Presales Solutions Architect - AI & Cloud at thinkahead

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation. At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.  We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.  We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.  The AI & Cloud Specialist Solutions Engineer will focus on public cloud, platform engineering, automation, and cloud migrations. This role is based in India and will support AHEAD account teams and customers globally, helping drive cloud modernization, platform engineering, and infrastructure automation initiatives. Specialists are technical experts who collaborate with AHEAD Account Teams to identify, qualify, and shape solutions that support our customers’ digital business. They listen to customer challenges and establish credibility through success stories, evangelizing AHEAD’s capabilities, and Cloud funding programs, with an emphasis on execution and methodology. This individual will work closely with US-Based AI & Cloud Specialists Solutions Engineers to drive solution development, scope customer proposals, create pricing calculators, and work in close partnership with key ecosystem partners such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Red Hat, and others. Responsibilities: • Engage in conversations with customers to understand their business challenges and introduce AHEAD’s Cloud and Platform Engineering capabilities to qualify opportunities and shape demand for consulting and migrations services. • Initiate and lead discussions focused on public cloud, platform engineering, DevOps, automation, and migrations, in collaboration with cloud providers and the AHEAD services organization. • Identify gaps in client environments, processes, and skills (e.g., CI/CD maturity, infrastructure as code, observability) and recommend approaches to address them, enabling client teams and driving modernization roadmaps. • Explain and educate customers on complex cloud and platform architectures and integrations in a clear, articulate manner suitable for both technical and business stakeholders. Partner & Ecosystem Engagement • Lead conversations and support events with key partners such as Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, Red Hat, Snowflake, Databricks, and others, with a focus on cloud and platform engineering offerings. • Proactively provide analysis of the competitive landscape in supported solution areas, including cloud platform services, DevOps tooling, and platform engineering approaches, and make recommendations on pursuit or withdrawal for specific opportunities. • Maintain at least a 101-level competency and relevant certifications in core public cloud technologies, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, to achieve or maintain partnership status. Sales Excellence • Collaborate with account teams, US-Based AI & Cloud SSE’s, partners, and delivery organization to build pipeline for cloud and platform engineering opportunities, applying AHEAD’s sales process to adequately qualify deals. • Identify opportunities to drive cloud consumption and expand platform engineering engagements with existing customers by initiating conversations, supporting demos, and collaborating with partners or internal teams. • Proactively engage with cloud vendors (e.g., AWS, Microsoft, GCP) to leverage available funding mechanisms as part of cloud and platform engineering sales campaigns. • Implement strategies and close plans to accelerate deal closure, mapping timelines, stakeholder engagement, and decision criteria to de-risk and drive predictable outcomes. Required Experience & Qualifications: • Education • Bachelor-level degree in Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems, Computer Science, or equivalent educational or professional experience and qualifications. Professional Experience • 7–10 years of experience across multiple of the following areas: • Designing and delivering solutions on public cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, including hybrid/on-premises integration scenarios. • Building and operating modern platform engineering capabilities, including: • Automation, orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines. • Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, Chef, etc. • Supporting modern application and DevOps initiatives on cloud platforms (e.g., containerized workloads, microservices platforms, or Kubernetes-based environments). Note: While the broader practice includes Data and AI, this role is primarily focused on Cloud and Platform Engineering. Experience with modern data platforms or AI is a plus but not the core requirement. Key Skills & Competencies • Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with team members, clients, partners, and diverse stakeholder groups across regions (including North America and India). • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to clearly articulate complex cloud and platform engineering concepts to both technical and business audiences. • Excellent presentation skills, comfortable leading whiteboarding sessions, customer workshops, and executive readouts. • Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities, with sound judgment in evaluating technical options and recommending approaches aligned to customer strategy and constraints. • Ability to handle multiple tasks and remain flexible in a fast-paced, global environment, balancing responsibilities across customers, partners, and internal teams. Location & Working Model • The role is intended to be staffed by a cloud and platform engineering specialist based in India, collaborating closely with AHEAD teams in North America and other regions. • The candidate should be comfortable working with global stakeholders, accommodating periodic overlap with U.S. time zones for key customer meetings, internal collaboration, and partner engagements. Why AHEAD: Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between. We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning. India Employment Benefits include: