Sr. Manager, AI Forward Deployed Engineering

About the role

Databricks is hiring a Senior Manager to lead and grow its AI Forward Deployed Engineering team in India, delivering production GenAI applications for key customers.

<p>Databricks' AI Forward Deployed Engineering team is a specialised, customer-facing group that delivers professional services engagements to help customers build and productionise new GenAI applications, working with AI Product, Research and Engineering.</p><p>This Senior Manager will lead and grow the team in India: hiring and developing data scientists and machine learning engineers, managing key accounts, building executive relationships and owning OKRs for AI services. The posting says the ideal candidate is based in Bangalore or Mumbai, reports to the India FDE leader with a dotted line to the APJ AI FDE leader, and should expect to travel at least monthly.</p><p>This listing was verified on the employer's own careers page on 6 October 2026. Please read the full posting and apply directly on the employer's site; Cloud Soft Solutions does not handle applications for this role.</p>

Responsibilities

<ul><li>Lead and scale the AI FDE team, including hiring, mentoring and designing a team structure for long-term growth</li><li>Influence Product, R&D and go-to-market teams with customer insights and delivery learnings</li><li>Develop executive-level relationships (VP, CIO and CDO) at important customers and partners</li><li>Set strategy for strategic accounts with Field Engineering and Sales leadership</li><li>Drive strategic AI programmes, build the practice and create delivery processes that scale</li><li>Own OKRs covering AI-services accounts, revenue, utilisation and public references</li><li>Represent Databricks in AI through conference talks and published content</li></ul>

Requirements & qualifications

<ul><li>A track record of hiring and managing strong teams of AI/ML scientists, engineers and managers</li><li>Ability to scope, win and run enterprise technical engagements, including handling escalations</li><li>Current technical depth in AI/ML foundations, enough to contribute in architecture reviews</li><li>Experience leading teams that shipped production AI on AWS, Azure or GCP</li><li>Experience driving AI transformation and aligning senior executives on program goals</li><li>A graduate degree in a quantitative field such as Computer Science, Engineering or Statistics, or equivalent practical experience</li><li>Preferred: customer-facing leadership experience and Databricks experience</li></ul>

Why this role in 2026

<p>This role leads a GenAI delivery team at a major data and AI platform company, with responsibility for people, revenue and customer outcomes. It suits technical leaders who want to stay credible in architecture reviews while building a practice.</p>

Application tips

<ul><li>Show the AI/ML teams you built: size, hiring approach and production systems shipped</li><li>Give examples of engagements you scoped, sold and delivered, including how you handled escalations</li><li>Demonstrate current technical depth, for example recent GenAI architecture decisions you made</li><li>Include evidence of executive relationships and AI transformation programmes</li><li>Mention conference talks or publications, since thought leadership is part of the role</li></ul>

Interview preparation

<p>Prepare to discuss how you would structure and grow an AI FDE team, measure utilisation and outcomes, and manage a portfolio of key accounts. Expect technical questions on GenAI system design, including retrieval and agents, alongside leadership scenarios. Useful reading: our <a href="/interview-questions/rag-interview-questions-2026/">RAG interview questions</a> and <a href="/interview-questions/agentic-ai-interview-questions-2026/">agentic AI interview questions</a>.</p>

Career growth

<p>Owning team growth, OKRs and executive relationships for an AI services practice prepares you for director-level leadership in professional services, field engineering or AI delivery organisations.</p>