About this role
Organizations in Japan struggle to bridge the gap between exploring advanced artificial intelligence and achieving sustained production adoption at scale. OpenAI needs a technical leader in Tokyo to direct the Applied AI Architect team, ensuring that major enterprise clients translate frontier models and agentic solutions into measurable business value. This person will act as the chief technical strategist for the regional portfolio, orchestrating customer journeys from initial discovery through deployment and governance.
The manager will balance regional strategy with hands-on coaching, defining the operating model and partnering closely with sales leadership to allocate technical resources effectively. Ideal candidates combine deep architectural expertise in modern AI systems with substantial experience managing customer-facing technical teams and building trust with C-suite stakeholders.
What you will do
- Hire, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Applied AI Architects focused on technical excellence and customer stewardship.
- Define the strategy and operating model for Applied AI Architecture across Japan in alignment with regional go-to-market priorities.
- Partner with sales leadership to prioritize accounts, allocate technical resources, and establish technical strategies for complex engagements.
- Lead multi-threaded customer journeys connecting executive vision with use-case qualification, enterprise governance, and production paths.
- Build trusted relationships with C-suite stakeholders, technology leaders, and boards while serving as an executive technical sponsor.
- Translate field patterns into actionable feedback for product, engineering, and research teams while developing reusable architecture guidance.
What you need
- Possess deep technical acumen in modern AI systems, frontier models, agentic applications, platform technologies, and enterprise cloud architecture.
- Bring 10 or more years of experience in customer-facing technical roles such as solutions architecture, solutions engineering, or technical consulting.
- Have 4 or more years of people-management experience hiring, coaching, and developing high-performing customer-facing technical teams.
- Demonstrate a track record of guiding enterprise organizations from technical discovery through production adoption and measurable business impact.
- Show outstanding executive communication skills with the ability to build credibility with CTOs, CIOs, CISOs, and hands-on engineers.
- Comfortably lead across Japan from Tokyo while adapting to different industries, regulatory contexts, and customer operating models.
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
Where is this role located?
This role is based in Tokyo, leading across Japan and adapting your approach to different industries, cultures, and regulatory contexts.
What products will the team work with?
The team owns technical account plans across ChatGPT Enterprise, the OpenAI API, Codex, and other agentic AI solutions.
What level of experience is required?
Candidates need 10+ years of experience in customer-facing technical roles and 4+ years of people-management experience.