Executive Head - Group AI Factory

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We employ individuals who are as passionate about customers as we are. We are truly Customer Obsessed, which means that we are passionate about exceeding customer expectations; work relentlessly to really understand the customer; look at decisions through the customer’s eyes and take personal accountability for the customer experience. We are looking for exceptional AI technical leader with deep expertise in Big Data Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Automation (IA) and Generative / Agentic AI application to help shape Vodacom’s AI-native future.

The Group AI Factory Executive Head is a senior technical leadership role responsible for steering the design, build, and scalable deployment of AI services across Vodacom Group markets. This role will spearhead the AI Factory — the central engine for delivering reusable, high-impact AI services aligned to Vodacom’s three strategic AI impact pillars:
Customer Experience (CX), Monetization, and Productivity — driving measurable impact and positioning Vodacom as an AI-native organisation by 2030.

AI Factory Technical Leadership

• Provide executive technical AI leadership for the AI Factory, setting the vision, roadmap, and delivery priorities for centrally built AI services across Vodacom Group markets.
• Lead the end-to-end design, development, and operationalisation of reusable AI services in the AI services library, spanning CX, Monetization, and Productivity AI Impact Pillars across domains.
• Drive alignment of the AI Factory deliverables with Vodacom’s Group AI strategy, the Vodafone Group GenAI framework and Tech enablement strategy for AI.
• Serve as a senior thought leader, contributing industry insights and shaping Vodacom’s positioning as a pioneer in AI innovation across Africa and the Vodafone ecosystem.

AI Services Design, Build & Reusability

• Architect and deliver scalable, reusable AI services that can be rapidly adopted and adapted across all Vodacom Group markets, reducing time to value and maximising impact.
• Establish and maintain a unified AI services repository with robust governance, operational frameworks, and lifecycle management processes to ensure compliance, consistency, and efficiency.
• Drive tangible efficiency gains through scaled deployments of classical, GenAI, agentic AI solutions in line with Vodacom’s Technology framework.
• Champion AI Factory best practices across all key business domains including SCM, Technology, Network, CX, CVM, Enterprise, Channels ensuring alignment with strategic AI business cases.

Cross-Market Adoption & Value Delivery

• Lead successful AI services adoption across Vodacom Group markets — South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique, Lesotho and Ethiopia — to maximise value capture and impact at scale.
• Work closely with in-market AI and Tech team to ensure effective implementation, localisation, and adaptation of centrally built AI services.
• Define and track KPIs for AI Factory output, measuring diffusion rates, adoption rates, time-to-value, model efficacy across use case categories.
• Collaborate with the Group Data and Analytics teams to provide evidence-based insights that drive strategic decisions leveraging new AI technologies.

AI Partnerships, Ecosystem & Innovation

• Build and manage strategic AI partnerships with Hyperscalers (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Huawei) to strengthen AI delivery capability, accelerate prototype development, and leverage cloud-native AI tooling.
• Contribute to and leverage the Vodafone Group AI ecosystem, driving synergies, re-use of standardised AI frameworks, and global best practice sharing.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging AI technologies, including agentic AI, multimodal models, and real-time decisioning platforms, to maintain Vodacom’s competitive advantage.
• Represent Vodacom Group in AI forums, industry bodies, and partner engagements to build thought leadership and strategic relationships.

People, Culture & Capability Building

• Lead, inspire, and develop a…