The Agentic Principal Lead Consultant will partner with cross-functional leaders to identify and implement high-leverage AI opportunities within real operating workflows. They are responsible for driving build-versus-buy assessments, establishing operational guardrails, and leading change management to ensure sustained AI adoption.
Ciklum is looking for an Agentic Principal Lead Consultant to join our team full-time in India.
We are a custom product engineering company that supports both multinational organizations and scaling startups to solve their most complex business challenges. With a global team of over 4,000 highly skilled developers, consultants, analysts and product owners, we engineer technology that redefines industries and shapes the way people live.
About the role:
As an Agentic Principal Lead Consultant, become a part of a cross-functional development team engineering experiences of tomorrow.
Responsibilities:
- Partner with leaders across Finance/RevOps, Go-To-Market, Services, HR/Legal, and Engineering to identify the highest-leverage opportunities to embed AI into real operating workflows (not one-off demos)
- Facilitate discovery: map current-state processes, quantify pain points, define “good” outcomes, and translate ambiguous needs into clear workflow requirements and success metrics
- Build and maintain an AI workflow roadmap sequenced by business impact, readiness, and change capacity; align priorities with function leaders and the AI Transformation team
- Drive build-versus-buy assessments for each opportunity (SaaS tools, platforms, automation solutions), delivering a clear recommendation and implementation approach
- Lead change management and enablement: run working sessions, produce playbooks, host trainings/brown bags, and coach teams to raise AI literacy and sustained adoption
- Create reusable patterns and standards for “AI in internal tools” (workflow templates, governance checklists, measurement frameworks) so other teams can move faster
- Establish operational guardrails for AI-enabled workflows in partnership with Security, Legal, and Compliance (data handling, PII safety, access controls, prompt injection resilience, human-in-the-loop requirements)
- Define evaluation and monitoring expectations for workflows (accuracy/quality, safety, cost, latency, adoption); implement feedback loops so workflows improve over time
Requirements:
- 6+ years of experience in internal consulting, business operations, business systems, product operations, solutions architecture, or an equivalent role that sits at the intersection of business and technology
- Must have software-engineering experience, including 4+ years shipping internal AI-native tools to production
- Must have experience standing up an internal AI program, workflow automation COE, or “AI for employees” capability at a prior company
- Experience in B2B SaaS, enterprise workflows, and/or regulated or high-compliance environments (privacy, security, auditability)
- Strong stakeholder management: comfortable influencing across functions, aligning senior leaders, and driving decisions amid competing priorities
- Ability to translate business problems into structured requirements, operating metrics, and phased delivery plans
- AI fluency: understanding of how LLM-based systems work (prompting, retrieval, tool use/function calling at a conceptual level) and how to evaluate quality, risk, and cost/latency trade-offs
- Experience evaluating and implementing software solutions (build vs buy), including vendor assessment, security reviews, rollout planning, and ongoing ownership models
- Comfort working with technical teams and artifacts (PRDs/briefs, user stories, acceptance criteria, basic data models). Ability to prototype in low-code/no-code tools is a must
- Strong analytical and measurement skills: can baseline, instrument, and report outcomes; can distinguish adoption activity from true impact
- Excellent written and verbal communication: can create crisp briefs, run effective workshops, and communicate trade-offs to both technical and non-technical audiences
- High ownership and bias to action; thrives in fast-moving SaaS environments with evolving AI tooling
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Business, Information Systems, Engineering, Computer Science) or equivalent practical experience
What’s in it for you?
- Strong community: Work alongside top professionals in a friendly, open-door environment
- Growth focus: Take on large-scale projects with a global impact and expand your expertise
- Tailored learning: Boost your skills with internal events (meetups, conferences, workshops), Udemy access, language courses, and company-paid certifications
- Endless opportunities: Explore diverse domains through internal mobility, finding the best fit to gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies
- Care: We’ve got you covered with company-paid medical insurance, mental health support, and financial & legal consultations
About us:
At Ciklum, we are always exploring innovations, empowering each other to achieve more, and engineering solutions that matter. With us, you’ll work with cutting-edge technologies, contribute to impactful projects, and be part of a One Team culture that values collaboration and progress.
India is a strategic innovation hub for Ciklum, with growing teams in Chennai and Pune leading advancements in EdgeTech, AR/VR, IoT, and beyond. Join us to collaborate on game-changing solutions and take your career to the next level.
Explore, empower, engineer with Ciklum!
Interested already? We would love to get to know you! Submit your application. We can’t wait to see you at Ciklum.
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