Position Summary
Custom Information Services is seeking a visionary Chief AI Officer (CAIO) to lead and mature our rapidly expanding Artificial Intelligence practice. Reporting directly to the CEO, the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer will define the long-term AI strategy, build and mentor a high-performance data/ML engineering team, and deliver production-ready AI solutions that create measurable value for mid-market clients across Texas and beyond.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership – Own the enterprise-wide AI roadmap, prioritize high-impact initiatives, and align projects with business goals and client needs.
- Innovation & Architecture – Evaluate emerging models (LLMs, generative AI, graph networks, multimodal learning) and design reference architectures that are secure, scalable, and governable.
- Program Delivery – Oversee end-to-end project lifecycles, from use-case discovery and PoC development to full deployment and MLOps hand-off.
- Governance & Ethics – Chair the AI Ethics Committee, establish guardrails for responsible use, and ensure compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and evolving U.S. AI regulations.
- Talent Development – Recruit, coach, and retain data scientists, ML engineers, and prompt-engineers; foster a culture of continuous learning and experimentation.
- Thought Leadership – Represent Custom IS at conferences, author whitepapers/blogs, and brief C-suite clients on AI trends and ROI.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration – Partner with Cybersecurity, Cloud, and ERP practices to embed AI capabilities into existing managed-service offerings.
Required Qualifications
- 10 + years in advanced analytics, data science, or machine learning, with 5 + years in an executive or practice-lead role.
- Proven track record of shipping AI solutions at scale (e.g., predictive maintenance, generative knowledge assistants, computer-vision quality control).
- Deep expertise in Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow, vector databases, MLOps pipelines (Azure ML, AWS SageMaker, or GCP Vertex).
- Demonstrated experience operationalizing GenAI / LLMs (fine-tuning, RAG, prompt-engineering, cost/performance optimization).
- Strong business acumen: ability to translate technical capabilities into revenue growth and client value.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, or related field (PhD preferred).
- Exceptional communication and stakeholder-management skills.
Preferred / Nice-to-Have
- Certifications such as NVIDIA DLI, Microsoft AI-102, or equivalent.
- Experience implementing AI governance frameworks (NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001 draft, etc.).
- Familiarity with industry-specific compliance (CMMC, PCI-DSS, FDA, SEC).
- Prior MSP or IT-consulting experience supporting SMB and mid-enterprise environments.
What We Offer
- Competitive executive-level salary with performance bonus.
- Equity participation opportunity in Custom IS’s AI business unit.
- 401(k) with company match, health/dental/vision, and PTO from day one.
- Modern R&D lab in our DFW headquarters, equipped with GPU clusters and private model-training environment.
- Ongoing professional development budget for certifications, conferences, and research.
- A tight-knit culture that values innovation, transparency, and client success.
About Custom Information Services
For 35 years Custom Information Services has delivered best-in-class managed IT, cybersecurity, ERP, and cloud solutions to SMB and mid-market organizations across Texas. Our new AI practice builds on that legacy—bringing practical, secure, and ethically grounded artificial-intelligence capabilities to the heart of our clients’ operations.
How to Apply
Ready to shape the AI future of Texas businesses? Send your résumé and a short cover letter outlining a recent AI initiative you led—plus its measurable outcome—to hr@customis.com with the subject line “Chief AI Officer – [Your Name]”.