Head of AI: Top Recruiters in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne's technology market is driven by digital manufacturing, financial services technology, and e-commerce, with Steel Dynamics' Industry 4.0 investments and Sweetwater Sound's e-commerce platform creating demand for industrial and commercial technology executives.

The Head of AI leads the team responsible for building, deploying, and governing artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities within the company's products and operations. This leader manages the intersection of AI research and engineering, translating AI advances into production systems that create customer and business value while managing AI-specific risks.

• Lead the AI/ML team responsible for developing and deploying models across the company's product suite
• Define the team's AI technical roadmap and prioritize model development based on business impact
• Manage end-to-end ML lifecycle: data collection, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and production deployment
• Build and maintain AI platform capabilities including feature stores, model registries, and automated retraining pipelines
• Partner with product managers and engineers to integrate AI models into user-facing products and internal systems
• Evaluate and adopt foundation models, LLMs, and generative AI capabilities where they create business value
• Establish model evaluation frameworks, offline and online metrics, and ongoing model performance monitoring
• Lead responsible AI practices including bias testing, explainability implementation, and AI governance documentation
• Mentor senior AI engineers and researchers, building team technical capability and career growth pathways
• Represent the AI team in cross-functional forums and communicate AI strategy to executive stakeholders

• 8+ years in ML/AI with at least 3 years leading AI teams or ML platform programs
• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related quantitative field preferred
• Demonstrated experience shipping AI/ML models to production at scale with measurable business impact
• Expert knowledge of modern deep learning, LLMs, and generative AI techniques and tooling
• Proficiency with Python AI stack: PyTorch, Hugging Face, LangChain, MLflow, or equivalent
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to explain AI capabilities and limitations to business and product stakeholders

• AI Engineering Leadership: Ability to lead teams that bridge research and engineering to deliver production AI systems
• LLM Expertise: Deep familiarity with large language models, prompt engineering, and RAG architectures
• MLOps Maturity: Skill in building reliable, scalable ML infrastructure for model training and serving
• Responsible AI: Commitment to building AI systems that are fair, explainable, and aligned with company values
• Product Orientation: Ability to translate AI capabilities into compelling product features that users value

Nexoval Search Partners's dedicated Technology & AI practice maintains active relationships with the executive talent community across Fort Wayne and the broader Indiana market. Our consultants conduct thorough market mapping of available passive and active candidates across the region's leading employers, from established industry leaders to innovative growth companies. Every engagement includes confidential outreach, rigorous competency-based assessment, and candidate presentation within 45 to 60 days of engagement launch. Nexoval Search Partners's retained search model and one-year replacement guarantee ensure every executive we place in Fort Wayne, Indiana delivers long-term organizational value.