Forward Deployed Chief AI Engineering Expert

SAP SE; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 274,000 - 609,000; Full time

Job summary

SAP SE is seeking a Chief Expert in AI engineering to define architectures and lead enterprise-scale AI initiatives. You will guide design decisions, mentor teams, and liaise with customers to align roadmaps with business strategy.

This hybrid NYC-based role focuses on advancing AI capabilities, governance, and scalable delivery across SAP’s global engagements. You will collaborate with product, research, and leadership to shape SAP AI product strategy, accelerate adoption of foundation models,

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing and delivering production-grade AI native applications at enterprise scale.
• Able to define AI engineering reference architectures, standards, and long-term technical roadmaps.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and influence across senior stakeholders and executives.

Responsibilities

• Define and govern AI engineering architectures, reference designs, and standards.
• Act as highest-level technical escalation point for complex AI engineering challenges.
• Embed with strategic customers to co-design transformational AI solutions.
• Drive alignment between customer strategy, AI roadmaps, and engineering execution.
• Lead evaluation and adoption of emerging AI capabilities including foundation models and responsible AI practices.
• Mentor engineering teams and establish best practices and guardrails.
• Partner with product and research to translate field learnings into product improvements.
• Influence long-term AI technology direction through thought leadership.

Skills

AI engineering

Technical strategist

Large language models

RAG architectures

Agentic systems

Vector databases

Cloud-native AI

Communication

Stakeholder management

Tools

SAP AI Core

Vectorization

Joule Studio

RPT-1

Business Data Cloud

Job description

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

What You'll Build

In this role, you set the technical direction for AI engineering across strategic customer engagements and enterprise wide initiatives. As a Chief Expert, you are the deepest technical authority on AI engineering within the team defining how AI native applications are architected, built, and operated at scale. Embedded directly within SAP's most complex customer environments, you act as a senior technical anchor, a thought leader, and a force multiplier for delivery teams. You are accountable for the architectural integrity of AI solutions, the elevation of engineering quality across programs, and the direct influence you have on SAP's AI product and platform strategy through field intelligence.

In This Role, You Will

• Define and govern AI engineering architectures, reference designs, and standards that shape how AI-native applications are built and operated across the organization.
• Act as the highest- evel technical escalation point for complex AI engineering challenges, guiding critical design and implementation decisions across programs.
• Embed directly with SAP's most strategic customers to understand their most complex AI challenges and co-design transformational solutions that create lasting enterprise impact.
• Drive alignment between customer business strategy, AI product roadmaps, and engineering execution, bridging vision and delivery.
• Lead the evaluation and adoption of emerging AI capabilities including foundation models, agentic frameworks, multi-modal systems, and responsible AI practices.
• Mentor and elevate engineering talent across the team, establishing best practices, guardrails, and a culture of technical excellence.
• Partner with product, research, and go-to-market leadership to translate field learnings into product improvements, reusable assets, and strategic differentiation.
• Influence long term AI technology direction by contributing to internal and external thought leadership, standards bodies, and architectural review forums.

What You Bring

• Deepest level of professional expertise in AI engineering, with extensive experience designing and delivering production-grade AI native applications at enterprise scale.
• Proven ability to act as a technical strategist and authority, defining AI engineering reference architectures, standards, and long-term technical roadmaps.
• Mastery of large language models, RAG architectures, agentic systems, vector databases, and cloud-native AI deployment patterns.
• Strong problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and design thinking practices; proven ability to inspire teams and institutionalize development guardrails across delivery organizations.
• Exposure to SAP AI technologies such as SAP AI Core, Vectorization, Joule Studio, RPT-1, and Business Data Cloud is a strong advantage.
• Proven ability to work in an Agentic AI context, shaping AI agents that act autonomously within defined boundaries and deliver measurable outcomes in customer-centric environments.
• Strong track record of leading complex, cross-functional programs spanning multiple delivery teams and technology domains.
• Ability to influence and advise senior stakeholders and executives on high-impact technical and strategic decisions.
• Recognition as a thought leader in AI engineering, contributing to knowledge sharing, best practices, and innovation internally and externally.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, enabling alignment across diverse, cross-functional teams globally.

Where You Belong

You will be part of a growing AI and industry expert team serving customers across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. At this level, you are not just an engineer, you are a defining voice in how SAP builds and deploys AI at enterprise scale. We value deep expertise, bold thinking, and the willingness to tackle the hardest technical problems customers face. You will thrive here if you are driven by technical impact, energized by working at the frontier of AI, and committed to raising the bar for engineering excellence across a global, high-performing team.

Location: this is a hybrid position based from our New York City office located in the Hudson Yards.

#SAPIndustryAICareers

Bring out your best

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: [e-mail].

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Compensation Range Transparency

SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step towards demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted annual combined range for this position is 274,300-609,200USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

We are ethical and compliant

Our leadership credo: Do what’s right. Make SAP better for generations to come. We believe that great leadership extends far beyond the mere pursuit of business goals. We value and foster leadership that is driven with purpose and integrity. Our leaders are role models who uphold SAP’s values and shape SAP’s culture of integrity, by demonstrating and championing ethical and compliant behavior towards all stakeholders.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.