Head of AI Strategy

Foreground is partnering with a regional digital transformation consultancy headquartered in the UAE to appoint a visionary and commercially grounded Head of AI Strategy based in Dubai. With a portfolio of enterprise and public-sector clients across the GCC the firm is entering a growth phase driven by demand for scalable AI-enabled solutions across industries. This appointment is a foundational hire tasked with building and leading the firms AI practice from the ground up.

Role Purpose

To architect and operationalize a commercially viable AI consulting practice that advises enterprise and government clients on how to leverage artificial intelligence machine learning and data science to solve business challenges improve decision-making and unlock new value streams.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the firms AI strategy practice roadmap including service models solution architecture and client engagement frameworks tailored to sector-specific use cases.
• Partner with business development to identify high-impact AI opportunities and lead client-facing strategy development for proposals pilots and scaled engagements.
• Oversee the design and delivery of AI solutions spanning automation predictive modeling natural language processing recommendation systems and computer vision.
• Build and lead a multidisciplinary team of AI consultants data scientists and solution architects; oversee third-party vendor relationships and technology alliances.
• Engage directly with C-level clients to understand business pain points assess data infrastructure maturity and translate these into actionable AI strategies with clear business cases.
• Lead the development of IP accelerators frameworks and methodologies that differentiate the firms approach to AI consulting in the GCC market.
• Serve as the firms subject matter expert on emerging AI trends contributing to thought leadership strategic forums and regional policy dialogues.
• Ensure that all AI work complies with regional data privacy laws ethical AI guidelines and public-sector compliance requirements.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 15 years of experience in technology strategy digital transformation or enterprise architecture with at least 5 years focused specifically on artificial intelligence machine learning or advanced analytics.
• Proven experience advising senior stakeholders in both public and private sectors on the adoption and implementation of AI-based systems.
• Deep understanding of the AI ecosystem including data platforms algorithm design model governance and solution delivery in cloud-native environments (AWS Azure GCP).
• Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science Artificial Intelligence Data Engineering or a related field; MBA or PhD is a strong advantage.
• Strong understanding of the UAE and GCC regulatory landscape around data privacy AI ethics and digital innovation policy.
• Exceptional executive presence presentation skills and the ability to translate complex AI concepts into clear commercially meaningful outcomes.