HCLTech is looking for a highly talented and self- motivated Principal AI Architect to join it in advancing the technological world through innovation and creativity
Title: AI Architect
Location Santa Clara (USA)
As an AI Architect, you will guide the strategy and delivery for interoperable, compliant, and economically viable modern AI solutions. You will architectures across a Hybrid AI landscape, blending Frontier Models (Azure OpenAI/Gemini) with Cost-Efficient Small Language Models (SLMs) and Edge Inference.
You will craft solutions based on advanced AI technologies from OpenAI, NVIDIA, Google, , Microsoft and AWS. This role has a focus on enabling advanced Agentic AI solutions that transform core business functions and enable the future hybrid workforce.
Working at the highest levels, you will engage AI, Technology and Business leaders in the world’s most successful organizations. You will lead architectural design, establish best practices, for our most complex AI initiatives.
This role requires a combination of deep hands-on technical expertise in advanced AI with strategic business acumen, serving as both a technical authority and a trusted advisor to clients
Key Responsibilities
What you’ll do
Multi-Agent Architecture Patterns: Define and govern reference architecture for multi-agent systems, covering hierarchical, peer-to-peer, and sequential (ReAct) orchestration models. Guide teams on pattern selection based on client use cases.
Memory System Design: Architect the standards for integrated memory systems, including short-term session state, long-term knowledge via vector databases and knowledge graphs, and episodic/audit memory. Ensure coherent retrieval strategies across layers.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and CAG (Cache Augmented) Architecture: Define architectural patterns for end-to-end RAG pipelines, including chunking, embedding, vector search (e.g., Azure Cognitive Search, pgvector), and reranking. Ensure designs include standards for lineage, observability, and evaluation (e.g., RAGAS).
Cross-Cloud & Vendor Integration: Create and maintain decision frameworks for platform selection (e.g., Copilot Studio for Teams integration, Vertex AI for GCP workloads). Advise clients on balancing vendor lock-in risks with integration benefits.
GenAIOps & Observability: Define the architectural standards for GenAIOps, including CI/CD, IaC, and observability. Establish standard metrics to track agent decision traces, latency, token consumption, hallucination, and cost.
Safety, Security & Governance: Architect enterprise-wide guardrails for safety (hallucination mitigation), security (prompt injection defense, PII masking), and fairness (bias detection). Apply governance frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001) and design human-in-the-loop (HITL) workflows.
Enterprise Integration & Scalability: Architect scalable integration patterns for agentic systems with enterprise platforms (Microsoft Entra ID, Teams, Dynamics/Salesforce, ERPs) and compute (Kubernetes). Ensure patterns address security, data residency, and compliance.
Technical Leadership & Client Advisory: Combine technical architecture with strategic guidance. Lead C-level workshops on Agentic AI adoption, advise on roadmaps, and shape technology strategy. Mentor other architects and contribute to industry thought leadership.
Thought leadership and public speaking: Present at industry events and publish articles that advance the AI industry.
Core Qualifications (The Bar)
•Enterprise Experience: 8–10+ years in technical leadership, with a strong background in both software engineering and enterprise-scale cloud architecture.
•Cloud Expertise: Architectural expertise with one primary cloud platform (Azure, GCP, or AWS) and hands-on familiarity with at least one other.
•GenAI & LLM Depth: Demonstrated experience architecting and guiding solutions using GenAI platforms (e.g., Azure OpenAI, Vertex AI, or AWS Bedrock).
•RAG & Orchestration: Proven experience designing complex RAG pipelines.
•Model Fine-tuning: Experience with instruction tuning or fine-tuning strategies for LLMs.
•Leadership & Advisory Skills: Exceptional communication skills with demonstrated experience advising senior stakeholders (Director/C-Level) on technical strategy, roadmaps, and governance
Desired Skills & Experience
- Multi-Agent Systems: Deep understanding of, and experience designing or prototyping, advanced multi-agent systems (e.g., task decomposition, collaborative agents).
- Multi-Cloud Experience: hands-on architectural expertise across all three major clouds (Azure, AWS, GCP).
- GenAI Ops & Governance: Hands-on experience with GenAI Ops tooling. Familiarity with AI governance frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001) and their practical application. And AI FinOps & Model Routing
- Framework Expertise: Hands-on development experience with one or more orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel).
- Thought Leadership & Open Source: Published work (whitepapers, patents), conference speaking engagements, or active contributions to relevant open-source projects.
- Certifications: Professional-level cloud certifications (e.g., Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Solutions Architect Professional, GCP Professional Cloud Architect).
Compensation & Benefits
HCLTech offers a highly competitive compensation package for this role, commensurate with experience. This includes a base salary, performance-based bonus, and comprehensive benefits. A specific salary band will be discussed with qualified candidates during the initial screening process.
Scope by Level
Senior Architect: Own end-to-end architecture for 1–3 programs/accounts. Lead technical architecture reviews and decision-making on agentic design patterns. Mentor senior engineers and emerging
Architects. Drive thought leadership through internal documentation and architecture governance. Represent HCLTech in client C-level conversations for assigned accounts.
Principal Architect: Portfolio-level ownership across multiple clients and programs. Define enterprise strategy for agentic AI adoption—roadmaps, best practices, architectural standards, and governance frameworks. Influence global partner strategies (Microsoft, Google, AWS) and contribute to HCLTech’ s overall AI/Cloud roadmap. Represent HCLTech as a recognized industry leader through conference speaking, published research, and advisory board participation. Mentor other architects and shape hiring/capability building for the AI architecture practice.
Soft Skills & Behavioural Competencies
We are looking for professionals who combine deep technical expertise with strong interpersonal and leadership abilities. Specifically:
- Clear, Multi-Level Communication
- Strategic Thinking & Advisory Mindset
- Cross-Functional & Cross-Vendor Collaboration
- Pragmatic Problem-Solving
- Ownership & Accountability
- Continuous Learning & Adaptability
- Customer Obsession & Trust-Building
- Leadership & Mentorship
- Change Agent Mindset
Pay and Benefits
Pay Range Minimum: Base $ 200000 Per Year
Pay Range Maximum: Base $ 220000 Per Year
HCLTech is an equal opportunity employer, committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees regardless of race, religion, sex, color, age, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, physical disability or genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with federal, state, and/or local law. Should any applicant have concerns about discrimination in the hiring process, they should provide a detailed report of those concerns to secure@hcltech.com for investigation.
A candidate’s pay within the range will depend on their skills, experience, education, and other factors permitted by law. This role may also be eligible for performance-based bonuses subject to company policies. In addition, this role is eligible for the following benefits subject to company policies: medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, life, accidental death & dismemberment, and disability insurance; employee assistance program; 401(k) retirement plan; 10 days of paid time off per year (some positions are eligible for need-based leave with no designated number of leave days per year); and 10 paid holidays per year
How You’ll Grow
At HCLTech, we offer continuous opportunities for you to find your spark and grow with us. We want you to be happy and satisfied with your role and to really learn what type of work sparks your brilliance the best. Throughout your time with us, we offer transparent communication with senior-level employees, learning and career development programs at every level, and opportunities to experiment in different roles or even pivot industries. We believe that you should be in control of your career with unlimited opportunities to find the role that fits you best.
