Celestial Systems, a global technology consultancy, identified a critical need to establish a world-class Data & AI practice to meet surging market demand and secure a leadership position in the industry. The challenge was immense: to build a completely new, high-growth business unit from scratch. This required a 360-degree leader capable of architecting not just the technology, but the entire commercial, strategic, and operational engine to drive its success.

As the Principal Architect and single point of accountability for the Data & AI division, I was entrusted with transforming this vision into a profitable reality. My role was unique, blending senior executive strategy with deep, hands-on technical execution. I designed and implemented a multi-pronged strategy:

1. Organizational Design & Talent Acquisition: I began by architecting the division's entire organizational blueprint. This involved identifying critical skill gaps and authoring a comprehensive strategic hiring plan that secured executive approval to recruit the professionals. I then led the talent acquisition process, personally interviewing and selecting the talent needed to build multiple high-performance teams from scratch.

2. Commercial & Pre-Sales Leadership: I built and drove the division's commercial engine. I actively led the pre-sales pipeline, collaborating daily with the sales team to evangelize our capabilities to clients. I personally architected, wrote, and approved every technical proposal and Statement of Work (SOW), ensuring each engagement was structured for both technical excellence and commercial profitability.

3. Technical Enablement & Innovation: To cultivate deep in-house expertise, I established specialized "Centers of Excellence" for key platforms, including Dataiku, Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, and Databricks. I designed the division's technical training programs, led hands-on workshops, and mentored teams in the development of cutting-edge POCs for RAG, LLMs, and advanced machine learning solutions.

4. Executive Alignment & Delivery Ownership: I served as the primary liaison between the engineering division, the commercial teams, and the executive steering committee. Through near-daily collaboration, I ensured our technical roadmap was perfectly aligned with corporate goals. I held full, end-to-end ownership of the delivery pipeline, guaranteeing the successful execution of all production work, maintaining the highest standards of quality, and ensuring complete client satisfaction.

My leadership transformed a strategic directive into one of the company's most valuable assets. The results were clear, measurable, and impactful:

• • Established a New High-Growth Business Unit: Successfully built a fully functional and highly profitable Data & AI department. This new division became a primary engine for revenue growth and strategic positioning for the entire company.

  • Scaled a Global, High-Performance Team: Recruited, trained, and mentored a world-class, multi-disciplinary team, transforming a group of individual hires into a cohesive, highly effective, and profitable production unit.

  • Proven Commercial Success: The division's robust pre-sales and delivery process, which I designed and led, resulted in successfully securing and delivering high-profile, high-margin projects for world-class clients like Hitachi Energy and IDERA, Inc.

  • Cultivated Deep In-House Expertise: Built a powerful internal R&D capability and fostered a culture of continuous learning. This enabled the rapid development of sophisticated, cutting-edge solutions that set Celestial Systems apart from its competitors.