Principal AI Architect - IT

Flex is the diversified manufacturing partner of choice that helps market-leading brands design, build and deliver innovative products that improve the world. A career at Flex offers the opportunity to make a difference and invest in your growth in a respectful, inclusive, and collaborative environment. If you are excited about a role but don't meet every bullet point, we encourage you to apply and join us to create the extraordinary.

To support our extraordinary teams who build great products and contribute to our growth, we’re looking to add a Principal AI Architect – IT located in Chennai location.

The Microsoft 365 AI Architect plays a critical role in shaping and scaling AI-powered productivity and collaboration solutions across the enterprise. This role is responsible for defining, designing, and operationalizing AI architecture within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem—ensuring solutions are secure, governed, scalable, and aligned with measurable business outcomes

As part of the Workplace Enterprise Services organization, this role supports collaboration and communication platforms used globally, including Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, AI agents, intelligent automation, and selected third-party solutions. The ideal candidate brings a blend of deep technical expertise, architectural rigor, and strategic leadership.

Reports to the Director, and the role involves,

What a typical day looks like:

Architecture, Integrations & Platform Engineering

• Define enterprise AI architectures and reference designs leveraging Microsoft 365, Microsoft Graph, Power Platform, and relevant AI services to enable extensibility and integration.
• Design secure and scalable architectures integrated with Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, and OneDrive (and equivalent collaboration surfaces where third-party AI is embedded).
• Lead introduction of new capabilities (agents, plugins/connectors, workflow automation, copilots in apps) and ensure clean integration into identity, collaboration, and endpoint ecosystems.
• Evaluate emerging AI productivity offerings and continuously refine architecture for cost efficiency, performance, and scalability.
  
  

Security, Compliance, Governance & Responsible AI

• Establish and operate governance frameworks, responsible AI practices, and compliance controls for everyday AI tools.
• Ensure tenant/service controls are designed and enforced, including (as applicable): audit logging with retention, DLP, and access control for AI interactions and data movement.
• Partner with Security/Legal/Privacy to maintain a controlled enablement approach for models and providers, ensuring enterprise protections remain aligned with existing contractual and compliance frameworks when AI models operate as sub-processors within approved services.
• Define policies for data handling, retention, and discoverability of AI interactions (e.g., alignment to audit/eDiscovery/retention posture where applicable) and ensure ongoing compliance monitoring.
  
  

Delivery, Adoption & Operations

• Lead design and deployment of Copilot capabilities, AI assistants/agents, and intelligent automation with a focus on production readiness and lifecycle management.
• Monitor adoption and operational KPIs; drive continuous improvement through telemetry, user feedback loops, and enablement programs.
• Build and maintain an operating model across engineering, support, change management, and communications—ensuring releases are documented, support-ready, and well-adopted.
  
  

Executive Partnership, Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Act as a trusted advisor to executives and cross-functional teams (IT, Security, Legal, HR, Finance, business leaders) on everyday AI strategy, risk, and value realization.
• Manage vendor alignment and technical governance across Microsoft, Zoom, Anthropic, and other providers; coordinate roadmap dependencies, feature validation, and escalation of risks/issues.
  
  

The experience we’re looking to add to our team:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Data Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of IT experience with 5+ years focused on Microsoft 365 and AI solutions.
• Proven experience delivering enterprise-scale AI initiatives.
• Deep hands-on experience with Microsoft 365, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Graph, Power Platform, and Azure AI services.
• Strong understanding of M365 licensing models and AI adoption strategies.
  
  

Personal Attributes:

• Strong executive communication and stakeholder engagement skills; able to translate complex AI/security topics into clear decisions and tradeoffs.
• Strategic mindset with a passion for measurable business impact and operational excellence.
• Comfortable operating autonomously in complex enterprise environments; proactive, structured, and accountable.
• High ownership mentality: drives clarity, alignment, and delivery across cross-functional teams and vendors.
• Balanced innovator and risk manager: move fast, but never at the expense of security, compliance, or trust.
  
  

Preferred Skills

• Microsoft certifications (Azure Solutions Architect, AI Engineer, or M365 certifications).
• Experience with Responsible AI frameworks and regulatory compliance.
• Exposure to MLOps, DevOps, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Background in change management and digital transformation initiatives.
• TOGAF Certification is a big plus
  
  

Here are a few examples of what you will get for the great work you provide:

• Health Insurance
• PTO
  
  

NK99

• Site
  
  

Flex is an Equal Opportunity Employer and employment selection decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. We do not discriminate based on: age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, pregnancy status, or any other status protected by law. We're happy to provide reasonable accommodations to those with a disability for assistance in the application process. Please email [email protected] and we'll discuss your specific situation and next steps (NOTE: this email does not accept or consider resumes or applications. This is only for disability assistance. To be considered for a position at Flex, you must complete the application process first).