Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Cognizant is a leading technology and engineering company, and they are seeking a Staff AI Customer Engineer to lead client discovery and solution shaping in their AI Market Unit. This role involves building production-ready AI applications, shaping AI solution architectures, and managing executive-level client relationships to drive business value from AI initiatives.
Responsibilities
- Lead early-stage discovery and art-of-the-possible ideation sessions engaging CxO and senior executive audiences with authority and confidence to frame high-value AI opportunities
- Embed with strategic clients to build production-ready AI applications owning the end-to-end engineering lifecycle from prototype through deployment
- Shape end-to-end AI solution architectures defining agentic platforms, data pipelines, ML components, integration patterns, and partner technologies
- Build and sustain trusted executive relationships serving as the senior client-facing voice throughout the engagement lifecycle and proactively identifying new AI opportunities as they emerge
- Partner with clients throughout the MVP build cycle managing executive-level expectations, communicating progress with clarity and poise, enabling client teams, and ensuring a comprehensive, well-documented handoff to delivery and service line teams for scaled implementation
- Develop and present client-ready solution artifacts including proposals, Statements of Work, architecture decks, and executive narratives that make complex AI accessible to senior business audiences
- Apply architecture decisions that balance quality, safety, latency, cost, and model risk establishing reusable deployment patterns that benefit the broader practice
- Orchestrate cross-functional pursuit teams across sales, engineering, delivery, and ecosystem partners ensuring consistent, differentiated outcomes for clients
- Identify and codify repeatable deployment patterns contributing insights back to product, engineering, and practice leadership
- Mentor and develop junior engineers through deal reviews, coaching, and development planning
Skills
- 8+ years in AI/ML engineering, solution architecture, pre-sales, or technical consulting
- Proven ability to engage C-suite and senior business executives with authority, composure, and influence; commanding credibility in high-stakes client settings
- Demonstrated success deploying GenAI-powered solutions in client or enterprise environments at scale
- Proven ability to lead structured discovery, ideation workshops, and solution design for complex AI opportunities
- Track record of building and sustaining senior executive relationships and growing account presence over the engagement lifecycle
- Strong production coding across Python and at least one additional language; fluency in enterprise integration patterns
- Deep production expertise in LLMs, agentic architectures, evaluation frameworks, and MLOps/LLMOps at scale
- Multi-hyperscaler depth across AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Azure AI Foundry; owns model selection, routing, open-weight self-hosting, and cost/latency optimization
- Designs multi-agent and stateful agent systems; selects among LangGraph, CrewAI, Microsoft Agent Framework, and vendor SDKs based on control, latency, and cost trade-offs; applies orchestration patterns (supervisor/worker, human-in-the-loop checkpoints)
- Designs enterprise retrieval architectures; evaluates vector store and indexing trade-offs for accuracy, scale, and cost
- Establishes the evaluation and observability strategy for an engagement (LangSmith, Langfuse, Arize Phoenix, or Braintrust), including self-hosted options for data-residency requirements
- Embeds Responsible AI by design — model risk, safety, and bias controls — aligned to NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and the EU AI Act; applies sector compliance (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI) as relevant
- Codifies reusable patterns, accelerators, and reference implementations that build team IP
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or any time in the future
- Commanding trust and authority in C-suite and senior executive settings; navigating complex organizational dynamics and influencing key decisions with confidence and composure
- Guiding senior client leaders toward transformative AI scenarios and measurable business value creation
- Designing scalable, feasible, and differentiated AI solutions across diverse industry contexts
- Comprehensive mastery of GenAI, LLMs, ML engineering, data pipelines, and agentic architectures in production environments
- Ensuring MVP-to-delivery transitions are thorough, well-documented, and set service line teams up for successful scaled implementation
- Ability to navigate ambiguity, operate autonomously, and represent Cognizant at the highest level in client environments
- Experience in a specific enterprise vertical; background in AI consulting, technical advisory, or professional services
Benefits
- Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program and stock awards, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.
- Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
- Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
- 401(k) plan and contributions
- Long-term/Short-term Disability
- Paid Parental Leave
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Company Overview