Director, AI Lab

Overview

The group you’ll be a part of. Shape the future of AI at enterprise scale while building it from the ground up as the launch-stage Director of Lam’s Applied AI & Innovation Lab. Lam Research is establishing a new AI Lab in Fremont, CA to accelerate the creation of advanced, high-impact AI solutions across the company. We are seeking a Director, AI Lab to lead the creation, operation, and long-term evolution of this lab as a center of excellence for AI solution prototyping, experimentation, and applied innovation.

The AI Lab will function as a hands-on innovation environment where internal teams—from product groups and engineering to operations and corporate functions—can rapidly develop, test, and mature AI-driven solutions. This role is responsible for setting the technical vision, building the lab’s capabilities, and ensuring outputs transition effectively from prototype to production-scale deployment. Join us to lead the innovation as Lam's FIRST Director at our new AI Lab.

• AI Lab Vision & Strategy — Define the mission, scope, and operating model of Lam’s AI Lab, aligned with enterprise AI strategy and business priorities.
• AI Lab as a destination for rapid prototyping, applied research, and solution acceleration, bridging experimentation and real-world business impact.
• Identify priority AI technology themes and technical focus areas (e.g., ML, GenAI, vision, optimization, agents, automation) relevant to Lam’s businesses.

• Lead hands-on development of AI prototypes, proof-of-concepts, and experimental solutions across products, engineering, manufacturing, operations, and corporate functions.
• Guide technical teams in selecting and applying appropriate AI architectures, models, tools, and platforms.
• Ensure solutions are designed with scalability, robustness, and transition-to-production in mind, aligning with enterprise AI foundations and delivery standards.

• Collaboration & Engagement — Partner with internal business units, engineering teams, and corporate functions to identify high-value AI opportunities and co-develop solutions.
• Provide an environment where domain experts can work side-by-side with AI engineers and data scientists to accelerate solution development.
• Serve as a technical thought leader and advisor to senior leadership on advanced AI technologies and their practical application within Lam.

• Build and manage the AI Lab’s operating processes, including project intake, prioritization, resourcing, and execution.
• Establish best practices for experimentation, model validation, and knowledge sharing.
• Ensure effective handoff of successful prototypes to product teams, engineering organizations, or AI product management for scaling and deployment.

• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing team of AI engineers, researchers, and technical specialists.
• Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and technical rigor within the AI Lab.
• Help elevate AI literacy and applied AI capabilities across Lam through mentorship, demonstrations, and technical engagement.

• Deep expertise in AI and machine learning technologies, including hands-on experience building and deploying advanced AI systems.
• Proven experience leading technical AI teams in environments focused on innovation, prototyping, or advanced solution development.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end AI solution development, from experimentation through production handoff.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and business audiences.
• Demonstrated leadership in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.

• Experience with enterprise-scale AI platforms, data infrastructure, or MLOps-enabled delivery models.
• Familiarity with industrial, engineering, manufacturing, or enterprise workflows.
• Experience in the semiconductor industry (capital equipment or process technology) is a strong plus, but not required.
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or a related field.

• Builder mindset with a bias toward action and iteration.
• Te…