Associate Director - Forward Deployed Engineer (AI & Data)

Ernst & Young LLP ( EY India ); Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 6,500,000; Full time

Job summary

EY - GDS AI & Data is seeking an Associate Director for Forward Deployed Engineer to design, build, and deploy AI-powered solutions directly with clients. You will embed with clients, translate business problems into production-grade systems, and own outcomes end-to-end.

This role requires 15+ years of hands-on engineering, strong distributed systems knowledge, and cloud-native architectures. You will work across Azure, AWS, and GCP, developing LLM-driven apps, RAG systems, and scalable,

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software/AI/ML engineering experience.
• Strong hands-on system-building and production deployment experience.
• Proven client-facing experience in ambiguous environments.
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, microservices and APIs.

Responsibilities

• Embed directly with clients to understand business and technical challenges.
• Own solution outcomes end-to-end from discovery to production deployment.
• Design and build LLM-powered applications, RAG systems, and agentic workflows.

Skills

15+ years experience

Distributed systems

Cloud-native architectures

Production deployments

Client-facing

Communication

Tools

LLM APIs

CI/CD pipelines

Vector databases

Job description

EY - GDS Consulting - AI and DATA - Forward Deployed engineer - Associate Director

At EY, you’ll have the chance to build a career as unique as you are, with the global scale, support, inclusive culture and technology to become the best version of you. And we’re counting on your unique voice and perspective to help EY become even better, too. Join us and build an exceptional experience for yourself, and a better working world for all.

EY- GDS – AI & Data – Associate Director – Forward Deployed Engineer As part of our EY-GDS AI & Data team, we help our clients solve complex business challenges with the help of AI, Automation, Data Engineering technology. We drive value and discover opportunities in key business and functions like Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing and Auto, Supply Chain, and Finance.

The opportunity We are seeking a Associate Director for Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) with 15+ years of deep, hands‑on engineering experience to design, build, and deploy AI-powered solutions directly with clients. This role is ideal for an elite individual contributor who thrives in ambiguous environments, prefers building real systems over managing teams, and can translate business problems into production‑grade AI solutions.

Lead complex end‑to‑end deployments in production at strategic customers. Act as a forward‑deployed technical owner, responsible for taking ambiguous ideas from concept → prototype → production. Lead the discovery, design, development, and deployment of high‑impact AI / GenAI‑powered solutions in close collaboration with client stakeholders. Build LLM‑driven applications, RAG systems, and agentic workflows that demonstrate measurable business value. Drive innovation by creating reusable accelerators, frameworks, and reference implementations for enterprise GenAI deployments. Enable rapid experimentation and large‑scale adoption of AI, data, and cloud platforms through hands‑on engineering leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Embed directly with clients to understand business and technical challenges.
• Break down vague or high‑level problem statements into executable engineering solutions.
• Own solution outcomes end‑to‑end, from discovery to production deployment.
• Operate as a trusted technical advisor to senior client stakeholders.
• Design and build LLM‑powered applications (chatbots, copilots, assistants), Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) systems & Agentic workflows and orchestration pipelines
• Integrate LLMs with enterprise data platforms, APIs, and external systems.
• Evaluate and optimize trade‑offs across latency, cost, accuracy, scalability, and security.
• Iterate rapidly based on client feedback.
• Convert PoCs into production‑grade, enterprise‑ready deployments.
• Design systems for scalability, reliability, and observability.
• Build reusable engineering accelerators, frameworks, and reference architectures.
• Codify best practices for enterprise GenAI deployments.
• Collaborate with internal teams to transition deployed solutions into long‑term support and scale.
• Develop cloud‑native architectures across Azure, AWS, or GCP.

Required Skills & Experience

• Mandatory 15+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, or AI/ML.
• Strong hands‑on system‑building and production deployment experience.
• Proven experience delivering solutions in client‑facing or high‑ambiguity environments.
• Solid understanding of Distributed systems, Microservices and APIs & Cloud‑native architectures
• Ability to independently own and deliver complex, high‑impact solutions.
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and business stakeholders.

Desired / Preferred

• Hands‑on experience with LLM APIs and prompt engineering, RAG architectures and vector databases, Agentic workflows and orchestration frameworks
• Experience integrating AI systems with enterprise data platforms.
• Exposure to AI ecosystem – OpenAI, Claude, Cursor, Palantir, and many others along with Hyperscalers – Azure, AWS, GCP, and similar ecosystem.
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure automation.
• Prior Forward Deployed Engineer / Solutions Engineer / Field Engineer background.
• Experience building 0 → 1 AI or data products.
• Exposure to MLOps practices and model monitoring.
• Frontend or UI exposure for AI‑driven applications.

What This Role Is NOT

Not a people management role Not a delivery governance or program management role Not limited to architecture reviews — you are expected to build and ship

What we look for

Deep technical expertise with genuine enthusiasm for building and learning. Strong ownership mindset with bias toward action. Comfort in fast‑moving, unstructured environments. Strong communication with both engineers and business leaders

Success Metrics (First 6–12 Months)

• Deliver 2–4 production‑grade AI use cases for clients
• Demonstrate measurable business impact (efficiency, revenue, cost savings)
• Establish credibility as a go‑to FDE for complex engagements
• Create reusable patterns for scaling similar solutions

What working at EY offers

At EY, we’re dedicated to helping our clients, from start‑ups to Fortune 500 companies — and the work we do with them is as varied as they are. You get to work with inspiring and meaningful projects. Our focus is education and coaching alongside practical experience to ensure your personal development. We value our employees, and you will be able to control your own development with an individual progression plan. You will quickly grow into a responsible role with challenging and stimulating assignments. Moreover, you will be part of an interdisciplinary environment that emphasizes high quality and knowledge exchange. Plus, we offer: Support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around Opportunities to develop new skills and progress your career The freedom and flexibility to handle your role in a way that’s right for you

EY | Building a better working world EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long‑term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.