Vice President, Business Operations Lead (AI Challenge Lab) at Morgan Stanley in New York, NY

Job description

This role serves as the Business Operations Lead for the AI Challenge Lab, reporting directly to the Executive Business Sponsor and driving the successful delivery, scaling, and adoption of the firm's flagship AI innovation program. The AI Challenge Lab is a cohort-based, hands-on learning and development program designed to accelerate AI adoption by helping teams translate business problems into production-ready AI solutions. The program brings together business leaders, subject matter experts, strategists, and technologists to develop high-impact use cases that drive measurable business value. The Business Operations Lead will play a key role in accelerating AI adoption across the organization by partnering with business sponsors, Technology, mentors, participants, and senior stakeholders to identify, develop, and advance AI solutions from concept through implementation. The successful candidate will combine strong program management, AI fluency, stakeholder management, and change leadership skills to help scale the program globally and increase the rate of diffusion of AI capabilities across the Firm. The role requires exceptional execution skills, the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment, and a passion for helping organizations adopt and scale emerging technologies. The successful candidate will be comfortable working directly with senior leaders, navigating ambiguity, solving problems proactively, and ensuring consistently high-quality experience and successful outcomes for sponsors and participants. In Partnership with the Executive Business Sponsor, You Will: Senior Stakeholder Engagement Serve as the primary point of contact for senior stakeholders throughout the program lifecycle, ensuring alignment, accountability, and timely decision-making. Build trusted relationships with business sponsors, Technology leaders, mentors, and program participants. Drive post-lab follow-through by establishing ownership, next steps, implementation plans, and success metrics with sponsors and participants. Prepare executive communications, presentations, and updates for program leadership and steering committees. Support the expansion of the AI Challenge Lab across businesses, regions, and functions. Use Case Selection & Delivery Assist with the intake, evaluation, and readiness assessment process for prospective use cases. Partner with business sponsors to refine problem statements, clarify objectives, and strengthen business cases. Evaluate use cases based on business value, feasibility, stakeholder commitment, data readiness, and implementation potential. Maintain and manage a strong pipeline of use cases for future cohorts. Help ensure selected use cases are positioned for successful development and eventual implementation. AI Strategy & Adoption Partner with business leaders and Technology teams to identify and prioritize high-impact AI opportunities. Help sponsors understand AI capabilities, limitations, and implementation considerations. Assess AI use case readiness, including business value, technical feasibility, data availability, and organizational support. Identify opportunities to scale successful use cases across multiple businesses and functions. Develop strategies to accelerate AI adoption and increase awareness of successful AI solutions throughout the Firm. Partner with AI Ambassadors, mentors, and business stakeholders to help accelerate the rate of diffusion of AI capabilities across the organization. Stay current on emerging AI technologies, industry trends, and leading practices. Program Operations & Execution Own end-to-end program delivery, including communications, onboarding, scheduling, participant engagement, and operational readiness. Lead all program logistics, including venue planning, materials, technology setup, and event-day execution. Establish clear ownership, deliverables, milestones, and timelines before launch and track progress throughout execution. Identify and proac