Principal - Financial Services (AI Strategy)

Keystone is a premier economics, technology, and strategy consulting firm built to help companies lead through transformation. As breakthrough innovations reshape industries, redefine competition and change our society, complex and highly competitive ecosystems emerge. Keystone advises technology leaders, Fortune 100 companies, their legal counsel, and governments on business, economic, litigation, and regulatory strategy in relation to these innovations and competitive eco‑systems. We operate globally from offices in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, London, Dubai, and Washington, D.C.

We’re growing quickly and looking for an exceptional Principal to lead AI Strategy work for Financial Services sector clients. This role is designed for a senior operator‑consultant who can advise C‑suite leaders, identify high‑impact AI opportunities, and help clients move quickly from strategy to implemented value.

About the Principal - Financial Services Sector (AI Strategy)

The Principal - Financial Services will lead complex AI strategy engagements for banking, asset management, insurance, and capital markets clients. You will bring deep sector fluency, strong executive presence, and the ability to translate AI capabilities into measurable business impact across regulated financial workflows.

This role requires an AI‑native mindset. We are not looking for traditional consulting delivery alone. The right candidate is a builder who can use, prototype, and help implement AI tools directly with clients; understands modern technology architecture; and can deliver tangible upfront value without defaulting to prolonged discovery cycles.

Key Responsibilities

• Own senior client relationships and lead engagement teams from problem definition through recommendation and execution
• Advise C‑suite and senior leaders, including CIOs, CDOs, CROs, business heads, and innovation leaders, on AI‑enabled strategy, cost optimization, risk management, and revenue growth
• Identify high‑impact AI use cases across financial services workflows and prioritize them based on feasibility, value, risk, and implementation complexity
• Develop practical roadmaps that connect business objectives, technology architecture, data requirements, governance, and operating model change

Build AI‑Native Delivery Models

• Challenge traditional consulting delivery models by bringing immediate, tangible value through rapid AI‑enabled diagnostics, prototypes, and workflow demonstrations.
• Use and direct AI tools directly with clients rather than only advising conceptually.
• Lead teams that combine consulting judgment, technical understanding, financial services‑sector fluency, and hands‑on AI execution.
• Establish repeatable methods for AI use case identification, prototyping, evaluation, adoption, and scaling.

Apply Financial Services Expertise

• Navigate banking, asset management, insurance, and capital markets operations with credibility and precision.
• Assess AI opportunities in areas such as fraud detection, risk modelling, automated underwriting, compliance monitoring, algorithmic trading support, claims processing, and personalized wealth management.
• Understand the operational realities of core banking systems, trading platforms, CRM ecosystems, data platforms, and legacy infrastructure.
• Translate sector‑specific constraints into pragmatic implementation plans.

Manage Confidentiality, Ethics, and Trust

• Address model explainability, bias mitigation, data security, privacy, and governance requirements in financial AI deployments.
• Help clients evaluate AI risk within regulatory environments including SEC, FINRA, GDPR, and related supervisory expectations.
• Partner with client legal, compliance, risk, technology, and business teams to design responsible AI adoption pathways.
• Ensure recommendations are commercially sharp, technically grounded, and defensible in regulated environments.

What You’ll Bring

• Senior experience leading strategy, technology, AI, digital transformation, or operating model engagements for financial services clients.
• Deep credibility with senior financial services stakeholders, ideally including CIOs, CDOs, CROs, COOs, business‑unit leaders, transformation leaders, risk leaders, or compliance leaders.
• Comprehensive understanding of banking, asset management, insurance, fintech, or capital markets operations and regulatory environments.
• Practical understanding of how AI can be applied to financial services workflows, including risk management, compliance, customer experience, operations, underwriting, fraud, investment management, productivity, or financial workflow automation use cases.
• Strong understanding of the constraints of deploying AI in regulated financial services environments, including data governance, privacy, model governance, explainability, bias, operational risk, cybersecurity, and compliance.
• Ability to identify high‑value AI use cases in financial services and translate them into practical client‑facing offerings, workshops, playbooks, prototypes, workflow redesigns, or advisory content.
• Demonstrated experience building or operating within AI‑native business models or AI‑enabled delivery approaches, including partnering with AI product managers or technical teams to agentify advisory services.
• Proven builder orientation: ability to use, prototype, and help implement AI tools directly with clients rather than only advising conceptually.
• Strong engagement leadership, team management, executive communication, and client relationship skills.

Preferred

• Experience at a top‑tier consulting firm, financial institution, AI‑native services firm, fintech, regtech, or enterprise technology company.
• Hands‑on exposure to AI, data, or automation initiatives in fraud, risk, underwriting, compliance, trading, lending, insurance, or wealth management.
• Familiarity with core banking systems, trading platforms, CRM ecosystems, data platforms, and model governance environments.
• Experience developing AI governance, responsible AI, model risk management, or compliance frameworks.
• Background working across technology, economics, management science, product, or data science teams.
• Advanced degree or equivalent experience in business, engineering, computer science, economics, finance, or a related analytical field.

What Sets You Apart

• Credibility with financial services executives and the judgment to operate in high‑stakes regulated environments.
• Builder mindset with comfort moving from boardroom strategy to practical AI workflow design.
• Ability to separate AI hype from real operational and commercial value.
• Strong innovative mindset and willingness to challenge traditional consulting billing and delivery norms.
• High ownership, analytical rigor, and precision under ambiguity.

Why Join Us

• Shape a differentiated AI Strategy practice serving complex financial services clients.
• Work at the frontier of AI transformation, regulation, and enterprise value creation.
• Partner with exceptional colleagues across technology, economics, management science, and strategy.
• Lead high‑impact engagements where practical AI adoption can change client operating models.

In addition to annual salary, we provide an annual discretionary bonus, 401k contribution, and competitive benefits package. Actual Compensation within the range will depend upon the level the individual is hired into based upon their skills, experience, and qualifications.

Annual Salary Range
$235,000—$265,000 USD

At Keystone we believe diversity matters. At every level of our firm, we seek to advance and promote diversity, foster an inclusive culture, and ensure our colleagues have a deep sense of respect and belonging. If you are interested in growing your career with colleagues from varied backgrounds and cultures, consider Keystone.