in cloud data platforms, ingestion patterns (batch, streaming, CDC), ETL / ELT, data modeling, semantic layers, and the architectural tradeoffs of building with hyperscalers versus Salesforce. Familiarity with enterprise data integration and governance patterns, including platforms such as Informatica, Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, and Redshift.
AI & Analytics: Strong understanding of foundational ML concepts, data preparation, applied AI, Generative AI, and agent-based use cases. Familiarity with evaluation, observability, governance, and lifecycle management for AI systems.
Agentforce & Salesforce Platform: Admin-level fluency and strong architectural understanding of how data and AI are activated inside Salesforce, including Agentforce, Data360, core CRM clouds, and industry-specific workflows. Understanding of how external agents and copilots integrate with Salesforce through open standards and interoperable architectures.
Analytics & BI: Working knowledge of tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Looker, and how analytics, semantic layers, and reporting fit into enterprise data strategy and activation.
Integration Patterns: Strong familiarity with APIs, event-driven architectures, MuleSoft, hyperscaler services, and cross-platform integration patterns, along with the governance and compliance considerations required in enterprise environments.
Systems Thinker: Connects today's architecture decisions to future operating models, organizational design, and customer outcomes.
Customer Ownership: Deeply committed to customer success before, during, and after the sale.
Leadership: Self-aware, strategic, and skilled at building relationships, trust, and talent.
Communication: Communicates with clarity, brevity, and purpose; influences effectively at every level.
Storytelling: Translates complex technical concepts into compelling narratives for both technical and business audiences.
Adaptability: Thrives in uncertainty and change; comfortable building in ambiguous, pioneering environments.
Trust: Demonstrates integrity, transparency, and reliability with customers, teammates, and partners.
Force Multiplier: Creates reusable knowledge, patterns, and assets that raise the capability of the broader organization.
Curiosity: Stays close to the technology, continuously learning, experimenting, and bringing back better ideas.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with platforms such as Informatica or Collibra is a plus.
Hands-on experience with platforms such as Databricks, Snowflake, SageMaker, or Vertex is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

Build and lead a best-in-class team of Data & AI Technical Architects, recognized for deep expertise across data architecture, AI, Salesforce, and enterprise integration patterns.
Recruit and mentor senior-level architects with versatile communication styles. Our goal is to build a team capable of translating technical architecture into business value, whether they are whiteboarding with engineers or securing buy-in from CDOs and CIOs.
Establish clear technical standards, architectural principles, and operating rhythms that ensure consistent, high-quality execution across the territory.
Partner with Sales Leadership to define coverage and engagement models that align technical architect capacity to the highest-impact accounts and opportunities.
Serve as a technical executive sponsor for strategic customers, guiding enterprise data and AI strategy, influencing architectural decisions, and earning long-term trust that extends well beyond the close.
Champion customer outcomes across the full lifecycle, partnering with Customer Success, Support, and Professional Services so technical wins translate into measurable business value and durable adoption.
Design and scale repeatable technical evaluation motions, including architectural workshops, POVs, POCs, and reference designs, that accelerate time-to-value for Data and AI initiatives.
Drive strong alignment with Product and Engineering to stay ahead of the Data & AI roadmap and represent field-driven architectural requirements.
Work closely with the Partner Ecosystem to develop offerings, use cases, and GTM strategies that extend Salesforce's Data360 reach.
Develop scalable, reusable technical assets, patterns, and enablement that raise the architectural maturity of Solution Engineers, sellers, partners, and customers.
Own Salesforce's point of view on enterprise data and AI architecture, aligned to industry-specific needs and grounded in proven, repeatable patterns.
Think beyond today's roadmap. Anticipate how data, AI, and CRM architectures are evolving, and help customers, your team, and Salesforce prepare for the next operating model, not just the next release.
Build a team that scales through reusable patterns, AI-native workflows, and strong operating discipline. Hiring more people is not the default answer. Building more leverage is.
Drive operational rigor and accountability, linking architectural excellence to ACV growth, expansion, and customer success.