AI Centers of Excellence (India) is EXL’s 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 EXL’s 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 EXL’s global client portfolio.
ResponsibilitiesResponsibilities
- 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 EXL’s 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.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Information Systems, Business, or a related discipline. MBA or advanced technology leadership qualification is preferred.
Skills Required
- 6-8 years of experience in delivery management, engagement management, program management, or AI/technology consulting.
- Proven experience managing a use-case or project pipeline from discovery through delivery.
- Experience running partner-program commitments, certification cohorts, or enablement programs.
- Proficiency with Salesforce or similar CRM for pipeline, deal tagging, and reporting.
- Working understanding of Generative AI, LLMs, RAG, and enterprise AI use-case patterns (Claude platform familiarity valued).
- Excellent stakeholder-management and communication skills across delivery, sales, and partner teams.
- Strong organizational skills with attention to tracking, governance, and reporting.
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, AI, Information Systems, or related discipline (or equivalent practical experience).
- Domain exposure to BFSI or healthcare.
- Familiarity with Anthropic partner programs and Claude certification tracks (CCA-F).
- Experience with ROI/value tracking and reference-customer programs.
- PMP, Agile, or similar delivery/program certification.
What We Do
Choosing a digital partner is about more than capabilities — it’s about collaboration and character. Unrealistic overhauls and off-the-shelf products ignore what matters most — your unique needs, culture, goals, and your legacy data and technology environments. At EXL, our collaboration is built on ongoing listening and learning to adapt our methodologies. We’re your business evolution partner—tailoring solutions that make the most of data to make better business decisions and drive more intelligence into your increasingly digital operations. Whether your goals are scaling the use of AI and digital, redesign operating models, or driving better and faster decisions, we’re here to partner with you to help you gain—and maintain—competitive advantage with efficient, sustainable models at scale. Our expertise in transformation, data science, and change management helps make your business more efficient and effective, improve customer relationships and enhance revenue growth. Instead of focusing on multi-year, resource- and time-intensive platform designs or migrations, we look deeper at your entire value chain to integrate strategies with impact. We use our specialization in analytics, digital interventions, and operations management—alongside deep industry expertise — to deliver solutions that help you outperform the competition. At EXL, it’s all about outcomes—your outcomes—and delivering success on your terms. Share your goals with us and together, we’ll optimize how you leverage data to drive your business forward. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.
