Principal Solution Architect
DDN · Santa Clara
The Principal AI Solutions Architect at DataDirect Networks (DDN) combines technical mastery with outcome driven strategic selling/consulting delivering high-performance AI, ML, and HPC solutions. This role is pivotal in aligning DDN’s cutting-edge AI solutions and data management technologies with clients’ business needs, driving measurable outcomes to include efficiencies, optimizations, utilization, reduced latency, and accelerated time-to-insight. The ideal candidate will bring pre-sales engineering experience, AI technical expertise and intelligence, and a passion for delivering tailored solutions that enable customer success.
Core Responsibilities:
AI Intelligence: Demonstrate expertise in AI technologies, including architecture, deployment, optimization, and integration, with a focus on delivering measurable outcomes
Outcome-Driven Approach, Positioning and Consultation: Engage deeply with clients to understand their AI and data challenges & performance goals, recommending DDN’s AI & high-performance solutions to achieve desired business outcomes, whether it’s accelerated time-to-insight or operational efficiency.
Value-Centric Solution Design: Partner with clients to architect and deliver AI-driven data solutions that prioritize long-term value, scalability, and performance optimization. Leverage DDN’s expertise in AI, HPC, and cloud storage to address current requirements while enabling future growth and innovation.
Active Selling Partner: As a proactive part of the sales process, the AI Solutions Consultant is a Sales Engineering role which actively engages in client discussions, delivers compelling product demonstrations, and contributes to closing deals by demonstrating the business value and ROI of DDN’s solutions.
Pre-Sales Customer Development: Providing hands-on technical presentations, demonstrations, proof-of-concept support and management, and ongoing client management and support to ensure successful adoption, usage, and maximized business impact from DDN technologies.
Primary Responsibilities
Outcome-Driven: Leverage experience in AI, Data & Analytics to engage deeply with clients, understanding their challenges and delivering value-driven solutions.
Data Architecture Proficiency: Design scalable solutions and implement strategies for effective data models and management to support AI/ML workflows.
Generative AI Enablement: Apply knowledge & expertise in AI technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), neural networks, RAG, Inference, and recommendation systems, to drive innovation and client success.
Technical Solution Design: Utilize frameworks like NeMO, NIMs, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Nvidia Enterprise Suite to craft and demonstrate DDNs advanced AI solutions tailored to client needs.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: You are a partner with between Sales, Product, Marketing and Engineering teams, ensuring customer insights inform messaging, collateral, product development, support/services and technical strategies.
Partner Ecosystem Development: Build and maintain relationships across our ecosystem of Alliances, OEMs, CSPs, hyper-scalers, channel and integrators to create joint go-to-market strategies and expand DDN’s market reach.
Enablement and Training: Deliver technical development for internal teams and partners, ensuring a deep understanding of DDN’s AI solutions.
Market Awareness: Stay abreast of trends in AI, data management, and competitive landscapes to position DDN’s solutions effectively.
Key Practices:
Consultative Engagement: Demonstrate the ability to understand client needs, outcomes and deliver tailored solutions through effective discovery processes and relationship building.
AI Expertise: Showcase knowledge of AI workflows, frameworks, pipelines to include above the stack applications, Data Prep/Analytics, Toolkits, Training, Inference, Application Frameworks, NVIDIA Enterprise suite, LLMs, RAG, and related technologies, aligning solutions to business outcomes and emerging AI trends.
Data Architecture Leadership: Provide insights and designs for data strategies that support efficiency, scalability, performance, and ROI.
Technical Depth: AI Intelligence and knowledge of AI Pipelines, Applications, Frameworks, Workflows, LLMs, RAG, Inference, GENAI, ChatBots and advanced tools/frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and NVIDIA Enterprise Suite.
Client Delight Focus: Build enduring client relationships and ensure successful adoption of DDN solutions, with measurable outcomes.
Strategic Collaboration: Partner with internal and external stakeholders to align technical capabilities with business objectives and outcomes.
Required Qualifications
8+ years of experience in AI/ML infrastructure, data engineering, or consulting for AI projects and/or AI/ML and/or Data Science application development practices and architectures.
Demonstratable expertise in generative AI technologies, including LLMs, neural networks, and recommendation systems.
Familiarity with AI frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, NVIDIA Enterprise Suite, NeMO, NIMs etc.
Proven track record of delivering technical wins in complex sales or consulting environments.
Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage technical and executive audiences.
Certifications in AI and cloud architectures (e.g. NVIDIA, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or similar) are a plus.
Subject matter expert in AI frameworks, Data Science and Data Engineering concepts, Predictive Analytics, and/or Generative AI development practices
Working knowledge of full stack AI training, inference, development and deployment tools, including LLM, Feature Stores, Vector Databases, Embedding Models, ETL tooling, and modern programming languages/frameworks
Executive presence with public speaking skills
Entrepreneurial mindset
Preferred Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, AI, Data Engineering, or a related technical field or equivalent experience.
Experience working with alliances, OEM, partner ecosystems, hyperscalers, and joint solution delivery.
Previous experience as a sales engineer, technical sales, consultant or similar role, highlighting expertise in driving sales and technical conversations in the Data Science AI/ML and Generative AI space.
Knowledge of ROI and AI - data center optimization metrics, including energy efficiency, space utilization, and performance tuning.
Experience working with cloud providers and other 3rd parties for joint GTM, leveraging relationships to drive indirect sales and co-selling opportunities.
Demonstrates a deep understanding of customer challenges and the ability to propose credible solutions.
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