Applied AI Lead, Executive Director, Enterprise Technology Services

Morgan Stanley; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 2,500,000 - 4,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Morgan Stanley’s Applied AI function in Asia seeks an Executive Director to lead Generative AI strategy, adoption, and governance across IST, IM, and PWM. This role requires program discipline, stakeholder influence at MD/ED levels, and regulatory awareness across APAC, with hands-on participation in architecture and rapid prototyping as needed.

The position collaborates with global teams to align enablement approaches, drive KPI reporting, and build data-driven business cases for GenAI

Qualifications

• 12+ years in technology strategy, program management, or technical product mgmt within financial services.
• Senior leadership experience (VP/above) at a global financial institution.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication; translate AI concepts for business leaders and regulators.
• Strong program mgmt with multi-workstream initiatives and ambiguous ownership.
• Technical foundations in software/data engineering or applied AI/ML; engage on LLM architecture.

Responsibilities

• Drive regional rollout and adoption of GenAI tools across IST, IM, PWM.
• Develop training programs, playbooks, and use-case libraries for Asia.
• Champion AI Development Platform adoption, governance, and model serving endpoints.
• Lead adoption of AI analytics platforms (Snowflake Cortex, Databricks Mosaic AI).
• Build and maintain registry of GenAI use cases across Asia, with ownership mapping.
• Secure senior leadership support and allocate resources for high-impact GenAI initiatives.
• Coordinate with global Applied AI teams to share best practices and roadmap planning.
• Liaise with legal/compliance/regulatory on GenAI use across APAC jurisdictions.

Skills

Strategy leadership

Program management

Senior stakeholder engagement

Technical product management

Executive communication

Job description

Job Overview

Applied AI is a function within Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) responsible for driving the strategic adoption, enablement, and governance of Generative AI capabilities across Morgan Stanley’s business units. We are seeking a highly experienced and technically grounded Executive Director to lead Generative AI strategy, adoption, and enablement across Morgan Stanley’s Asia business units – spanning Institutional Securities Technology (IST), Investment Management (IM), and Private Wealth Management (PWM). The role requires program management discipline, stakeholder influence at the senior‑most levels, regulatory awareness across multiple Asia‑Pacific jurisdictions, and the technical depth to engage on architecture, implementation, and rapid prototyping when required.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive regional rollout, adoption tracking, and optimization of AI‑powered coding assistants – including Amp, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot (including Agent Mode) – partnering with engineering leads across IST, IM, and PWM to measure developer productivity gains and resolve adoption blockers.
• Own the regional enablement strategy for general‑purpose GenAI productivity tools – including ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude for Financial Services, Grok Enterprise – developing training programs, adoption playbooks, and use‑case libraries tailored to each business unit.
• Serve as the Asia champion for the firm’s AI Development Platform (AIDP / AI Gateway), driving adoption of capabilities such as model serving endpoints, prompt management, RAG patterns, guardrails enforcement, and API governance.
• Drive adoption of AI‑native analytics platforms including Snowflake Cortex and Databricks Mosaic AI, partnering with data engineering and analytics teams.
• Build and maintain an authoritative, continuously updated registry of all GenAI use cases across Asia – categorized by business unit, development stage, technology stack, and business owner.
• Ensure that Asia’s highest‑impact GenAI initiatives receive the specialized engineering and advisory resources they require – building data‑driven business cases and advocating in firm‑wide allocation discussions.
• Work in close coordination with global Applied AI counterparts to ensure consistency in enablement approaches, share best practices, and represent Asia in global prioritization and roadmap planning.
• Serve as the regional liaison between technology, legal, compliance, and regulatory affairs on GenAI use across Asia jurisdictions (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, Mainland China). Maintain a jurisdictional restrictions matrix mapping each tool, model, and data flow to applicable regulatory requirements.
• Maintain hands‑on technical currency by facilitating rapid prototyping and feasibility assessments of new GenAI capabilities using tools such as new models, new SDKs (LangChain/LangGraph), Streamlit, etc.
• Establish trusted advisory relationships with senior leaders across IST, IM, and PWM – coordinate cross‑BU forums and knowledge‑sharing sessions – define and track KPIs, producing executive‑ready reporting monthly and quarterly.

Required Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in technology strategy, program management, or technical product management within financial services, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership capacity (VP or above) at a global financial institution.
• Demonstrated track record of building trusted relationships and influencing outcomes with senior stakeholders (MD/ED level and above) across technology, business, risk, legal, and compliance functions – without direct reporting authority.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to translate highly technical AI/ML concepts into clear, actionable narratives for non‑technical business leaders and regulators.
• Strong program management discipline, including experience managing multi‑workstream initiatives with cross‑functional dependencies and ambiguous ownership.
• Technical foundations in software engineering, data engineering, or applied AI/ML with sufficient depth to engage credibly on LLM architecture (transformer models).

What You Can Expect From Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley offers an attractive benefits package and a supportive work environment that encourages professional growth and work‑life balance. Employees have access to comprehensive health, retirement, and well‑being benefits, plus opportunities for advancement and mobility across the business.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents.

For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo.