Senior AI Strategist (Digital and Physical Systems)

Fresh Consulting; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Fresh Consulting, a design-led software/hardware consultancy in the Seattle/Bellevue area, is seeking an experienced Senior AI Strategist to guide clients through digital and physical AI transformations. You will translate emerging AI trends into strategic roadmaps, support proposals and pitches, and contribute to delivery in consulting projects, workshops, and product definitions.

This role requires 6+ years in product design consulting with AI experience, and collaboration with data

Qualifications

• 6+ years in product design consulting with heavy software or hardware.
• 2+ years applying AI in product design processes.
• Experience with manufacturing AI and related firmware work is a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional client engagements to identify, prioritize, and roadmap high-impact AI opportunities across digital and physical domains.
• Translate AI technologies into clear, value-driven business cases for C-suite executives.
• Collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and product teams to ensure viable, scalable roadmaps.

Skills

AI strategy

Product design consulting

Software development

Hardware integration

Manufacturing AI

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design or Industrial Engineering

MBA or Master’s in AI-related field

Tools

LLMs

Data Governance

BI tools

ML tools & Systems architecture

REST APIs

ESBs

Job description

Fresh Consulting is a design-led, software development and hardware engineering company, offering end-to-end digital services to help companies innovate. We bring together amazing UX designers, sophisticated developers, digital strategists, and top‑notch engineers to help companies create fresh experiences that connect humans, systems, and machines.

At Fresh Consulting, we strive to hire a workforce representative of the communities we serve, understanding that a diverse workforce strengthens our organization. We value diversity and support a positive and welcoming environment where all of our employees can thrive. See more at freshconsulting.com

Why join Fresh?

We are tech industry veterans in software, hardware, strategy, and design who are pooling our skills to build the future we want to live in. We are solving real‑world problems for people by leveraging robotics, machine learning, and computer vision, among other technologies, with an eye toward the end‑to‑end user experience. Our teams are agile, diverse, and driven. We believe that the best way to solve complicated, dynamic problems is collaboratively and respectfully. Most of all, we were built from the start as a modern, high‑performance services partner that puts people — from our employees to our partners to our clients to their customers, first.

Fresh Consulting is seeking an experienced Senior AI Strategist. In this role, you will guide our clients through the next frontier of technological transformation. By leveraging extensive experience in product development consulting and deep AI expertise, this role will bring a researcher’s and strategist’s rigor to how organizations should think about Digital AI (generative AI, predictive analytics, enterprise automation & machine learning) and Physical AI (IoT, robotics, computer vision, and smart manufacturing).

This is a research, consulting, and strategy role. You’ll spend your time investigating emerging technologies, market shifts, and competitive dynamics, then translating that research into points of view to support proposals and pitches that shape how sales teams approach AI transformation for our customers. You will have to be equally comfortable synthesizing a landscape of fast‑moving AI trends into a clear narrative and pressure‑testing that thinking in front of a boardroom. Additionally, you will put your knowledge to work during delivery in consulting projects, workshops, product definitions, and value‑added activities for our clients.

You will sit at the intersection of business strategy, data science, engineering, product and physical AI, helping Fresh’s clients, including Fortune 500, connect their product creation with the current and future AI trends and technologies.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Advisory & Vision

• Lead cross‑functional client engagements to identify, prioritize, and roadmap high‑impact AI opportunities across both digital and physical domains.
• Translate complex AI technologies into clear, value‑driven business cases for C‑suite executives.
• Assess client readiness across data infrastructure, physical assets, organizational culture, and change management.
• Be a consultant and SME in AI for internal and external clients.

Digital AI Strategy

• Design strategies for implementing Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), enterprise data platforms, and predictive analytics.
• Create strategies and structure proposals to implement enterprise agentic projects.
• Optimize digital workflows, customer experience platforms, and core business software using intelligent automation.

Physical & Edge AI Strategy

• Design strategies to implement AI in new product development workflows, industrial design and advanced interfaces.
• Advise on the convergence of digital twins with physical assets to optimize supply chains and manufacturing lifecycles.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Data Scientists, Robotics Engineers, Cloud Architects, and UX Designers to ensure strategic roadmaps are technically viable and scalable.
• Define governance, ethical AI frameworks, and risk mitigation strategies (especially regarding physical safety and data privacy in connected environments).

Qualifications & Skills

Required Experience

• Experience: 6+ years in product design consulting with a heavy component in software or hardware.
  • 2+ years of experience incorporating AI in product design processes, both internally and externally.
  • Bonus: Experience utilizing AI for manufacturing; i.e., AI assisted design and machining, among others.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering, or a related quantitative field. An MBA or Master’s in an AI‑related field is a strong plus.
• Proven Track Record: Experience implementing AI in product development, ideally with at least one major project involving hardware integration. Software development experience is required. A strong plus would have been involved in firmware development.

Technical & Strategic Acumen

• Digital AI
  • LLMs, Data Governance, BI tools, ML tools & Systems architecture. Fluent in MCP, A2A, RestAPIs, ESBs & Orchestrators.
• Physical AI
  • Digital Twins, Wireless Communications, Electronic design and manufacturing.
• Business
  • ROI modeling, Agile methodology, Change Management, C‑Suite communication.

Soft Skills

• Translation Ability: Can translate product features to specific technical requirements; in particular around the design and implementation of agents, agentic architectures, among others.
• Ambiguity Navigator: Thrives in unstructured environments where the technology is evolving faster than the market.
• Experimentation: Capable of setting up small proof of concept and experimenting firsthand with the newest technology in order to understand, demonstrate and lead the team and customer conversations.

Location

• Seattle/Bellevue area.
• 3 days in office, 2 remote
• Full time

Equal employment opportunity: All qualified persons will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, familial status, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability for which a reasonable accommodation can be made or any other status protected by law. Assistance will be gladly provided upon request for any applicant with sensory or non‑sensory disabilities.

Fresh Consulting is a participating E‑Verify company.

Compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Range $140K – $180K.