Manager, AI Solutions

Job Posting Title:

Manager, AI Solutions

Req ID:

10134454

Job Description:

Office of Technology Enablement (OTE)

The Office of Technology Enablement (OTE) AI Practice is Disney's AI acceleration team—transforming high-value opportunities into deployed capabilities across Studios, Parks, ESPN, and every Disney segment. We discover breakthrough AI applications, validate them through hands-on prototyping, and scale proven solutions company-wide.

The Role

We're looking for a Strategic Technical Leader who discovers high-value AI opportunities and validates them through hands-on prototyping. As a trusted leader reporting into the OTE Director of ML, you'll partner with segment executives to surface opportunities, build working prototypes to prove feasibility, and conduct technical diligence on vendors and startups—working closely within a team of Staff-level technical experts (Architect, Data Scientist, Engineers) who bring deep domain expertise.

You'll operate at the intersection of business strategy and technical execution: meeting with VPs to shape AI initiatives, building demos to validate concepts, evaluating startup claims through technical POCs, and turning ambiguous hunches into concrete roadmaps. This role requires someone who can present prototypes to senior leadership one day and code a POC the next.

If you're a hands-on builder with executive presence, can distinguish AI signal from hype, and thrive turning ambiguity into deployed solutions, we want to talk.

What Makes This Role Unique

• Executive partnership: Regular engagement with VP+ stakeholders across all Disney segments
• Hands-on technical work: You build many of the prototypes you present, partnering with technical colleagues on complex architectures
• Strategic impact: You discover and validate the opportunities that become Disney's AI portfolio
• Startup diligence: Represent Disney in technical evaluations of vendors and emerging tech
• Cross-segment scope: Work spans Studios to Parks to ESPN—see patterns others miss
• Director's proxy: Trusted to represent ML Architecture & Engineering in discovery work

Key Responsibilities

Technical Discovery, Validation & Prototyping (70%)

• Partner with segment executives and business leaders to surface high-value AI opportunities
• Partner deeply with target user groups to understand workflows, pain points, and adoption barriers—ensuring solutions address real business needs
• Maintain discovery and validation pipeline, surfacing high-value opportunities and technical insights
• Conduct rapid opportunity assessments—determine technical feasibility and business value
• Maintain prioritized discovery pipeline, routing 80% of inquiries to existing solutions
• Build working prototypes to validate business hypotheses and prove technical feasibility
• Lead hands-on POCs and vendor bake-offs using real Disney data and systems
• Present technical demonstrations to senior leadership, translating complexity into clarity
• Collaborate with Staff Architect to evaluate technical architectures for scalability, security, and Disney fit
• Conduct technical diligence on AI vendors—distinguish real capability from demos
• Partner with Staff Data Scientist and Engineers on complex validations requiring deep ML or infrastructure expertise
• Document validation outcomes as reusable blueprints for segment teams

Strategic Partnerships, Operations, and Enablement (30%)

• Build relationships across Legal, Privacy, Security, Procurement to accelerate discovery and validation initiatives
• Lead startup and vendor diligence calls, evaluating claims with both business and technical lens
• Partner with PMO to transition validated opportunities into scaled, cross-segment programs
• Map AI opportunities across Disney tech teams to identify synergies, prevent duplication, and amplify successful efforts
• Design engagement data structures and processes that enable PMO portfolio management as initiatives mature and scale
• Develop playbooks and templates that accelerate opportunity assessment
• Deliver executive updates translating portfolio health, opportunities, and risks into strategic recommendations
• Represent OTE in cross-segment strategic discussions
• Collaborate with AI Governance team to ensure validated solutions meet compliance and responsible AI standards
• Ensure all work meets Disney's Responsible AI standards

Required Qualifications

• 6–9 years in product, technical program management, or technology strategy roles with proven AI/ML impact
• Hands-on technica