VP, AI Strategy & Transformation

This is a newly created seat at a firm that moves fast and expects the same from its people. As VP, AI Strategy & Transformation, you will define how AI creates value across the firm’s portfolio - from pre-deal diligence through full-cycle value creation. You will work directly with the firm’s senior partners, portfolio company CEOs, and operating teams to identify, design, and execute the highest-impact AI and transformation opportunities across the platform.

This is not a technology role. It is a business leadership role. You will be expected to think like an investor, operate like a consultant, and execute like an operator - sometimes all in the same week., * Define and lead the firm’s AI strategy and transformation agenda across the portfolio - identifying where AI creates durable, measurable value and where it doesn’t

• Partner with deal teams on AI-driven diligence - assessing target companies’ AI readiness, data assets, and digital transformation potential as part of investment thesis development
• Build and own AI value creation playbooks for portfolio companies - deployable frameworks that operating teams and management can execute against within 90 days of close
• Identify high-value AI use cases across portfolio sectors - operational efficiency, revenue growth, pricing optimization, talent analytics, and supply chain intelligence
• Continuously scan the external AI landscape to ensure the firm’s portfolio stays ahead of sector-specific disruption

Portfolio Company Execution

• Serve as the firm’s embedded AI expert for portfolio company leadership teams - partnering with CEOs, CFOs, and COOs to frame transformation priorities and build execution roadmaps
• Lead one or more high-priority AI transformation workstreams at the portfolio company level - with full accountability for quality, timeline, and measurable EBITDA impact
• Prepare and deliver board-ready presentations, business cases, and ROI frameworks that translate AI initiatives into investment committee-ready language
• Define the analytical and data infrastructure requirements that enable AI deployment at portfolio companies - working with management to prioritize build-buy-partner decisions

Governance, Risk & Investment

• Build and govern the AI investment framework across the portfolio - defining priorities, trade-offs, and ROI standards for AI initiatives
• Partner with legal, compliance, and cybersecurity to ensure responsible, governed AI deployment across regulated and non-regulated portfolio sectors
• Establish governance structures and reporting cadences that give the investment team real-time visibility into AI initiative performance across the portfolio

Team & Ecosystem Leadership

• Build and develop the firm’s internal AI strategy capability - including analysts, associates, and external advisors
• Manage strategic external partnerships with AI vendors, technology companies, and sector-specific AI specialists
• Foster AI fluency across the firm and its portfolio - enabling operating partners, deal teams, and management to apply AI confidently and credibly, * Operates with conviction in investment committee, board, and CEO settings
• Produces board-ready deliverables - concise, compelling, and decision-ready

Leadership

• Builds and develops high-performing teams in a lean, fast-moving environment
• Manages external partners and vendors to deliver outcomes, not activity, * Define AI strategy at the fund level and drive real EBITDA impact across a multi-billion dollar portfolio
• Work alongside top-tier investment professionals and world-class portfolio company management teams
• Highly selective process - a small team of exceptional performers with significant autonomy and ownership
• The firm is at the beginning of this journey - this VP will shape what AI means for the platform for the next decade

• MBA, MS, or PhD required; advanced degree in a quantitative discipline a plus, * 4+ years in top-tier strategy consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or equivalent) with deep AI, digital transformation, or technology practice focus
• 6+ years in enterprise AI strategy, data science leadership, or digital transformation - ideally with PE, portfolio company, or multi-sector exposure
• 8+ years in PE operations, value creation, or portfolio strategy with substantial AI or advanced analytics experience, Investor Mindset
• Thinks in value creation terms - every AI initiative must connect to EBITDA, revenue, or multiple expansion
• Comfortable engaging investment committees and LPs on AI strategy and portfolio performance
• Understands the PE operating model - timeline pressure, lean teams, and the imperative to move quickly from thesis to execution

AI & Business Acumen

• Deep understanding of modern AI technologies - LLMs, NLP, agentic AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics - with the judgment to determine where they create real business value
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear investment cases and governance decisions for non-technical senior audiences
• Strong financial acumen - NPV modeling, EBITDA bridge analysis, and ROI frameworks

Problem Solving & Execution

• Constructs structured frameworks to decompose complex, ambiguous portfolio challenges
• Designs and executes rigorous analysis with minimal oversight
• Synthesizes findings into clear, defensible recommendations that drive action at the board and management level

Leading Private Equity Firm · New York City · Confidential Search · Managed by TSE Executive Search, This is a top-tier Private Equity firm with a multi-sector portfolio spanning healthcare, technology, financial services, and industrials. The firm is making a deliberate, high-conviction commitment to AI as a source of competitive advantage - both at the fund level and across its portfolio companies. The VP, AI Strategy & Transformation will be the architect of that commitment.