Director - AI Technology Platform and Solutions

What part will you play? If you’re looking for a place where you can make a meaningful difference, you’ve found it. The work we do at Markel gives people the confidence to move forward and seize opportunities, and you’ll find your fit amongst our global community of optimists and problem-solvers. We’re always pushing each other to go further because we believe that when we realize our potential, we can help others reach theirs.

Join us and play your part in something special!

The role blends strategy and execution: setting near- and long-term direction for AI technology while directing the design, build, and delivery of reusable, enterprise-grade AI capabilities. The successful candidate will proactively identify enterprise AI needs, monitor the fast-moving AI innovation landscape, and accelerate responsible adoption across business units — all in service of Markel's strategic and business objectives. As the primary relationship owner between the AI Enablement Center and IT application delivery and enterprise governance bodies, this leader ensures AI investments are prioritized against organizational goals, measured for business impact, and governed in line with risk and regulatory requirements. The role also provides senior-level engagement with business unit executive leadership and works closely with Forward Deployed AI Leads embedded in each business unit.

Strategy & Vision Develop and own the short- and long-term AI technology strategy, ensuring tight alignment with Markel's enterprise and business unit goals. Continuously research, monitor, and evaluate emerging AI innovation, trends, and vendors; translate developments into actionable opportunities for the enterprise. Partner with the AI Enablement Center, AI Leads, and business leaders to translate prioritized AI opportunities into scalable technology capabilities, platform investments, and enterprise solutions. Platform & Solution Delivery Direct the design, execution, and delivery of reusable, scalable AI platform capabilities (e.g., agentic AI, orchestration, observability, model and tooling infrastructure) that can be leveraged across business units. Establish engineering standards, reference architectures, and a “paved road” that accelerates safe, consistent AI development and reduces duplicated effort. Oversee the pilot-to-production lifecycle, ensuring solutions scale reliably from proof of concept to enterprise production. Adoption & Business Engagement Enable scaled adoption through the delivery of secure, reliable, reusable AI platforms and services that can be leveraged across business units. Provide senior-level engagement with business unit executive leadership on strategic alignment, portfolio priorities, and escalation resolution. Partner with the AI Enablement Center, enterprise architects, and technology leaders to evaluate solution approaches and ensure alignment with enterprise AI standards and platform strategy. Governance, Risk & Partnership Serve as the primary relationship owner between the AI Enablement Center and IT application delivery and enterprise governance bodies. Ensure AI investments are aligned to organizational priorities, measured for business impact, and governed according to risk, security, and regulatory requirements. Establish metrics and reporting — adoption, business impact, cost/FinOps, and usage — to demonstrate value and inform decision-making. Leadership & Collaboration Lead, mentor, and grow a small team of AI engineers; manage partner and vendor teams. Cultivate strong dotted-line relationships with IT Leaders and Architecture teams to ensure alignment and integration with the broader technology landscape. Foster a culture of innovation, responsible AI, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Required Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field (or equivalent experience). 10+ years of technology