Principal AI Architect

Job Description

Job Description

People Driven Technology, Inc. is a fast-growing, family-owned technology integrator focused on delivering simple, scalable business and technical outcomes across the Midwest. We’re building a category-defining AI practice anchored in next-generation Work AI and enterprise search, extending into adjacent AI ecosystems to deliver bold, outcome-driven solutions that cut through the hype and rewire how teams work day to day. We leverage decades of combined business, technology, and engineering experience in a high-trust, low-ego, collaborative culture, measuring success by our customers’ outcomes and grounded in mutual integrity, passion, and teamwork.

As a Principal AI Architect , you’ll be the technical front door for our AI practice; leading high-impact customer conversations, owning the technical win, and shaping how People Driven Technology shows up in the AI market. You’ll drive technical pre-sales for Work AI, enterprise search, and broader AI solutions, partnering with AEs and C-level/technical stakeholders to design architectures that connect Work AI and key OEM platforms (M365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, ServiceNow, cloud data) to real outcomes like productivity, risk reduction, and revenue growth. As the trusted advisor on Work AI, RAG, copilots, and agents, you’ll be the technical face of our AI practice with marquee customers and be well-positioned to grow into practice leadership, solution portfolio ownership, or broader architecture leadership.

• Lead customer discovery & solution design through understanding current-state systems, data sources, security posture, and high-value AI use cases; translating this into clear Work AI–centric and multi-OEM AI architectures and phased roadmaps.
• Drive demos, PoCs, and Proofs of Value with clear success criteria and provide go/no-go recommendations.
• Own technical win in complex deals in partnership with AEs on opportunity qualification, deal strategy, and technical close, including security, architecture, and compliance conversations that bring InfoSec and Architecture to “yes.”
• Support commercial motions such as contributing to RFP/RFI responses, technical proposal content, and SOWs (scope, assumptions, estimates, dependencies) while helping build compelling ROI and business justification for AI investments.
• Bridge pre-sales and delivery through translating discovery insights and solution designs into implementation roadmaps and post-sales consulting engagements, ensuring what’s promised is delivered with measurable outcomes and adoption.
• Shape PDT’s AI offerings & playbooks, helping define and refine repeatable AI offers (e.g., AI readiness, RAG accelerators, governance), feeding real-world field learnings back into templates, estimation models, and delivery frameworks.
• Act as an AI evangelist enabling internal teams (sales, engineering, and delivery teams on Work AI and adjacent platforms, and represent PDT at customer workshops, executive briefings, and industry events with compelling stories, decks, and reference architectures.

• 5+ years in enterprise software pre-sales / solutions engineering / solution architecture in SaaS or cloud (ideally data, AI, collaboration, or security).
• Proven record partnering with AEs to win complex, multi-stakeholder deals across both executive and technical audiences.
• Strong PoC / pilot / POV experience, designing and running evaluations that prove clear business and technical value.
• Technical depth in at least one major cloud (Azure, AWS, or GCP), plus experience integrating with common SaaS ecosystems (e.g., Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack/Teams, Jira/Confluence, GitHub, ServiceNow, Salesforce).
• Familiarity with identity, security, and data protection concepts (SSO, SAML/OIDC, SCIM, RBAC/ABAC, DLP/DSPM, sensitive data discovery, data lineage, policy design) and hands-on comfort with APIs, connectors, and data flows.
• Exceptional communicator and storyteller who can translate complex technical topics into clear business outcomes and deliver compelling demos, whiteboards, and presentations.
• Confident facilitator who can “own the room” in virtual and in-person sessions with a consultative, discovery-led approach.
• Self-starting, entrepreneurial mindset with a bias for action, ownership, and collaboration in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Passion for AI and modern work, staying current on AI trends, Work AI platforms, and adjacent tooling (bonus: exposure to LLMs, RAG, vector search, agent-based architectures, Python/TypeScript).
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (CS, Engineering, Information Systems) or equivalent experience, and willingness to travel ~20–30% for customer workshops, QBRs, and key events.

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans for you and your dependents.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with Employer Match, Health Savings Account, Life Insurance, and Long-Term Disability.
• Competitive compensation.
• Collaborative and welcoming office culture.
• Work-life balance and unlimited paid time off.

Recruitment Agency Notification

People Driven Technology, Inc does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Do not forward resumes to our careers email address, People Driven employees, or any other company location. People Driven Technology, Inc is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

Equal Opportunity Employer

People Driven Technology, Inc is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All hiring decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and our business needs.

People Driven Technology, Inc is dedicated to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need reasonable accommodations because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please contact the recruiter and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.