Practice Director for AI IoT Platforms in Industrial Autonomy

About Industrial Autonomy and Engineering at TCS

The Industrial Autonomy & Engineering (IAE) unit of TCS is focused on creating the next generation of autonomous businesses on a global scale. At its heart, IAE is about making products and industrial systems - autonomous. We combine the power of Artificial Intelligence with human expertise to create systems that can sense what's happening, make smart decisions, and learn over time.

Our industry specific orchestration model, amplified through a strong ecosystem of Hyperscalers and industrial partners, embeds intelligence across the value chain from digital insight to physical action enabling organizations to become autonomous by design, with humans in the loop. We believe this is digital intelligence in physical context, which is what makes AI real. We address the transformation agendas across industries with value chains that can be engineering, manufacturing, asset or service centric in terms of their focus.

Role Overview

The AI IoT platform initiative seeks to bridge the sense-insight-autonomy loop and will serve as a growth driver

to pioneer the next wave of enterprise transformation through Intelligent Industry, AI IoT platforms, and Edge AI. We aim to create intelligent, adaptive businesses by harnessing the convergence of AI, Industrial IoT (IIoT), Edge Computing, and advanced chip-to-cloud architectures. Our mission is to move beyond raw data collection to deliver actionable, automated insights that drive tangible business outcomes-from optimizing complex operations, predictive maintenance, smart retail, connected health, and connected buildings to create entirely new, autonomous systems with humans at the helm. This initiative is at the core of our clients' innovation agendas, driving the convergence of IT, OT (Operational Technology), and ET (Engineering Technology).

As the Practice Director - AI IoT Platforms, you will be the primary growth and capability leader responsible for scaling TCS's AI IoT platform services and solutions globally. This is an entrepreneurial, high-impact role with a mandate to scale the practice into a >$100M business.

In this role, you will lead the GTM strategy, design scalable platform blueprints, leverage strategic platform partnerships (with hyperscalers and specialist AI IoT platform providers), and lead high-value consultative pursuits. You will act as the principal architect of growth, translating complex chip-to-cloud and autonomy use cases into high-value platform deals.

Following are some of the key roles and responsibilities:

• Practice Growth & Market Execution:
• Develop and execute the global GTM strategy for the AI IoT Platforms practice to drive pipeline velocity and contract value.
• Directly originate, shape, and close large-scale, consulting-led platform transformations (target deals of $30M+ TCV).
• Deliver on practice P&L objectives, with primary accountability for booked TCV, revenue generation, and operating margin.
• Platform Strategy & CXO Advisory:
• Serve as the primary advisor to client CXOs on platform selection, modernization, and scaling (e.g., migrating legacy IoT to modern Edge AI / Chip-to-Cloud platforms).

< div>• Design high-value business cases demonstrating how AI IoT platforms accelerate IT/OT convergence, predictive maintenance, and product-as-a-service models.

• Ecosystem & Alliance Orchestration:
• Build and commercialize joint offerings with strategic platform partners, including Hyperscalers (AWS IoT, Azure IoT, GCP), industrial platform players (Siemens, etc), and silicon leaders (NVIDIA, Qualcomm).
• Represent TCS as a key thought leader at premier industry forums and partner events.
• Capability & Offering Development:
• Define, package, and launch repeatable, platform-based solutions tailored to key verticals (e.g., Manufacturing, Utilities, Life Sciences, Transportation).
• Attract, mentor, and build a high-performance team of platform architects, delivery leads, and solution sales specialists.
• Internal Influence & Leadership
• Influence account teams, sales leadership, and delivery stakeholders with clear solution direction and market insights
• Mentor solution and advisory talent to strengthen capabilities

KPIs relevant for the role

• Revenue & Bookings: Achieve a trajectory toward a >$100M annual run-rate through active pipeline generation and platform-led contract wins.
• Large Deal TCV: Close a minimum of 2-3 flagship, platform-led transformation programs (>$30M TCV each) annually.
• Partner-Led Pipeline: Drive growth in co-sell and influenced pipeline specifically with hyperscaler and platform alliance partners.
• Asset/IP Commercialization: Successfully package and deploy at least two repeatable AI IoT platform accelerators or blueprints per fiscal year.

Qualifications:

• Experience: 13+ years of professional experience in technology services, system integration, or software product companies, with at least 8 years specifically leading IoT, Edge AI, or connected product practices.
• Platform Expertise: Deep hands-on and strategic familiarity with modern AI IoT platforms (Azure IoT, AWS IoT, PTC ThingWorx, Siemens MindSphere) and chip-to-cloud architectures.
• Proven Growth Track Record: Proven history of building a technology practice or business unit from inception (or early stage) to $100M+ in scale.
• C-Suite Influence: Exceptional consultative selling capability with a track record of shaping multi-million dollar deals directly with CTOs, COOs, and CIOs.
• Educational Background: Bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, Computer Science, or a business-related field. MBA is highly preferred.

Attributes

• Entrepreneurial mindset with comfort in ambiguity and scale-up environments
• Strong systems thinking with the ability to connect plant-level execution to enterprise outcomes
• Experience leading large, distributed global teams in onsite-offshore operating models
• Fluent, confident communicator capable of board-level and shop-floor-level conversations
• Outcome-driven orientation with rigor around KPIs, value realization, and client impact
• Ability to design sustainable, repeatable operating models rather than point solutions

Salary Range: $200,000 - $250,000 a year

#LI-MG2