Forward Deployed AI Leader- Claims (Hybrid)

Selective Insurance Company of America•Hartford, CT

19h•$163,000 - $220,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Serves as the dedicated, embedded AI leader within our Claims business unit, accountable for driving AI adoption, championing AI-driven transformation of workflows, processes, and ways of doing business, and maximizing the business unit's use and leverage of enterprise AI capabilities. Acts as the primary AI evangelist and strategic connector between business unit leadership, frontline professionals, and the AI COE. Owns the business unit's AI portfolio view and adoption outcomes, proactively shapes use cases, pushes for innovation, delivers small-scale AI solutions, and escalates misalignment, stalled progress, or resource issues to the AI COE Leader and business unit leadership. This role's objectives align with those of the business unit's executive leadership to ensure shared accountability for AI-driven results. All job duties and responsibilities must be carried out in compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Requirements

Knowledge of artificial intelligence concepts, tools, and platforms at a practical working level, including generative AI, large language models, prompt engineering, AI assistants, and low-code/no-code AI development tools
Knowledge of property and casualty insurance operations relevant to the assigned business unit (e.g., underwriting workflows, claims handling, pricing, distribution, or regulatory compliance).
Understanding of change management principles and the ability to support behavioral adoption in operational environments where AI introduces new workflows, decision patterns, or ways of working.
Ability to build and maintain trusted relationships with business leaders, frontline professionals, and technical teams across organizational boundaries.
Ability to manage a portfolio of concurrent AI initiatives, track adoption and value realization, identify issues early, and communicate clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to work independently with limited direction while maintaining alignment with enterprise standards, priorities, and engagement model.
College degree preferred in Business, Information Technology, Insurance, or a related field.
Minimum of seven years of progressive experience in insurance operations, technology, product management, business analysis, or a related discipline, with demonstrated experience working across business and technology teams.
Minimum of three years of experience in property and casualty insurance with working knowledge of the assigned business unit's core operations (underwriting, claims, pricing, or distribution).
Demonstrated experience with AI concepts and tools is required.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with generative AI platforms, prompt engineering, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, or similar technologies is preferred.
Experience in product ownership, business relationship management, business analysis, or change management in a cross-functional environment is preferred.
Experience leading or actively participating in communities of practice, working groups, or similar cross-functional enablement networks is preferred.
CPCU, AU, AIC, or similar P&C insurance designations are preferred. Microsoft AI or Copilot certifications are a plus.

Responsibilities

Serves as the primary day-to-day COE representative and AI evangelist within the assigned business unit. Builds trusted working relationships with the business unit's leadership (VP/Product Owner), frontline professionals, and support staff to understand priorities, pain points, workflows, and readiness for AI-enabled change. Actively promotes the value and opportunity of AI, challenges the status quo where AI can improve outcomes, and builds momentum for AI-driven transformation.
Proactively identifies, shapes, and documents AI use cases in partnership with business unit stakeholders, ensuring proposed opportunities are grounded in business need, aligned to the business unit's strategy, mapped to executive sponsorship, and evaluated against intake criteria before advancing to solution design or development.
Owns the business unit's slice of the enterprise AI portfolio, maintaining an accurate view of key AI proposals, pilots, active initiatives, deployments, adoption levels, dependencies, and blockers. Actively monitors initiative health, identifying when work is misaligned with strategic objectives, not progressing at a reasonable rate due to technical barriers, sponsorship gaps, resource constraints, or adoption challenges. Takes direct action to remove barriers and accelerate progress; escalates unresolved issues to the COE Leader and business unit leadership with clear context, impact assessment, and recommended next steps. Tracks value realization for deployed capabilities against defined KPIs and contributes to enterprise AI portfolio reporting.
Accountable for AI adoption and utilization within the business unit. Tracks adoption metrics, identifies barriers, gathers frontline feedback, and works with business unit leaders to reinforce behavioral change and accountability for AI-enabled workflows. Drives participation in enterprise AI training programs, develops and delivers business-unit-specific enablement content, and provides feedback to the COE Leader on training effectiveness, gaps, and needed adjustments. Identifies opportunities to demonstrate AI value through quick wins that build momentum and accelerate confidence. Maximizes business unit uptake of approved AI solutions, identifies BU-specific applications and configurations, and provides actionable feedback on solution gaps, improvements, and new capabilities needed.
Leads the business unit's AI Champions cohort as part of the broader GenAI Alliance. Energizes the network by surfacing emerging use cases, sharing success stories and lessons learned, and connecting Champions to COE resources and enterprise-wide initiatives. Cultivates Champions as change agents who reinforce adoption, challenge resistance, and advocate for new ways of working.
Translates between business language and AI capability, helping business unit professionals understand what AI can and cannot do, and helping engineers and architects understand the business unit's operational context, terminology, decision processes, regulatory considerations, and workflow nuances.
Actively contributes to enterprise COE activities including intake reviews, portfolio reviews, standards development, and cross-business-unit knowledge sharing. Brings real-world business unit perspective to strengthen COE practices and enterprise AI strategy. Identifies proven AI solutions and patterns from other business units and advocates for their application within the assigned unit, where applicable.
Coordinates with the COE, IT application delivery, and enterprise governance bodies to ensure that AI work within the business unit conforms to enterprise standards, governance requirements, and the Written Artificial Intelligence System Program (WAISP). Escalates compliance, governance, or risk concerns to the COE Leader for routing to the AI & Model Governance Committee.