AI CoE Program Lead

At DevSavant, we are a trusted technology partner specializing in Software Development, Data Engineering, AI/Machine Learning, Cloud Solutions, Automation Testing, and UI/UX Design. We deliver innovative, high-quality solutions with a focus on excellence and results. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, fostering a culture of growth and well-being. Join us and thrive in a supportive, success-driven environment.

Summary

As AI CoE Program Lead, you'll report directly to the COO to run and scale our AI Center of Excellence (CoE). This isn't a greenfield build — the foundation is already in place: a live AI CoE Portal, a functioning AI Operating System, six rounds of company hackathons, and a 12-week cross-functional training program already underway. Your job is to take this from "early traction" to "default way of working" — driving adoption, tightening operations, and turning a hardworking group of part-time champions into a durable, scaled program.

You'll be the connective tissue between DataOps and IT — who own the underlying infrastructure and data architecture — and the cross-functional CoE members who are driving adoption in their departments on top of their day jobs. You should be deeply fluent in AI yourself — comfortable deploying automations and agents, and genuinely energized by experimenting with new AI tools and techniques — while keeping the whole engine running smoothly, efficiently, and visibly delivering ROI.

This is a deliberately hybrid role: equal parts hands-on AI builder and cross-functional program operator. We're looking for someone who can do both, even if not with equal depth on day one — strong AI chops are the harder thing to teach, so that's our primary bar.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Scale the CoE Operating Model: Take ownership of the day-to-day running of the AI CoE — coordinating cross-functional champions across CISO, IT, RevOps, and other departments, all of whom are contributing on top of full-time roles. Make their CoE time as efficient and high-leverage as possible.

• Own the AI CoE Portal: Drive continuous improvement of the live Portal — the system of record for use-case intake, automation building, and governance. Manage the active pipeline of submitted use cases from idea to deployment.

• Run the Training Program: Own development and delivery of ongoing training.

• Formalize the Hackathon Cadence: Convert the hackathons-to-date into a repeatable quarterly playbook — sourcing ideas, structuring teams, judging, and converting winning projects into real workflows in the Portal pipeline.

• Drive Self-Service Automation: Champion and operationalize the company-wide vision that every employee learns to build their own automations — whether that's a Claude prompt/project, an n8n workflow built in the Portal, or a full web app. Build the enablement materials and guardrails that make this realistic for non-technical employees.

• Be the Coaching Backstop: Serve as the go-to point of contact for employee questions and troubleshooting when CoE champions aren't available — the person who unblocks someone stuck on their first automation.

• Own the Complex & Cross-Functional Builds: Recognize when an automation is too complex, sensitive, or cross-functional for an individual employee (or even a department champion) to build alone, and take direct, hands-on ownership of those builds yourself.

• Workflow Automation: Partner with department champions to identify manual, repetitive work and convert it into agentic, logic-based workflows (via n8n and the AI Operating System) that materially reduce manual effort.

• AI Governance: Champion governance processes for AI assets, ensuring proper review and approval in GitHub per our SDLC, and keep the governance framework current as the CoE scales.

• Hands-On AI Deployment: Personally design, build, and deploy automations and AI agents within the Portal pipeline — you're not just scoping use cases for others to build, you're in the tools yourself. Day-to-day experimentation builds your own knowledge; for the more complex solutions — particularly agents that touch core data or infrastructure — partner directly with DataOps to build them right.

• Stay on the Edge: Continuously evaluate and pilot new AI tools, models, and techniques as they emerge, and bring the best of what you find into the CoE's toolkit. This role is for someone who experiments with new AI technology as a habit, not an occasional project.

• Maturity Tracking & Reporting: Maintain and report on our position against the Gartner AI Maturity Scale, track progress toward our maturity targets, and translate that progress into clear updates for executive and board audiences.

• Change Management & Communications: Own internal AI communications — addressing "AI anxiety," celebrating wins, and building sustained excitement and trust in the program as it scales beyond early champions to the broader company.

Who You Are

• Systems Thinking: You can look at a messy human process and map it cleanly into a logic flow (Trigger > Logic > AI Action > Output).

• AI-Native: You're genuinely well-versed in AI — not just aware of the trends, but hands-on. You've deployed automations and agents in production, and you're the person on the team who's already testing the newest model or tool the week it launches.

• Operator, Not Just Builder: You're energized by running and improving an existing program — tightening processes, increasing adoption, and proving ROI — as much as by building something new.

• Prompt & Workflow Fluency: Comfortable building and maintaining repeatable, high-quality prompt templates and automation workflows that scale across a company, even if you're not a deep AI researcher.

• Change Management: You have the people skills to bring along employees who are still wary that AI is there to replace them rather than help them — and to keep cross-functional champions engaged despite competing priorities.

• Patient Teacher: You genuinely enjoy coaching less-technical employees through their first automation, answering the same question for the third time without losing patience, and knowing when to just build it for them instead.

• Bias to Action: You can take a working but resource-constrained program and find the highest-leverage next moves without needing it re-explained from scratch.

Preferred Education and Experience

Must-Have

• Deep, Hands-On AI Experience: Demonstrated track record of personally deploying AI automations and agents — not just directing others to build them. Comfortable with tools like Claude, n8n, and other low-code/automation platforms, and quick to pick up new ones.

• Builder's Curiosity: A habit of experimenting with emerging AI tools and techniques outside of formal projects — side projects, personal experiments, or early adoption of new models count in your favor.

• Professional Background: 2-4 years of professional experience, ideally touching Revenue, Sales, IT Operations, or Program/Project Management within a B2B SaaS environment.

Strongly Preferred (we'll help you grow into these if needed)

• Program Management: Experience running an established cross-functional initiative — not just launching one — including stakeholder coordination, reporting cadence, and prioritization under resource constraints.

• Change Management: Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex AI concepts into actionable, low-anxiety training for diverse teams.

• Event/Initiative Leadership: Experience running structured technical events such as hackathons, including converting outputs into shipped work.

• Operational Mindset: A focus on ROI and efficiency — you're motivated by eliminating repetitive work to unlock human capacity, and you like proving it with numbers.

Qualities We're Looking For

• You get things done. You're an expert at identifying the next action, communicating your intent, and executing. A results-driven mentality is critical.

• You're built for remote work. We're a 100% remote company. You need to be a self-starter who communicates with clarity and purpose, with the discipline to drive your own work forward.

• You think like an owner. We don't micromanage. Every role comes with freedom to act and accountability to deliver.

• You keep things human. You enjoy collaborating, sharing ideas, and keeping things fun along the way. A good sense of humor helps us stay connected, even when working far apart.