VP, AI & Engineering

Walt Disney Co.•Burbank, CA

43d

About The Position

The Office of Technology Enablement (OTE) AI Practice is Disney's AI acceleration team-transforming high-value opportunities into deployed capabilities across Studios, Parks, ESPN, and every Disney segment. We discover breakthrough AI applications, validate them through hands-on prototyping, and scale proven solutions company-wide. The Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, and optimization of cutting-edge software solutions and AI technologies. This role drives innovation, enhances product offerings, and supports business growth while building the company's AI capabilities. The VP will lead the AI Core Team, manage the Studio Machine Learning Center (MLC), and act as a liaison with enterprise AI partners to ensure alignment and collaboration across the organization.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field; Master's degree or PhD preferred.
A minimum of 12+ years of experience in a technical leadership role, with at least 5 years in managing ML/AI initiatives.
Proven track record of delivering ML/AI projects that have led to significant improvements in efficiency and productivity.
Strong leadership, communication, and strategic planning skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate teams, drive technical excellence, and foster a culture of innovation and collaboration.
Strong financial modeling skills, with experience in building business cases for technology investments.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to effectively present complex information to a non-technical audience.
Extensive knowledge and expertise in software development methodologies, AI technologies, machine learning algorithms, and data analytics tools used in building advanced software applications and AI systems.
Experience delivering complex software engineering and AI projects, overseeing multi-disciplinary teams, and aligning technical initiatives with business objectives to achieve organizational success.
Demonstrated success in driving technology innovation, product development, and digital transformation initiatives within a technology-driven organization or industry.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership and direction to technical teams, establishing clear goals, priorities, and objectives aligned with the company's technology roadmaps and business strategies.
Prioritize and manage a portfolio of AI projects, effectively balancing budgets, and internal and external priorities in coordination with technology and business teams from across all segments of TWDC.
Establish and communicate along-term vision for the use of AI technologies by TWDC, ensuring alignment with overall company/segment objectives as well and market trends.
Develop and maintain an enterprise inventory of business needs and map potential AI tools across a broad set of use cases to facilitate matchmaking with third-party partners. Collaborate with Business Development to thoroughly evaluate partner tools and capabilities, ensuring alignment with company use cases to inform third-party targets and deals.
Collaborate with company executives and technical partners to demonstrate the potential of AI technologies, communicating a technical vision, roadmap, and project status to foster trust and alignment with organizational goals.
Serve as a liaison between the segment technology teams and business executives to harness the collective AI expertise and resources of the company to support segment and enterprise initiatives.
Support development of business and cost models to quantify the efficiency and ROI of all projects.
Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in software engineering and AI, leveraging this knowledge to drive continuous learning and technology adoption and capabilities within teams.
Monitor and evaluate portfolio and project performance, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and providing regular updates to senior leadership on the impact of business development initiatives.
Oversee the design, development, and validation of AI solutions that align with technical and operational requirements, uphold quality standards, and address the needs of various business use-cases.
Adapt and scale both internal, commercial, and open source and external AI models to meet the Disney's highest priority business objectives.
Drive and execute roadmaps, engaging closely with stakeholders to take AI projects from inception to delivery, while building the technical capabilities of segment AI teams.
Oversee project timelines, resource distribution, and budget management for the AI Core Team to ensure efficient project completion, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with organizational objectives. This includes taking a portfolio management approach to optimizing the staffing mix (employees and third parties) to balance business goals, technical capabilities, and costs.
Develop and oversee program plans that ensure effective feedback loops between end-users and designers to continuously customize AI models to meet Disney needs / use cases.
Actively manage stakeholder expectations to balance focus on project budgets and timelines with the inherently iterative nature of tech innovation and customization.
Develop and execute efforts to build internal AI capabilities across all business units of the Walt Disney company.
Consult with Disney partners to define AI policies and operating guidelines that support the company's creative, financial and brand reputation goals while complying with regulatory and contractual requirements, and industry standards.
Consult with Disney functional partners (eg, Finance, Legal and Labor Relations) to clarify emerging AI trends and potential use-cases to inform long-range business and policy planning, particularly related to content protection and labor negotiations.
Manage The Walt Disney Studio MLC and support AI counterparts across the enterprise to drive machine learning initiatives and achieve significant business outcomes.
Identify potential use-cases from R&D, third-party, and open-source opportunities, and lead the development and refinement to meet business requirements while enhancing the technical capabilities of segment AI teams.
Support and influence the MLC/AI leadership in identifying and pitching opportunities to enhance efficiency through Machine Learning and AI across various segments.
Develop a strategic plan for ML/AI implementation, identify coordination opportunities with company and third-party partners, and provide enterprise-level oversight for key initiatives.
Drive collaboration between the AI core team, Studio MLC, and company-wide AI teams to efficiently execute and implement AI components of technology roadmaps. Identify common business needs and problems, coordinate resource sharing, and integrate technical capabilities and best practices, including working with third-party partners.
Ensure project portfolios are delivered on time and within budget, meeting or exceeding defined objectives and quality standards.
Collaborate with business leaders and technical teams to define business problems and requirements, match external or internal partners based on their strengths and business alignment, and coordinate the tactical execution of these partnerships.
Oversee the recruitment, training, and development of software engineers, AI specialists, and technical professionals, building a high-performing team capable of delivering innovative solutions and driving enterprise-wide technological advancement.
Cultivate a culture of creativity, agility, and collaboration, encouraging team members to work across teams to develop and bring to life innovative concepts and technologies in the XR realm.
Ensure the team is updated with the latest ML/AI trends and technologies, driving their skill development and career growth.