Director, Applied AI Transformation - North America

We are looking for a hands-on leader to run our Applied AI pod: a small team of analysts embedded directly into business teams to identify manual, repetitive workflows, build practical AI solutions, and deliver measurable results. Build and own NA’s AI distribution infrastructure — an internal marketplace for NA-built solutions, prompts, and trainings — and establish a regular cadence to solicit, curate, and surface the best AI tools and wins through internal leadership and employee-wide forums.

About Us
Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.

Join Visa and do work that matters – to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Visa will accept applications for this role until at least 09-15-2026

Job Description

Team Background

We are building an Applied AI team to demonstrate what AI-first ways of working look like inside Visa North America. The team sits within NA BizOps, the engine behind the Regional President’s agenda: day-to-day management of the NA business, the Regional President’s Office and Chief of Staff work, employee engagement, client events, and priority initiatives. If it matters to how NA runs — or where it’s headed — we’re usually the ones making sure it happens.

Position Details

This role leads both the hands-on AI work and the broader effort to scale it — building solutions with a small applied AI team, then driving the adoption, training, communications, and infrastructure that make those solutions stick across the region. We are looking for a hands-on leader to run our Applied AI pod: a small team of analysts embedded directly into business teams to identify manual, repetitive workflows, build practical AI solutions, and deliver measurable results. This leader sets pod priorities, guides analysts as they transform how embedded teams operate, builds the playbooks that make wins repeatable, and documents the journey so other teams can see the path and follow it. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable leading the workflow transformation as they are communicating its impacts clearly.

The work starts at the team level — replacing time-consuming, routine processes with AI solutions that work on Visa systems today — and scales by building infrastructure to share, amplify, and cross-pollinate wins across the region so every team can benefit. This includes paving a new path with Technology to give business teams access to the deployment infrastructure, tooling, and measurement standards they need to run AI solutions at scale. It also includes being able to communicate the team transformation journey in an easy-to-follow way that highlights impact for our executives and makes it easy for other teams to copy.

In addition, you will be North America's AI go-to. You will be the connective tissue across the region's internal AI efforts, bringing together leaders and initiatives to share what works and avoid duplication. You will design and run a creative solution to surface and cross-pollinate the best prompts and tools developed by teams in North America. When global teams are building solutions that matter to NA, you'll quarterback on our behalf: ensure timely delivery and inclusion of our region’s feedback.

Success is measured by the efficacy and scale of solutions shipped, workflows transformed, adoption driven across the region, and business results delivered.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead NA’s Applied AI pod — set priorities, guide embedded analysts, oversee development of AI-enabled solutions, and focus the team on the highest-impact workflows that materially improve how embedded teams operate.
• Coach and develop Applied AI Analysts — high-potential, early-career technical and business talent — into strong builders, problem-solvers, and operators.
• Build the operating model for how embedded analysts engage with business teams: scope work, deploy solutions, measure impact, hand off to the team, and position the business team to champion each solution.
• Create repeatable playbooks from each engagement and document the team’s transformation journey — what changed, how, and what it took — so other teams have a clear, replicable path to follow.
• Stay current on internal AI tools and platforms available to Visa employees, maintain deep working knowledge of capabilities, and find creative ways to get teams using them.
• Build and own NA’s AI distribution infrastructure — an internal marketplace for NA-built solutions, prompts, and trainings — and establish a regular cadence to solicit, curate, and surface the best AI tools and wins through internal leadership and employee-wide forums.
• Champion North America's priorities in global AI solutions. Maintain visibility into what's being built across Visa, influence prioritization to meet regional needs, and quarterback delivery on NA's behalf.
• Partner with Technology to build the deployment path for business teams — access, hosting, permissions, and tooling — and establish consistent usage and impact metrics for AI solutions. This is pioneering work: you are creating the infrastructure other business teams will use.
• Establish reporting and measurement processes to track usage and impact of deployed tools, business outcomes, and pod effectiveness — and build the right LT reporting cadence to share across company leadership.

This is a hybrid position - 3 days in office. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. This role will be based in our San Francisco office.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• 10 or more years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s degree or at least 8 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 2 years of work experience with a PhD

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10–12+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree, or 9+ years with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD), or 3+ years with a PhD
• Proven track record of deploying AI automations, agents, and solutions that measurably freed up team time and changed how people work — whether in-house or as a management consultant advising teams through the transformation.
• You use AI tools as a core part of how you personally work today — you’re passionate about what’s possible and you’re already living it. You stay obsessively current on the AI tool landscape, know what’s available, what’s emerging, and how each one works.
• Builder mentality. You’d rather ship a working solution than present a framework. Comfortable getting into the details of how workflows operate, figuring out what to automate, and building the communication and deployment plan that gets a solution adopted.
• Builds from ambiguity. Creates structure, strategy, and execution plans where no clear path exists — brings clarity and momentum to complex, evolving problems.
• Sharp communicator with executive presence. Takes messy, complex inputs, finds the insight, and delivers it clearly — written or verbal. Credible in front of senior executives whether presenting, pushing back, or thinking on your feet. Explains technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Experience building internal enablement or distribution programs — getting tools, trainings, and resources into people’s hands at scale through creative channels, comms cadences, and grassroots adoption strategies.
• Low ego, high impact. Acts with the end outcome and stakeholder experience in mind. Steps in where needed, removes friction, cares more about the result than credit.
• Ramps fast with strong business sense. Gets up to speed on new topics and teams quickly, adds value early, and understands how Visa’s business and clients work — or figures it out fast.
• Experience managing high-potential, early-career talent, including both technical and non-technical team members.

Information for US Applicants

For roles located in the US, the estimated salary range for this position is $207,500.00 to $ 332,400.00 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity.Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.

Work Hours

Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements

This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/Physical Requirements

This position will be performed in an office setting. The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Visa is an EEO Employer

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protect veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the EEOC guidelines and applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.