Chief AI Officer
Listed on 2026-02-12
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IT/Tech
AI Engineer, Machine Learning/ ML Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Science Manager
Overview
Solen-isms (Our cultural rocks)
Job Title: Chief AI Officer / AI Enablement Lead (Vertical Market Software)
Company: Solen Software Group
Location: Multiple locations (Toronto, Utah or Lisbon)
Employment Type: Full-time
About Solen Software Group
Solen Software Group is an evergreen holding company that acquires and operates proven software businesses that have significant growth potential in a variety of vertical markets, enabling them to be market leaders in their niche industry. Solen owns several software companies in various market spaces:
Human Resource Technology, Fleet Telematics, Asset Management, E-Health, Document Management, and other innovative software solutions in a variety of industries. Solen is backed by a group of advisors and investors that have built software businesses of material scale (10-100M in ARR) and advised many.
About This Opportunity
As our Chief AI Officer you will be responsible for identifying, scaling, and operationalizing practical AI use cases across a portfolio of vertical market software (VMS) businesses. This role emphasizes ROI-driven AI adoption, product enhancement, internal efficiency, and repeatable AI patterns that can be deployed across multiple operating companies—while respecting decentralized ownership and autonomy. This is not a centralized R&D role.
Success is measured by measurable business impact, speed to value, and adoption at the operating company level.
- AI Strategy & Value Creation
- Define and execute a portfolio-wide AI strategy aligned with long-term value creation, customer retention, and operational efficiency.
- Identify high-impact AI use cases across products and internal functions (e.g., pricing, customer support, forecasting, churn reduction, compliance, and workflow automation).
- Prioritize AI initiatives based on ROI, feasibility, data readiness, and repeatability across verticals.
- Product & Platform Enablement
- Partner with operating company product leaders to embed AI into existing VMS products (not rebuild them).
- Develop shared AI patterns, frameworks, and reference architectures that can be reused across portfolio companies.
- Support build vs. buy decisions for AI tools, models, and platforms.
- Operating Company Support (Decentralized Model)
- Act as a trusted advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and product leaders at portfolio companies.
- Enable adoption without imposing centralized control; influence through frameworks, playbooks, and proven results.
- Provide hands-on support for early AI pilots and transitions to production.
- Data, Governance & Risk
- Establish pragmatic AI governance standards covering data privacy, security, model risk, and regulatory compliance (e.g., SOC 2, GDPR where applicable).
- Ensure AI solutions are explainable, auditable, and appropriate for mission-critical software environments.
- Promote responsible AI use consistent with customer trust and long-term ownership values.
- Talent & Capability Building
- Build internal AI literacy across the portfolio through training, playbooks, and best practices.
- Support hiring, evaluation, and development of AI-related talent at the operating company level.
- Partner with engineering and analytics teams rather than creating a large centralized AI org.
- Success Metrics
- Tangible EBITDA impact or cost savings from AI initiatives
- Product adoption and customer value realized from AI-enabled features
- Repeatable AI use cases successfully deployed across multiple portfolio companies
- Speed from idea → pilot → production
- Operating company satisfaction and voluntary adoption
- 5+ years experience in software, data, analytics, or AI-related roles, ideally in B2B SaaS or vertical market software
- Proven experience delivering production AI solutions with measurable business outcomes
- Strong understanding of modern AI/ML approaches (LLMs, predictive models, automation, analytics), without over-indexing on hype
- Experience working in decentralized, multi-company, or PE-backed environments
- Ability to translate technical concepts into business value for non-technical leaders
- Experience in vertical market software (ERP, industry-specific SaaS, mission-critical systems)
- Background in product…
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