Director of AI & Enterprise Transformation.

Director of AI & Enterprise Transformation

A high-impact leadership opportunity | Reporting to the CIO

AI is moving beyond experimentation. For organisations that have invested in the right foundations, the next challenge is determining how it can fundamentally change the way the business operates.

I’m partnering with a major organisation on a confidential search for a senior AI leader to shape its next phase of enterprise transformation.

Reporting directly to the CIO, this individual will have the opportunity to influence business strategy, work closely with senior decision-makers and establish how AI can deliver meaningful improvements across the organisation.

This is a strategically important appointment within a business that has already committed significant investment to AI, established a dedicated function and begun deploying capabilities at scale.

The opportunity now is to turn that foundation into a broader programme of business transformation.

An Enterprise-Wide Brief

The successful candidate will be responsible for connecting the organisation’s AI ambition with its wider business objectives.

That means working beyond the technology function to understand the challenges facing the business, identify where AI can create a competitive or operational advantage, and build a clear plan for delivering that value.

You will operate across multiple business areas, engaging senior stakeholders to challenge conventional approaches, uncover opportunities and establish where AI can make the greatest difference.

The remit combines strategic ownership with the influence required to bring an organisation through significant change.

You will be expected to shape the agenda, build momentum behind the right initiatives and ensure the organisation develops the capabilities, structures and governance needed to support adoption over the long term.

The Opportunity in Practice

The organisation has already invested significantly in its AI capabilities, with an established team of specialists and substantial annual investment across technology, talent and delivery infrastructure.

This is not a role where the successful candidate will need to build everything from scratch. The foundations exist, providing an opportunity to focus on the next stage of maturity.

Areas of potential impact include

• Reimagining business processes through AI and intelligent automation.
• Improving productivity, decision-making and access to organisational knowledge.
• Applying AI to complex operational challenges, including tendering and lessons learned.
• Identifying opportunities to scale output and improve operational efficiency.
• Establishing the governance and controls needed to support responsible enterprise adoption.
• Developing a clear framework for measuring the business value generated by AI.
• Aligning technical delivery with the organisation’s long-term strategic priorities.

The challenge is to move beyond individual use cases and establish a coordinated approach to AI that delivers value across the wider enterprise.

The Mandate

The organisation already has technical capability in place. What it needs is an experienced leader who can connect technology, commercial objectives and organisational change.

You will provide direction to the existing AI function, work closely with the CIO and senior leadership team, and influence how AI opportunities are evaluated and pursued across the business.

A key part of the role will be building confidence in the organisation’s approach to AI: establishing clear priorities, setting realistic expectations and ensuring that ambition is matched by disciplined execution.

The successful candidate will understand both the possibilities and limitations of current AI capabilities. They will be able to distinguish between initiatives that generate genuine business value and those that are unlikely to justify the investment or effort required.

This calls for someone who can combine a forward-looking perspective with strong commercial judgement and the ability to lead through influence.

The Experience That Matters

We are interested in speaking with established AI leaders and transformation executives who have operated at significant scale and can demonstrate the ability to turn strategic ambition into practical outcomes.

Relevant experience will include

• Leading enterprise AI strategy, AI transformation or a comparable organisation-wide change agenda.
• Driving adoption beyond proof of concept and into meaningful business use.
• Working directly with CIOs, executive leadership teams and senior business stakeholders.
• Connecting technology investment to commercial performance, productivity or operational improvement.
• Establishing appropriate AI governance, risk management and responsible adoption practices.
• Leading specialist teams while influencing stakeholders across a complex organisation.
• Making strategic decisions about investment, capability development and competing business priorities.
• Communicating complex technology opportunities in terms that resonate with business leaders.

Experience at Director, VP or equivalent level would be relevant. A Microsoft-centric environment would be advantageous, as would experience in engineering, construction or another operationally complex sector.

The emphasis is on leadership, enterprise impact and the ability to deliver transformation, rather than hands-on technical specialism alone.

Scale & Opportunity

For an established AI leader, the attraction is the opportunity to influence an organisation’s direction at a particularly important stage of its AI journey.

The business has committed approximately €2 million annually, alongside a further €2.5 million in delivery capability. An established team and existing enterprise deployment provide a platform from which to build.

Reporting directly to the CIO, you will have the visibility and access needed to influence strategic decisions, shape the AI function’s future direction and help determine how the organisation approaches AI over the coming years.

The scope extends beyond introducing new technology. It is an opportunity to influence how work gets done, how decisions are made and how the business uses AI to improve its performance.

For someone who has already experienced the challenges of enterprise AI adoption, this represents an opportunity to apply that experience at scale and shape what comes next.

Confidential Executive Search

Location: Dublin, Ireland Working model: Hybrid Reporting to: CIO

If you are leading AI strategy or transformation within a complex organisation and are interested in a role with significant enterprise-wide influence, I would welcome a confidential conversation.

All enquiries will be handled in the strictest confidence.

Aoife Murtagh Principal Consultant | TechHeads Executive Search [email protected]