Principal AI & Emerging Tech Specialist , Emerging Technology

AI & Emerging Tech Specialist

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leading cloud provider. AWS runs a globally distributed and resilient environment, operating at massive scale and enabling businesses and government agencies to run their operations and applications on AWS's multi-tenant infrastructure. Through AWS' virtual infrastructure, customers all over the world innovate faster with emerging technologies like AI/machine learning including generative AI, high performance computing, quantum, and more.

Our World Wide Public Sector (WWPS) team is looking for an exceptional sales candidate who is excited about accelerating customers' journey to transform their mission areas and business functions with emerging technology. The candidate will join our fast growing AWS National Security Emerging Technology team to support sensitive and critical US Defense and Intelligence cloud technologies and activities.

In this AI & Emerging Tech Specialist role, you will focus on developing customer use cases, driving adoption, and shaping the go-to-market strategy across multiple customer agencies in close collaboration with each account team. You will work backwards from customers' mission needs to develop integrated solutions that leverage AWS and partner data, analytics, generative AI, and emerging technology capabilities. As an AI & Emerging Tech Specialist, you will partner with customer executives and builders as they adopt DataOps, MLOps, and AI governance best practices to operationalize AI at scale in secure and classified environments.

This position requires that the candidate selected be a US Citizen and must currently possess an active Top Secret security clearance. The position further requires that, after start, the selected candidate obtain and maintain an active TS/SCI security clearance with polygraph and satisfy other security related requirements.

Key job responsibilities:

• Prospect into new AI and emerging technology customers and buying centers by working closely with AWS account teams and partners to identify mission-driven use cases for generative AI, agentic AI, ML at the edge, quantum, and other emerging capabilities.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in AI and emerging technologies including generative AI, foundation models, and associated AWS services providing specialized sales guidance, technical enablement, and thought leadership to account teams and customers.
• Meet regularly with national security executives and mission owners to understand their mission requirements, existing architectures, and technology roadmaps, and introduce AWS AI, data, analytics, and emerging technology services that accelerate mission outcomes.
• Negotiate and close large, complex AI and emerging technology opportunities, working across multiple agencies and buying centers to drive adoption at scale.
• Work closely with Amazon business leaders including customer account teams, hardware and software engineering leaders, professional services, and technical program managers to align emerging technology solutions with customer mission needs.
• Represent the voice of the customer; collaborate with field and central teams to bring customer feedback to product teams. Lead curation of custom feature requests, regional availability requirements, and unique mission use cases across classified and unclassified environments.
• Identify opportunities for Marketing and Public Policy engagements that position AWS as a trusted partner for AI and emerging technologies in the national security community.
• Leverage Defense and Professional Associations to establish AWS as a thought and industry leader in AI and emerging technologies, deepening customer intimacy, nurturing existing partner relationships, developing new partnerships, and uncovering new opportunities.

A day in the life:

This is a highly dynamic role, and as such, your typical day could include 2-3 morning meetings with agency executives, program officers, and builders. In the afternoon, you might be leading an internal strategy or working session with key stakeholders from NatSec account teams, service teams, or Professional Services.

About the team:

The team you would join specializes in AI and Emerging Technologies for National Security, with a core focus on generative AI, frontier AI, ML at the edge, quantum, mission networking, and advanced computing. We pride ourselves on our deep technical expertise and mission knowledge. Members of our team dive deep into their technical specialties, stay ahead of trends in mission adoption of emerging technologies, and develop best practices for accelerating responsible adoption across classified and unclassified environments.

As a high-performing sales organization embedded within the NatSec community, the team serves as a trusted partner to end users, agency leadership, and the policy community helping customers navigate the rapidly evolving AI and emerging technology landscape to deliver mission impact.

Diverse Experiences:

AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn't followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don't let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating that's why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Inclusive Team Culture:

AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.

Mentorship & Career Growth:

We're continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth's Best Employer. That's why you'll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

Work/Life Balance:

We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture.

Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent work experience

- 7+ years of technology platform sales with an understanding of government IT, data centers, cloud services and cloud adoption experience

- Experience working cross-functionally with tech and non-tech teams

- Current, active US Government Security Clearance of Top Secret or above

Preferred Qualifications

- 10+ years of direct sales or business development in software, cloud or SaaS markets selling to C-level executives experience

- Experience with AI/ML technologies

- Experience with one or more of the following domains: analytics, security, storage, DevOps, application development, or machine learning

- Experience interpreting data and making business recommendations

- Experience developing, negotiating and executing business agreements

- Experience with generative AI, foundation models, or agentic AI solutions

- Track record of building new business categories or emerging technology practices from the ground up