AI Lead, Autonomous

At ABB, we help industries run leaner and cleaner—and every person here makes that happen. You’ll be empowered to lead, supported to grow, and proud of the impact we create together. Join us and help run what runs the world.

This Position reports to:

R&D Leader(Industrial Software)-AUEN BL

What we believe in

ABB’s Process Automation business area enables customers to operate some of the world’s largest and most complex industrial infrastructures, helping them outrun – leaner and cleaner.

We offer a broad range of automation, electrification and digital solutions for process, hybrid and maritime industries, including industry-specific integrated control and software as well as measurement and analytics solutions and services.

Your role and responsibilities

In this role, we are looking for a highly experienced and hands-on AI Lead – Autonomous to join our Industrial Automation Digital Organization. The role will be responsible for driving the Autonomous Framework as a program and translating prioritized AI use cases into delivered, validated outcomes. The candidate will directly contribute to AI solution design, prototyping and delivery while providing technical leadership across Generative AI, Agentic AI and Classical Machine Learning for industrial applications.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role, requiring strong execution discipline, stakeholder management and the ability to drive outcomes across product, platform, architecture, technology partners and pilot customers. The role will also contribute to AI-led margin acceleration initiatives and provide delivery and feasibility inputs into AI use-case prioritization. As the organization scales, the role will have an opportunity to build and lead a team of AI engineers.

The work model for the role is: Hybrid

You will be mainly accountable for

• Drive AI-led margin acceleration and hands-on AI delivery by identifying high-impact AI opportunities and directly contributing to solution design, prototyping, development and implementation using Generative AI, Agentic AI and Classical Machine Learning for industrial applications.
• Lead Autonomous Framework execution and program visibility by establishing the operating cadence, managing milestones, dependencies and releases, maintaining execution visibility, and providing concise, decision-ready updates on progress, risks, blockers and required actions.
• Drive execution discipline, technical feasibility and stakeholder coordination by defining clear objectives, scope, success criteria and decision gates for AI initiatives, managing cross-functional dependencies, addressing risks and blockers, and providing input into prioritization and build-vs-buy decisions.
• Build technical capability and partner alignment by acting as a senior AI SME, collaborating with architects, product teams, platform teams and partners such as Microsoft and Cognite, and progressively building and leading a small team of AI engineers as the function scales.

Qualifications for the role:

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, data science or analytics, including 7+ years of hands-on experience in Generative AI, Agentic AI and/or Classical Machine Learning.
• Strong hands-on expertise in LLMs, RAG, MCP, agentic orchestration, agentic harnesses and agentic architecture, with proven experience delivering AI solutions in industrial domains.
• Proven experience developing Classical ML and Neural Network models, with strong knowledge of MLOps and cloud/edge deployment.
• Demonstrated experience in driving execution across multiple teams and technology partners, influencing outcomes without direct authority and managing complex dependencies, risks and delivery milestones.
• Strong understanding of AI solution architecture, experimentation, prototyping and production deployment, with the ability to translate business priorities into technically feasible and executable AI workstreams.
• Strong communication, stakeholder-management and leadership skills, with the ability to simplify complex technical concepts for senior leadership and bring structure to ambiguous and rapidly evolving initiatives.
• BE/BTech/ME/MTech in Engineering, Computer Science or a related field; advanced degree preferred. Experience in industrial software, process automation, energy, autonomous operations, asset performance, manufacturing execution or energy management, along with exposure to Microsoft/Cognite ecosystems and scaled Agile/program execution, is an added advantage.

More about us

ABB is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. The Process Automation (PA) business area (>$6B revenue in 2021, 22,000 employees), automates, electrifies and digitalizes some of the most complex industrial infrastructures on this planet. Through its five divisions, it serves customers in the energy, process and hybrid industries – from hydrocarbons, chemicals, water, mining, minerals, pulp & paper to marine and ports, and many more. PA stands at the heart of some of the most important shifts in society, helping the energy-intense industries to safer, smarter and more sustainable operations to enable a prosperous, low-carbon society.

Building a cleaner, smarter future takes all kinds of minds: the curious, the courageous, and the creative. We welcome people from all backgrounds and experiences.

Ready to make an impact? Apply today or visit www.abb.com to learn more about the impact of our solutions across the globe.

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