Associate Director- AI Product Strategist

Who We Are VML is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and award-winning human-first work for clients including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. In 2026, VML was named Campaign’s Global Network of the Year and ranked #2 Creative Network of the Year at Cannes Lions. VML’s global network spans 55+ markets with principal offices in Buenos Aires, Kansas City, London, New York, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. VML is part of WPP, the trusted growth partner for the world's leading brands. Powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform WPP Open, WPP unites cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, creativity, production, enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel. For more information, please visit and follow along on LinkedIn #WeAreVML.ABOUT US The WPP l Ford Team is an integrated operating network made up of a dynamic multi-agency ecosystem that serves Ford Motor Company and its many diverse units around the world. This operating team provides a breadth of marketing experience for Ford across Communications, Marketing, Brand and Customer Experience, A.I., Creative, Production, Media, Strategy, Analytics, Commerce & Technology and more. Operated under a central leadership team, it draws best-in-class talent from leading WPP agencies including VML (Brand & Customer Experience), WPP Media (Media), GTB (Precision Retail Marketing), WPP Production (Brand Design & Production), Zubi & UWG (Multicultural), and Burson (Corporate Communications/ Public Relations), among other key WPP specialists. WPP l Ford team members work in a highly integrated environment, with direct exposure across virtually every discipline of modern marketing. This role is imbedded within VML agency as part of the WPP network. At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. ABOUT FORD AND THE OPPORTUNITY This is an exciting opportunity to join the team dedicated to WPP’s critically important client, Ford Motor Company. The AI Product Strategist is the connective layer between WPP | Ford business and capability owners and the central AI team, ensuring that AI product development aligns to Ford's strategic priorities rather than evolving as disconnected, parallel efforts. This is a cross-functional, discovery-led role: it bridges the operational needs of the business (Shopper, Media, Web, Production, Creative SMEs) with the technical build capacity of the AI program, translating requirements into a shared architecture and roadmap. Ford is in a period of rapid transformation, modernization, and evolution. This exciting challenge is about more than just marketing vehicles. It’s about lifestyle, experiences, technology and helping to build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. Ford is a global company founded on powerful shared ideals - valuing service to the world as much as they do to their customers. After 123 years, this iconic brand has learned to adapt and change, continuously evolving to focus on services, experiences and software, in addition to vehicles. Key Responsibilities Serve as the primary strategic interface between WPP | Ford business and capability owners and the central AI team Conduct structured discovery and requirements-gathering across SME teams (Shopper, Media, Production, Creative), mapping current-state workflows before recommending AI-enabled solutions Re-engineer and document business processes as a precondition to any agent or AI build — ensuring solutions are architected around real workflows, not assumptions Translate business needs into clear, technically actionable briefs for the AI Architect and Applied AI Product Manager Partner with the AI Architect and Development on feasibility assessments, ensuring SME-identified needs are properly scoped and prioritized into the product roadmap Ensure workstreams build toward a shared AI architecture rather than in silos — flagging duplication, misalignment, or gaps early Track execution of SME-requested builds through to deployment; manage timelines and communicate status to stakeholdersthe text was cut #J-18808-Ljbffr VML South Africa