Strategic Lead, Sovereign AI for Financial Services

Equinix; Greater London; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Equinix is seeking a Senior Director of Sovereign AI for Financial Services Industry (FSI) to shape the strategy and monetization of sovereign AI across EMEA and globally. You will translate regulatory and infrastructure requirements into practical customer outcomes and partner with Product, Marketing, and Field teams to drive differentiation.

You’ll lead external engagement with regulators, customers, and strategic partners, and frame credible market narratives that enable Equinix to win in

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in technology, enterprise digital infrastructure, sovereign cloud, or sovereign AI programs.
• Experience working within an FSI institution or leading a major FSI technology program in a large consulting organization.
• Deep understanding of European regulatory and assurance frameworks, including EUCS, NIS2, DORA, GDPR, the EU AI Act, SecNumCloud, BSI C5, NCSC frameworks, national equivalents, and regulated-infrastructure procurement requirements.
• Strong familiarity with the CLOUD Act and European data-sovereignty concerns relating to US-jurisdiction infrastructure.
• Demonstrated ability to build market propositions, influence complex enterprise buying processes, and translate technical and regulatory requirements into commercial value.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Information Systems, Business, or a related field; an MBA or advanced degree is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead Equinix’s sovereign AI strategy for FSI across EMEA, with global relevance, and convert market, regulatory, and customer requirements into a clear commercial roadmap.
• Develop differentiated FSI vertical narratives, value propositions, use cases, ROI tools, and competitive positioning that enable field teams and partners to monetize sovereign AI opportunities.
• Own the agentic AI infrastructure narrative for regulated FSI environments, including the infrastructure, governance, security, data-residency, and interoperability requirements of agent-to-agent workloads.
• Deliver three priority regulatory outputs: a DORA Articles 28 and 30 due-diligence pack; an EU AI Act-aligned sovereign AI reference architecture for regulated industries; and a CLOUD Act response brief for European customers navigating US-jurisdiction risk.
• Build the sovereign AI reference architecture and blueprint demonstrating how Equinix’s neutral, operator-agnostic infrastructure addresses AI-sovereignty requirements and differentiates from hyperscaler-operated facilities.
• Translate EUCS, NIS2, DORA, GDPR, the EU AI Act, SecNumCloud, BSI C5, NCSC frameworks, national equivalents, and infrastructure-procurement requirements into practical guidance for customers, partners, and field teams.
• Develop and execute sovereign AI partner strategies with systems integrators, consulting firms, technology providers, and other ecosystem partners.
• Engage strategic customers, regulatory institutions, industry alliances, and partners to identify market opportunities, shape demand, and strengthen Equinix’s position within the European sovereign AI ecosystem.
• Navigate complex institutional procurement cycles, multi-stakeholder decision processes, and political dynamics across regulated markets.
• Contribute to the Knowledge Spine FSI vertical sprint, producing field-ready sovereign AI use cases, ROI tools, reference materials, and competitive positioning.
• Serve as an Equinix spokesperson at industry events, partner summits, executive customer forums, and industry-alliance events.
• Lead C-level conversations with FSI customers, regulatory institutions, and strategic partners, credibly articulating what sovereign AI requires and how Equinix enables it.
• Align Product, Marketing, Channel, Digital Infrastructure Operations, Business Development, Customer Success, Sales, and regional teams around a coherent sovereign AI strategy and execution plan.
• Turn complex technical, regulatory, and market inputs into clear priorities, decision frameworks, and customer-facing outcomes.

Skills

Executive leadership

Stakeholder management

AI infrastructure

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/AI/IS/Business

MBA preferred

Job description

Equinix is seeking a Senior Director of Sovereign AI for Financial Services Industry (FSI) to shape the strategy and monetization of sovereign AI across EMEA and globally. You will translate regulatory and infrastructure requirements into practical customer outcomes and partner with Product, Marketing, and Field teams to drive differentiation.

You’ll lead external engagement with regulators, customers, and strategic partners, and frame credible market narratives that enable Equinix to win in