Consulting Principal Enterprise Architect — AI Specialty (Platforms & Services / Hi-Tech)

Cognizant

San Jose (CA)

Hybrid

USD 165,000 - 194,000

Full time

15 hours ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

401(k) plan

Paid holidays

Paid time off

Employee stock purchase plan

Job summary

Cognizant Consulting seeks a Principal Enterprise Architect — AI Specialty to lead the AI architecture for Platforms & Services and Hi-Tech accounts. You will define how agentic and ML capabilities are anchored in client data, governed responsibly, and standardized into reusable patterns across SaaS and internal systems.

You will collaborate with client executives, delivery, engineering, data, and product teams, providing technical leadership and mentorship while engaging in pre-sales,

Qualifications

12–15+ years in IT/enterprise architecture with TOGAF governance.
Experience delivering architecture for large enterprise programs across cloud-native AI platforms.
Hands-on AI PoC to production across GenAI/agentic frameworks.

Responsibilities

Set enterprise-wide AI architecture vision and roadmaps for accounts.
Architect scalable, secure, explainable AI systems and reference architectures.
Standardize reusable AI components (LLM onboarding, RAG pipelines) and run PoCs.
Establish architecture governance, responsible-AI practices, and data privacy.
Provide technical leadership and engage with C-level stakeholders; support pre-sales and discovery workshops.

Skills

TOGAF practice

Cloud architecture

Python

AI frameworks

Executive engagement

Pre-sales

Solutioning

Client advisory

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering

TOGAF certification

Tools

LangChain

LlamaIndex

vector databases

MLflow

PyTorch/TensorFlow

HuggingFace

Job description

About Cognizant Consulting

Cognizant Consulting is where curious minds come together to solve complex challenges and create meaningful impact. Blending industry insight, technology expertise, and the power of AI, we partner with leading organizations to transform the way they work, serve customers, and grow.

About Cognizant Consulting

About The Role

As a Principal Enterprise Architect — AI Specialty (Platforms & Services / Hi-Tech), you will make an impact by acting as the senior AI architecture authority for a portfolio of Platforms & Services and Hi-Tech accounts, defining how agentic and machine-learning capabilities are grounded in each client's data, governed responsibly, and standardized into reusable reference patterns so that AI becomes a dependable layer of the client's platform rather than a collection of disconnected pilots. You will be a valued member of the Enterprise Architecture team and work collaboratively with client executives, delivery, engineering, data, and product teams, and clients.

In this role, you will

Set the enterprise-wide AI architecture vision and target-state roadmaps for each account, aligning every solution to the broader enterprise-architecture framework and advising leadership on emerging technologies and their business impact
Architect complex, multi-layered AI systems — scalable, resilient, secure, and explainable — and design reference architectures for GenAI and autonomous/agentic frameworks grounded in enterprise context and orchestrated safely across SaaS and internal systems via APIs
Standardize reusable building blocks (LLM onboarding, RAG pipelines, vector stores, agent/application patterns) and build hands‑on proofs of concept and prototypes to validate feasibility, de‑risk decisions, and win client confidence
Establish and run architecture governance, standards, and responsible‑AI practices — embedding data privacy and domain‑specific compliance (e.g., PCI‑DSS, SOX, IP sensitivity) and defining model‑evaluation and benchmarking gates for production
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to solution architects and engineering teams, lead conversations with client executives up to C-level as a trusted advisor, and support pre‑sales, solutioning, and discovery/design workshops

Work model

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role's business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in San Jose, California. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work‑life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you're engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What You Must Have To Be Considered

12–15+ years in IT/enterprise architecture, including multiple years delivering architecture for large, complex programs at enterprise scale, with deep TOGAF practice and architecture review‑board governance
Proven track record architecting enterprise‑grade AI solutions on cloud‑native architectures (AWS, Azure, and/or GCP), with architectural experience across enterprise GenAI platforms, ML model deployment, RAG pipelines, and autonomous/agentic AI frameworks
Substantial experience serving Platforms & Services and/or Hi-Tech clients (SaaS, fintech/payments, or semiconductor/capital‑equipment) with deep domain depth in at least one and the range to ramp quickly on the others
Hands‑on enough to personally stand up quick proofs of concept and prototypes (Python, notebooks, agent/LLM SDKs, cloud services), with a track record of taking AI from PoC through to production at scale
Client‑facing / consulting experience including pre‑sales, solutioning, and executive engagement, plus responsible‑AI, data privacy, model governance, and domain‑specific compliance expertise

These will help you succeed

Real‑time / low‑latency decisioning and large‑scale distributed systems (billions of transactions) for payments or risk platforms
Data architecture — lakehouse strategies, information/data modeling, streaming (Kafka/Spark), and governance across domains
Hands‑on with AI frameworks and tooling — LangChain/LlamaIndex, vector databases, MLflow, PyTorch/TensorFlow, Hugging Face
For Hi-Tech: familiarity with semiconductor design/manufacturing, EDA/CAD workflows, or yield/manufacturing analytics
TOGAF certification strongly preferred and relevant cloud architecture certifications a plus; Bachelor's or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Science, or Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.

Salary And Other Compensation

Applications will be accepted until November 4, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between $165,000 - $194,000 depending on the experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.
This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits