Director, AI Innovation Lab, Vital Studio Lead at Kyndryl in Dallas, TX

Job description

Who We Are At Kyndryl, we design, build, manage and modernize the mission-critical technology systems that the world depends on every day. So why work at Kyndryl? We are always moving forward – always pushing ourselves to go further in our efforts to build a more equitable, inclusive world for our employees, our customers and our communities. The Role Your role As leader of the Kyndryl Studio in the Dallas AI Innovation Lab, you inherit the proven, differentiated co-creation methodology our global Labs network already runs, and draw on Kyndryl’s growing community of AI designers to evolve it. You run that methodology in Dallas from day one and mature the practice quickly as you learn what works. You also enjoy a flagship lab, executive visibility, and a clear mandate to advance the most contemporary AI design practice in the industry. This is one of several leadership roles on the Lab leader’s team. You keep the operation running, make decisions, and delegate on the leader’s behalf. What you will do AI design practice Run the global Labs co-creation methodology in Dallas and evolve it based on results. Set Kyndryl’s US standards for designing AI systems. These standards cover human-in-the-loop design (when people approve, review, or override), how much autonomy an agent gets, how a system shows its reasoning and confidence, what happens when it fails, how it hands work back to people, and how it learns from feedback. Build the playbooks, toolkits, templates, and training that keep every Studio team at the same standard. Use AI in your own design process for research, synthesis, prototyping, and agentic workflow design. Lead the communications and enablement that spread the practice across Kyndryl. Partnership with engineering Work with engineering leaders as an equal partner, from first concept through production. Design the transition from design to code so ideas reach working software with their intent intact. Define the shared artifacts, code-based prototypes, handoff points, and joint working rhythms with the Engineering Zone and delivery teams. Studio team Lead and develop the Studio team, including early-career professionals who start when you do. Set a high bar for craft. Work with Kyndryl leadership to assign dedicated designers to the Studio, replacing per-visit staffing. Give the team clear roles, routines, and quality standards so it runs without depending on any one person. Customer engagements Design Studio sessions for customer visits, executive workshops, and innovation engagements, in partnership with the Lab Customer Experience Lead, who owns visit operations. Lead C-suite co-creation sessions that turn open questions into a shared vision, validated concepts, and a roadmap. Direct concept experiences, future-state workflows, prototypes, and proof points. Growth and influence Turn proven session formats into scalable offerings and accelerators. Originate and shape revenue opportunities with sales and delivery teams. Act as a key voice for Kyndryl on human-AI systems and agentic transformation with customers, analysts, and executives. Your First 12 Months First 90 days: You run the global Labs methodology in Dallas, deliver consistent, high-quality customer sessions, and set clear team roles. By month 6: You publish AI design standards that the team uses, agree on a design-to-code process with engineering leaders, and secure dedicated designer capacity. By month 12: You launch playbooks and training, package reusable offerings, connect Studio work to named revenue opportunities, and feed improvements back into the global Labs methodology. You run the Studio independently and delegate on the Lab leader’s behalf. Kyndryl currently does not require employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, however, if you are hired to work at a client, customer, or partner location, you may be required to show proof of vaccination to align with their respective COVID-19 vaccination policies. Those who believe they are elig