Senior Manager, AI Strategy & Business Development

Avanade Inc.; Toronto; On-site; CAD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Avanade Inc. is seeking a senior AI opportunity leader in Toronto to originate AI opportunities in client accounts and partner with Sales to craft AI growth strategies.

You will build relationships with senior stakeholders, lead qualification and deal shaping, and help clients prioritize AI use cases by value and feasibility. You will develop compelling AI narratives for executive audiences and expand AI transformations within strategic accounts, collaborating with Microsoft and Databricks to

Qualifications

• Proven track record in identifying and originating AI opportunities within enterprise accounts.
• Experience in presales, solution shaping, and translating business priorities into AI roadmaps.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with C-suite and senior technology leaders.
• Strong consulting sales background with ability to close multi-year AI engagements.

Responsibilities

• Identify and originate new AI opportunities within existing and prospective client accounts.
• Partner with sales and account teams to develop AI growth strategies.
• Build relationships with senior client stakeholders to uncover AI-enabled business challenges.
• Lead AI opportunity qualification, discovery, value articulation, and deal shaping.
• Shape proposals and executive-level AI stories that differentiate our offerings.

Skills

AI strategy

Presales & BD

Executive-level communications

Opportunity origination

Consulting sales

Tools

Microsoft Azure

Databricks

Job description

• Identify and originate new AI opportunities within existing and prospective client accounts.
• Partner closely with sales and account teams to develop account-specific AI growth strategies.
• Build relationships with senior client stakeholders and uncover business challenges that can be addressed through AI.
• Lead AI opportunity qualification, discovery, value articulation, and deal-shaping activities.
• Help clients prioritize AI use cases based on business value, feasibility, adoption requirements, risk, and scalability.
• Develop compelling AI narratives, points of view, and executive-level propositions that differentiate our capabilities in the market.
• Expand our AI footprint within strategic accounts by moving conversations from isolated experimentation to broader transformation programs.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the AI market, our technology partners’ evolving portfolios, client priorities, and competitive offerings.

What You'll Do

• Identify and originate new AI opportunities within existing and prospective client accounts.
• Partner closely with sales and account teams to develop account-specific AI growth strategies.
• Build relationships with senior client stakeholders and uncover business challenges that can be addressed through AI.
• Lead AI opportunity qualification, discovery, value articulation, and deal-shaping activities.
• Help clients prioritize AI use cases based on business value, feasibility, adoption requirements, risk, and scalability.
• Develop compelling AI narratives, points of view, and executive-level propositions that differentiate our capabilities in the market.
• Expand our AI footprint within strategic accounts by moving conversations from isolated experimentation to broader transformation programs.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the AI market, our technology partners’ evolving portfolios, client priorities, and competitive offerings.

Origination and Business Development

• Identify and originate new AI opportunities within existing and prospective client accounts.
• Partner closely with sales and account teams to develop account-specific AI growth strategies.
• Build relationships with senior client stakeholders and uncover business challenges that can be addressed through AI.
• Lead AI opportunity qualification, discovery, value articulation, and deal-shaping activities.
• Help clients prioritize AI use cases based on business value, feasibility, adoption requirements, risk, and scalability.
• Develop compelling AI narratives, points of view, and executive-level propositions that differentiate our capabilities in the market.
• Expand our AI footprint within strategic accounts by moving conversations from isolated experimentation to broader transformation programs.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the AI market, our technology partners’ evolving portfolios, client priorities, and competitive offerings.

Presales and Solution Shaping

• Lead executive discovery sessions, AI strategy workshops, innovation sessions, and solution envisioning engagements.
• Translate business priorities into credible AI transformation roadmaps and actionable consulting opportunities.
• Shape AI pursuits from initial client conversation through qualification, proposal development, oral presentations, negotiation, and transition to delivery.
• Create and present business cases that connect AI investments to measurable business outcomes.
• Collaborate with architects and subject matter experts to define solution approaches, estimates, delivery roadmaps, commercial models, assumptions, and risks.
• Ensure proposed solutions are technically credible, commercially viable, and aligned with the client’s ability to adopt and scale AI.
• Support proposal responses, executive presentations, demonstrations, proofs of concept, and client-facing solution narratives.
• Work with our technology partners, including Microsoft and Databricks, to develop and advance joint AI opportunities.

Executive Client Leadership

• Act as a trusted AI advisor to C-suite and senior client stakeholders.
• Help clients navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape and distinguish practical opportunities from market hype.
• Advise clients on AI strategy, operating models, adoption, governance, value realization, and responsible deployment.
• Facilitate conversations that connect AI capabilities to business strategy, workforce transformation, customer experience, operational efficiency, and growth.
• Build credibility with both business executives and senior technology leaders.
• Maintain trusted client relationships beyond individual pursuits to support long-term account growth.

AI Thought Leadership and Market Presence

• Represent the Data & AI practice in client briefings, executive events, industry forums, and partner discussions.
• Develop reusable points of view, offerings, demonstrations, and sales enablement materials.
• Contribute to the evolution of our AI go-to-market strategy and priority solution plays.
• Bring informed perspectives on Generative AI, Agentic AI, AI-enabled business processes, intelligent applications, and enterprise AI platforms.
• Help sales and account teams confidently position AI capabilities and initiate meaningful conversations with their clients.
• Coach consultants, architects, and sales professionals on AI storytelling, value articulation, and opportunity development.

Delivery and Practice Collaboration

• Apply practical delivery experience to ensure proposed AI solutions can move successfully from concept to production.
• Provide senior oversight during the early stages of strategic AI engagements and support a strong transition from sales to delivery.
• Participate in architecture and delivery reviews for high-profile or strategically important AI programs.
• Help teams identify delivery risks, adoption barriers, data dependencies, governance requirements, and Responsible AI considerations.
• Collaborate with AI engineers, data scientists, data engineers, architects, designers, change specialists, and industry experts.
• Support the development of reusable AI accelerators, demonstrations, reference architectures, and industry solutions.

Qualifications

What You'll Bring

• 10 or more years of experience across Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, advanced analytics, or related technology consulting disciplines.
• Established professional credibility in AI, with the ability to engage confidently with senior business and technology executives.
• Proven experience in consulting, professional services, technology advisory, or a comparable client-facing environment.
• Demonstrated success in opportunity origination, presales, business development, solution selling, or consulting sales.