Lead - Claude & Open AI

Objectives of the Role:

The Director, AI Centers of Excellence (India) is EXLs senior India-based leader accountable for building, scaling, and operationalizing the Claude (Anthropic) and OpenAI practice capabilities.

Reporting to the VP of AI Consulting (US), this D1-level leader owns the India delivery model for both CoE teams, manages a team of six Senior Consultants (C2 / C1), and acts as the primary liaison to Anthropic and OpenAI partner teams on behalf of EXLs India operations.

The role is accountable for driving delivery excellence, capability development, partner alignment, reusable assets, and go-to-market readiness for enterprise AI initiatives across EXLs global client portfolio.

Responsibilities:

- Lead the India-based Claude (Anthropic) and OpenAI Centers of Excellence, defining the operating model, delivery standards, and capability roadmap for both practices.

- Own the India delivery model for the AI CoE teams, including planning, execution governance, resource allocation, quality assurance, and operational performance.

- Manage, mentor, and develop a team of six Senior Consultants (C2 / C1), while building future-ready talent pipelines and capability depth across GenAI platforms.

- Act as the primary liaison to Anthropic and OpenAI partner teams for EXL India operations, supporting enablement, certifications, solution acceleration, and partner-led initiatives.

- Drive creation of reusable frameworks, accelerators, delivery playbooks, reference architectures, and best practices for Claude and OpenAI-based enterprise solutions.

- Partner with global AI Consulting, industry, sales, and delivery teams to support client pursuits, proposal development, solution reviews, and executive presentations.

- Establish governance for responsible AI, security, privacy, risk management, and compliance across GenAI engagements.

- Support client-facing AI strategy and transformation discussions by translating emerging model capabilities into practical business use cases and scalable offerings.

- Monitor market trends, model ecosystem developments, and partner roadmap updates to continuously evolve EXLs AI CoE capabilities.

- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning across the India CoE teams.

Must-Have Skills:

- 10-13 years of experience in technology consulting, AI/ML delivery, digital transformation, data science, or emerging technology leadership roles.

- Proven experience building, scaling, or leading AI, Generative AI, Data Science, or technology consulting practices/CoEs.

- Strong understanding of Generative AI, LLM ecosystems, AI agents, RAG architectures, prompt engineering, model evaluation, and enterprise AI implementation patterns.

- Hands-on familiarity with leading foundation model platforms, including Claude (Anthropic), OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or similar enterprise AI ecosystems.

- Strong delivery leadership experience across solution architecture, execution governance, stakeholder management, delivery quality, and operational excellence.

- Experience managing senior consultants or technical teams, including coaching, capability building, performance management, and workforce planning.

- Excellent executive communication skills with the ability to engage senior client stakeholders, partner teams, and global internal leadership.

- Strong understanding of responsible AI, data privacy, security, governance, and regulatory considerations in enterprise GenAI programs.

Good-to-Have / Preferred:

- Experience managing strategic technology partnerships, alliances, or hyperscaler/model-provider relationships.

- Experience establishing or operationalizing Centers of Excellence, innovation labs, AI practices, or consulting capability groups.

- Exposure to AI product strategy, AI platform development, agentic workflows, intelligent automation, document intelligence, or conversational AI solutions.

- Relevant certifications in AI, Cloud, Data Science, Enterprise Architecture, or partner platform technologies.

- Industry presence through publications, client roundtables, webinars, speaking engagements, or AI thought leadership.

Education:

- Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Information Systems, Business, or a related discipline.

- MBA or advanced technology leadership qualification is preferred.