Principal Digital Architect

Caterpillar•Chicago, IL

About The Position

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5 million connected assets worldwide, our teams use data, technology, advanced analytics, telematics and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world. Job Summary: Participates in defining functional design, development and systems architecture for Caterpillar’s state-of-the-art digital platform aligning to common department goals in line with CAT Digital Strategy. Principal Digital Architect will assist teams that will build a world class platform to host a wide range of digital applications. This role serves as the technical bridge between AI strategy and execution, translating business requirements into robust architectural solutions while establishing standards, evaluating emerging technologies, and guiding development teams on best practices for production AI deployments.

Requirements

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Architecture: Deep understanding of AI/ML Architecture which includes transformer models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agent frameworks, and model orchestration patterns
Hands-on experience with major cloud AI platforms (Nvidia, Azure OpenAI Service, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI) and ability to architect multi-cloud or hybrid solutions
Strong knowledge of MLOps practices including model versioning, deployment pipelines, monitoring, and governance frameworks
Data Architecture: Knowledge of processes, techniques and factors that affect data architecture; ability to design blueprints on how to integrate data resources for business processes and functional support.
Target Architecture: Knowledge of target architecture; ability to develop the IT blueprint and roadmap while aligning the architecture and processes with business strategies and objectives
Requirements Analysis: Knowledge of tools, methods, and techniques of requirement analysis; ability to elicit, analyze and record required business functionality and non-functionality requirements to ensure the success of a system or software development project.
Analytical Thinking: Knowledge of techniques and tools that promote effective analysis; ability to determine the root cause of organizational problems and create alternative solutions that resolve these problems.
Effective Communications: Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.

Nice To Haves

Four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in a Computer Science or Information Technology
Expertise with modern techniques for Language Understanding, Computer Vision, and other Machine Learning and AI technologies
In-depth understand and expertise in one or more of the following: massive real-time event and message processing, data lakes, Big Data transformations and analytics, complex e-commerce applications, IoT edge and cloud data processing, SQL, and NoSQL data modeling.
Agile SDLC implementation in public cloud eco-system including environments management, peer review, CI/CD, resource optimization, etc.
Experience designing and implementing production AI agent systems using frameworks like LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, or similar orchestration tools
Understanding of vector databases, embedding models, and semantic search architectures for RAG applications
Knowledge of GPU compute infrastructure, model serving platforms (NVIDIA NIM, TensorFlow Serving, vLLM), and inference optimization techniques
Familiarity with prompt engineering, fine-tuning approaches, and evaluation frameworks for LLM-based applications
Knowledge of emerging AI frameworks including multi-agent systems, autonomous agents, and AI-powered workflow automation

Responsibilities

Provide oversight for architecture assessment and design for infrastructure, information or integration domains that provide core capabilities for the enterprise.
Lead Architecture design of end-to-end enterprise integrated systems that serves multiple business functions.
Lead the design and implementation of enterprise data model and metadata structures for complex projects.
Drive architecture and design patterns for various AI and ML related models, and services.
Passion for applying state-of-the art AI algorithms to real-world problems.
Stay up to date with the latest developments in AI and related fields, evaluate new developments and technologies for potential integration into existing and future architecture.
Initiate and deliver technology evaluation and recommendations.
Develop and maintain current, planned, and future state architecture blueprints.
Lead in the identification and analysis of enterprise business drivers and requirements that drive the future state architecture.
Design and architect scalable AI/ML infrastructure solutions that support enterprise-wide AI initiatives, including model deployment, orchestration, and monitoring systems
Establish technical standards and frameworks for AI application development, including agent architectures, RAG pipelines, and multi-modal AI systems