Director of AI Systems
At Klaviyo, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives each Klaviyo (we call ourselves Klaviyos) brings to our workplace each and every day. We believe everyone deserves a fair shot at success and appreciate the experiences each person brings beyond the traditional job requirements. If you’re a close but not exact match with the description, we hope you’ll still consider applying. Want to learn more about life at Klaviyo? Visit careers.klaviyo.com to see how we empower creators to own their own destiny.
As the Director of AI Systems, you will be the catalyst for Klaviyo’s internal AI transformation, building a formal CoE from the ground up. Reporting to the Director of IT, you will establish the vision, strategy, and governance framework to embed artificial intelligence and intelligent automation across our global operations. This is a pioneering role focused on moving beyond experimentation to deployment at scale. Your mission is to drive measurable operational leverage, democratize AI capabilities securely, and fundamentally enhance how Klaviyo operates as it scales.
What You'll Do
- Build the AI Center of Excellence: Develop, evangelize, and own the strategic roadmap for AI and automation. Create a centralized function that provides expertise, governance, and tools to the entire organization.
- Drive High-Value Use Cases: Partner with senior leaders across the business to identify and execute on a portfolio of high-ROI AI initiatives, focusing on AIOps, generative AI for productivity (e.g., knowledge management, content creation), and hyperautomation for back-office processes.
- Architect the AI Platform & Governance: Lead the end-to-end selection and implementation of AI platforms. Crucially, you will design and implement a robust governance framework covering data usage, model validation, security, and responsible AI principles.
- Quantify and Communicate Business Value: Define a rigorous set of KPIs to measure the business impact, ROI, and adoption of all AI initiatives. Create a clear narrative around value creation for executive stakeholders.
- Manage the AI Investment Portfolio: Own the "buy vs. build" analysis for AI tooling and manage the portfolio of AI investments to ensure alignment with business priorities and financial objectives.
- Serve as Klaviyo’s central subject matter expert on applied AI. Demystify the technology and inspire the organization by showcasing the art of the possible.
Who You Are
Required Qualifications:
- 10+ years of cumulative experience in technology, with at least 4+ years in a leadership role focused on data platforms, emerging technology, or intelligent automation.
- Demonstrated experience building a technology function or practice from the ground up in a corporate environment.
- Hands-on experience architecting and implementing AI/ML platforms or automation tools, and a clear understanding of their practical application to business problems.
- Experience presenting complex technical strategies and business cases to senior leadership (VP-level and above) and gaining buy-in for significant investments.
- Strong understanding of data governance, security, and the ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in an enterprise.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with modern AI architectures such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for enterprise knowledge.
- Familiarity with the native AI capabilities within major enterprise platforms (e.g., ServiceNow, Salesforce Einstein, Microsoft CoPilot, Gemini).
- Experience in a high-growth, global SaaS company, with an understanding of the key operational levers for scale.
- A Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related technical field.
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Massachusetts Applicants:
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Our salary range reflects the cost of labor across various U.S. geographic markets. The range displayed below reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all our US locations. The base salary offered for this position is determined by several factors, including the applicant’s job-related skills, relevant experience, education or training, and work location.
In addition to base salary, our total compensation package may include participation in the company’s annual cash bonus plan, variable compensation (OTE) for sales and customer success roles, equity, sign-on payments, and a comprehensive range of health, welfare, and wellbeing benefits based on eligibility. Please visit Klaviyo Rewards to find out more about our Total Rewards package.
Your recruiter can provide more details about the specific salary/OTE range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
Get to Know Klaviyo
We’re Klaviyo (pronounced clay-vee-oh). We empower creators to own their destiny by making first-party data accessible and actionable like never before. We see limitless potential for the technology we’re developing to nurture personalized experiences in ecommerce and beyond. To reach our goals, we need our own crew of remarkable creators—ambitious and collaborative teammates who stay focused on our north star: delighting our customers. If you’re ready to do the best work of your career, where you’ll be welcomed as your whole self from day one and supported with generous benefits, we hope you’ll join us.
Klaviyo is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, color, religion or religious creed, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran or active military status, marital status, criminal record, genetics, retaliation, sexual harassment or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.