Sr. Manager, AI Forward Deployed Engineering

About the role

Databricks is looking for a world-class leader to lead and grow its AI Forward Deployed Engineering (AI FDE) team in India. The AI FDE team is a highly specialized, customer-facing AI team that delivers professional services engagements helping customers build and productionize first-of-a-kind GenAI applications, working cross-functionally with AI Product, Research and Engineering. You will lead customers on their AI transformation, push the boundaries of the product, recruit and develop data scientists and machine learning engineers, and manage a portfolio of key accounts. The role reports directly to the India FDE leader and has a dotted line to the APJ AI FDE leader; the ideal candidate is based in Bangalore or Mumbai and expects to travel at least once a month.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and scale a high-performing AI FDE team, including hiring, mentoring and building a team structure for long-term growth
• Influence Product, R&D and GTM so that customer insights and delivery learnings shape the product roadmap and GTM strategy
• Build executive relationships with key customers and partners (VP+, CIO/CDO-level stakeholders) and act as a trusted advisor during complex technical engagements
• Partner with Field Engineering and Sales leadership to set strategy for strategic accounts and coordinate delivery
• Lead strategic AI initiatives, practice development and scalable delivery processes
• Own OKRs for AI-services led accounts, revenue, utilization and public references
• Represent Databricks as a thought leader in AI through conference talks and published content

Required profile

• Experience building and managing teams of AI/ML scientists, engineers and leaders
• Ability to scope, sell and deliver technical engagements in enterprise environments, including managing escalations
• Experience leading teams that have shipped production AI solutions in cloud environments (AWS, Azure or GCP)
• Experience driving AI transformation across enterprise customers, including applied AI product management, organizational change management and stakeholder alignment
• Experience working across Sales, Product and GTM to connect AI delivery to business outcomes
• Graduate degree in a quantitative discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Operations Research, etc.) or equivalent practical experience
• Preferred: customer-facing leadership experience and experience working with Databricks

Required skills

• Strong, current technical depth in AI/ML foundations, able to contribute to architecture reviews
• Curiosity to stay current as the field evolves