AI Advisory Principal
Scale AI · San Francisco, United States +1 · 2mo ago
Scale AI's Advisory practice is the most forward-leaning bet in our go-to-market motion. We're not waiting for clients to hand us a scope — we get in front of the decision, shape the right AI problems before a build begins, and make Scale the obvious partner for what comes next.
Advisory is the structured answer to the question enterprises are already asking us: "What should we build, and where do we start?" It's a discovery and scoping phase that runs before delivery — designed to land bigger contracts, drive more predictable execution, and accelerate expansion. By 2027, it will be Scale's default first engagement with new enterprise clients.
As an AI Advisory Principal, you lead Scale's Advisory work in your vertical, end-to-end. In pre-sales, you shape and qualify opportunities alongside Account Executives and sell the Advisory phase to clients. In delivery, you're the Directly Responsible Individual on engagements — owning the client relationship, running the discovery and scoping work, and accountable for the outcome. Underpinning both, you build out the vertical point of view — the industry and AI expertise that makes Advisory credible — and, as one of the function's first hires, help build the Advisory motion itself. This is a hands-on role: you do the advisory work, not just manage it.
What You'll Own
You own the engagement and the vertical — from the first pre-sales conversation through the final readout.
- Lead engagements end-to-end. You're the Directly Responsible Individual on engagements — owning the client relationship, running workshops, leading the final readout, driving the direction, and accountable for the outcome (use-case selection, SOW quality, delivery). You coordinate and direct the Solutions Engineers, Designers, Tech Leads, and DSGs on the engagement without managing them directly.
- Sell Advisory in your vertical. You build the approach, lead the Advisory portion of key pre-sales meetings, bring industry roadmap examples from buyer peers, and qualify opportunities with Account Executives — and you represent Scale and Advisory at industry events.
- Build the vertical point of view. You develop your vertical's point of view — the AI-shaped problems, best practices, technology and learnings, and buyer-peer and competitor intelligence that make Advisory credible in the field.
- Grow the playbook from the field. You surface what's working and what isn't across your engagements, document the patterns and reusable approaches, and work with DSGs to update the Advisory approach based on build feedback.
- Manage your Consultant. You manage the Consultant on your engagements and overall — coaching them, giving feedback, and owning their professional development — and you provide input on Consultant hiring.
Qualifications
Ideally, you’d have
- Senior manager or principal equivalent experience at a Tier 1 firm (McKinsey, Bain, BCG ideally); 7+ years of work experience. AI strategy or transformation experience strongly preferred.
- Scoping, proposal, and pitching experience — comfortable shaping and selling an engagement, not just delivering it.
- The judgment to advise clients directly on where AI creates value — identifying and shaping the right, AI-shaped use cases for their business.
- The technical credibility to speak to AI builds credibility and to work closely with Solutions Engineers on feasibility.
- A classic consulting toolkit e.g. strategy, operating-model, governance, change management, and exec-ready storytelling to assist clients in developing an AI strategy
- Experience designing and facilitating client workshops.
- A natural relationship-builder who establishes trusted-advisor credibility early, paired with the judgment to own outcomes independently.
- Strategic but hands-on: able to think at the level of a client's AI agenda and still get into the day-to-day work of an engagement.
- Willingness to travel 30-60 percent, which can include international trips depending on the account.
Nice to Have
- Deep expertise in at least one enterprise vertical (Consumer, Financial & Professional Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences) — the industry depth to be credible with senior stakeholders.
- 0-to1 experience developing or deploying GenAI applications in an enterprise setting.
Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.
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About Us:
At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.
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