AI LEAD / AI ARCHITECT

• *What we offer**

In order to keep pace with its growth and expansion, the company is looking for highly motivated and passionate individuals to join the team with tremendous growth potential.

Please update your resume in MS WORD format (Attn: HR Manager): hr.snss@southnests.com

All personal information collected from unsuccessful applicants may be retained for one year from the date of submission for the purpose of any suitable future opportunity and will be removed thereafter.

If you wish to withdraw your consent at any time before the stated time\-frame, please write in to hr.snss@southnests.com.

• *Department:** Digital Transformation / Information Technology

• *Reporting To:** Director Marine Assurance

• *Location:** Chennai and Mumbai, India

• *Experience:** 7\+ Years

• *POSITION SUMMARY:**

Seeking an experienced AI Lead with 7\+ years of experience to define AI architecture, establish standards, drive AI strategy, and provide technical leadership. The role will build and lead the AI engineering team, ensuring strong architectural governance, scalable solutions, and successful execution of the organization's AI initiatives.

The AI Lead will define and drive the organization's AI strategy, architecture, and roadmap, leading the design, implementation, and optimization of AI, Machine Learning, Generative AI, Agentic AI analytics, and automation solutions. The role will be responsible for establishing enterprise AI standards, best practices, and reference architectures while **building and leading the Phoenix AI team to support current and future AI transformation initiatives.**

The candidate will oversee the development of scalable AI platforms and engineering capabilities, drive the adoption of AI copilots, multi\-agent systems, Retrieval\-Augmented Generation (RAG), enterprise knowledge architectures, and advanced AI solutions integrated with business systems and the Phoenix ERP ecosystem. The role will provide leadership across AI platform strategy, LLMOps, model evaluation and governance, prompt engineering, AI security, responsible AI, knowledge engineering, semantic data modelling, and multimodal AI capabilities.

Working closely with business and technology stakeholders, the AI Lead Architect will ensure the delivery of secure, scalable, and business\-aligned AI solutions that accelerate innovation, operational excellence, and the organization's broader maritime digital transformation agenda.

• *The role will provide architectural leadership for AI platforms built primarily on the Microsoft Azure ecosystem, leveraging Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Azure Machine Learning, and related Azure services to deliver scalable enterprise AI solutions.**

• *PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:**

Strong experience in AI/ML solution architecture, Microsoft Azure AI services, MLOps / LLMOps, and Generative AI technologies, including Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, and Azure Machine Learning.

• *PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:**

Required \-

5\+ years of hands\-on AI/ML implementation experience

Experience integrating AI solutions with ERP or enterprise platforms

Experience with cloud architectures and enterprise data environments

Preferred \-

Experience in maritime, shipping, logistics, offshore, or industrial sectors

Exposure to ship management systems and maritime digitalisation projects

Experience leading digital transformation initiatives

• *KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:**

1\. AI Strategy, Architecture \& Governance

Define and lead the organization's AI vision, architecture, roadmap, governance framework, standards, and best practices, ensuring alignment with business objectives, digital transformation goals, security, compliance, and ethical AI principles.

2\. AI Solution Design \& Enterprise Integration

Architect, design, and oversee the implementation of scalable AI/ML, Generative AI, automation, and analytics solutions, ensuring seamless integration with ERP systems, enterprise applications, IoT platforms, vessel systems, and external data sources.

3\. Data Engineering, Analytics \& Platform Development

Establish and manage enterprise data architecture, governance frameworks, data pipelines, integration platforms, reporting systems, dashboards, and business intelligence capabilities to enable data\-driven decision making.

4\. AI/ML Model Development \& Lifecycle Management

Lead the development, deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement of AI/ML models, including predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, forecasting, NLP, document intelligence, and LLM\-based applications, ensuring performance, reliability, transparency, and scalability.

5\. Technology Evaluation, Security \& Compliance

Evaluate and recommend AI technologies, platforms, tools, and vendors while ensuring adherence to cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory, maritime, and industry compliance requirements.

6\. Leadership, Team Building \& Stakeholder Management

Build, mentor, and lead a high\-performing AI engineering function, providing technical leadership, conducting architecture reviews, managing technology partners, and collaborating with business leaders to translate operational challenges into AI\-enabled solutions.

7\. Innovation, Adoption \& Change Management

Drive organizational AI adoption through training, awareness programs, operational guidelines, and change management initiatives while continuously evaluating emerging technologies and innovation opportunities to enhance business performance and operational efficiency.

8\. Generative AI, Agentic AI \& Enterprise Knowledge Platforms

Define and implement Generative AI, Agentic AI, RAG, enterprise knowledge platforms, AI copilots, intelligent agents, and LLMOps frameworks to enable scalable AI\-driven business solutions.

9\. AI Platform Architecture, Security \& Responsible AI

Develop enterprise AI platform strategies and reference architectures supporting scalable AI adoption across the organization.

Develop enterprise AI platform architectures, security controls, governance standards, responsible AI practices, compliance frameworks, and innovation roadmaps to support secure, scalable, and sustainable AI adoption.

• *TECHNICAL SKILLS:**

• *Generative \& Agentic AI:** Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval\-Augmented Generation (RAG), AI Agents, Multi\-Agent Systems, Enterprise Copilot Development, Intelligent Workflow Automation, Prompt Engineering, Prompt Optimization, LLMOps, Model Evaluation, AI Governance

• *Enterprise AI Architecture:** AI Platforms, Enterprise Knowledge Architectures, Knowledge Graphs, Semantic Data Modelling, Semantic Search, Vector Databases, Enterprise AI Integration, AI Governance, Responsible AI

• *Software, Data \& Cloud:** Python, SQL, REST APIs, Data Engineering, Microsoft Azure, Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Azure Machine Learning

• *AI Integration \& Agent Orchestration:** Tool Calling, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent\-to\-System Integration Patterns, API\-Driven AI Solutions, AI Agent Orchestration

• *Agentic AI Frameworks:** LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, CrewAI, AutoGen

• *SOFT SKILLS:**

Strong analytical and problem\-solving skills

Excellent communication and stakeholder management

Strategic thinking with hands\-on implementation capability

Ability to translate operational requirements into technical solutions

Project management and leadership capability

Ability to work across multicultural and multidisciplinary teams

• *WHAT WE OFFER:**

Opportunity to lead AI\-driven maritime digital transformation

Exposure to global fleet operations and enterprise systems

Collaborative and innovation\-focused work environment

Competitive salary and benefits package

Career growth in a rapidly evolving technology landscape