Head of Digital & AI

Client of Faze 3 Consulting

Lead the end-to-end digital and AI transformation of a major UAE group.

We're partnering with a leading Abu Dhabi-based holding group to appoint a Head of Digital & AI an executive role accountable for the full digital and AI agenda across the enterprise. This is a rare mandate with board-level sponsorship, a defined operating model, and a well-resourced delivery partnership. Reports to the Chief Information & AI Officer with two direct reports (one dotted). The role ensures the enterprise evolves from a systems-centric IT organization to a product-led, AI-enabled business while retaining decision rights, IP ownership, and operational accountability in-house.

What you'll own:

Digital & AI Strategy Ownership

• Define and execute the enterprise Digital & AI strategy aligned to business objectives, safety, operational resilience, and growth.

• Translate board-level strategy into multi-year roadmaps across enterprise systems, digital platforms, and AI products.

• Act as executive sponsor for the transition to an AI-enabled, product-led operating model.

Enterprise Business Solutions Leadership

• Own the enterprise application landscape (ERP, HRMS, AMOS, Digital Ocean, GRC, ESG) and processes spanning crew, fleet, finance, procurement, compliance, and analytics.

• Ensure enterprise systems are digitized, integrated, standardized, data-ready, and AI-enablement ready.

• Govern system modernization, vendor roadmaps, and lifecycle decisions (build/buy/retire).

AI Target Operating Model Ownership

• Own and evolve the AI Target Operating Model: Interface Team, Delivery Squads, and Run & Operate.

• Enforce clear separation of duties across portfolio and value ownership, delivery execution, operational reliability, and security/governance/risk.

• Enforce the decision-rights model approved by SteerCo.

AI Portfolio, Product & Value Governance

• Sponsor the AI Product Portfolio across Everyday AI and Enterprise AI.

• Chair portfolio-level stage gates: investment prioritization, architecture and data readiness, governance and risk approval, operational acceptance and scaling.

• Ensure all AI initiatives have clear business cases, measurable KPIs, and ongoing value realization tracking.

Delivery Partnership & Vendor Orchestration

• Act as executive counterpart to the primary AI delivery partner for capability build and delivery.

• Define boundaries between client-side control/governance/run and partner-led delivery acceleration.

• Ensure the delivery partner operates within architecture standards, security and data governance guardrails, and defined acceptance and handover criteria.

• Prevent long-term vendor dependency through capability transfer and internal enablement.

Governance, Risk & Compliance Oversight

• Ensure Responsible AI, data protection, security, and regulatory compliance are embedded by design across enterprise systems, digital platforms, and AI solutions.

• Sponsor AI governance councils and escalation forums.

• Maintain audit-ready assurance across all digital and AI initiatives.

Organization, Talent & Culture

• Build and lead high-performing digital and AI teams across product, data, engineering, governance, and change leadership.

• Sponsor the AI Champions program and enterprise-wide adoption initiatives.

• Drive cultural shift toward product thinking, automation-first mindset, and data-driven decision making.

Key decision rights (accountable):

• Enterprise digital and AI roadmap approval.

• AI portfolio funding and prioritization.

• Architecture and platform standards.

• AI governance stage-gate approvals.

• Operational go-live authorization for critical digital and AI systems.

• Delivery partnership scope and escalation authority.

What you bring:

• 15+ years in enterprise digital transformation leadership covering enterprise systems leadership, data & AI programs at scale, and operating model design and execution.

• Proven experience running large, complex vendor ecosystems in regulated environments.

• Bachelor's or Master's in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.

• Executive presence able to engage confidently at board and SteerCo level and translate strategy into multi-year delivery.

Preferred certifications:

• PMI-CPMAI or AI Business Leadership certifications

• TOGAF or equivalent Enterprise Architecture

• Cloud and AI platform certifications (Azure preferred)