AI Transformation Lead

realfast is India's first post-AI IT services company, built from scratch around one metric: how quickly a signed contract becomes working software a client is paying for. Founded by the team that scaled Gojek and backed by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India & SEA) and RTP Global.

Our platform, Exo, powers the entire delivery operation. It ingests client documentation, codebases, and requirements within hours, compressing weeks of traditional discovery into days, then works alongside our teams to deliver production-ready solutions. We've delivered production-ready solutions in days that traditionally take months. The methodology behind this is Real Agile, built specifically for how IT services works in the AI era.

We hire for judgment, because everything that doesn't require it is already automated. What's left is the job.

A lead consultant who can drive complex, multi-stakeholder AI transformation engagements with minimal oversight. You've been the most senior consulting presence in a client room before. You know how to navigate organisational politics, shape a brief before it becomes a formal scope, and spot the expansion opportunity while you're still delivering the first one.

You bring genuine AI fluency — not as a topic you advise on, but as something you use daily and have embedded into how you work. At realfast, AI-native thinking isn't a bonus; it's how we operate.

This is a hands-on leadership role — roughly 50% individual contributor work on live engagements, with growing responsibility to build and lead a team of Transformation Consultants. You'll work closely with the founding partners on commercial and account development, establish consulting standards and AI transformation project delivery frameworks, and shape how the practice scales.

Discovery & Engagement Leadership

• Lead discovery on complex, ambiguous engagements with multiple competing stakeholders

• Shape engagement scope and commercial framing alongside founding partners

• Make prioritisation calls when the client hasn't decided what matters most

• Navigate C-suite relationships and be the trusted advisor clients call before the formal brief

• Use AI tools to accelerate discovery — faster process mapping, sharper business case construction, better stakeholder materials

During Delivery

• Run day-to-day client engagement with independence — minimal partner involvement required on execution

• Translate between client business language and the technical delivery team

• Hold scope and manage escalations, including pushback at senior client levels

• Coordinate before/after business impact measurement

• Embed AI into client-facing deliverables and client team workflows, not just the system being built

Account Development

• Identify and build the case for engagement expansion independently

• Translate delivery results into the next commercial conversation

• Brief founding partners on account health, risks, and opportunities before they ask

Team & Standards

• Mentor and develop Transformation Consultants on discovery, scoping, and delivery

• As the practice grows, take on team leadership — hiring, coaching, and setting the bar for delivery quality

• Establish delivery patterns that can be replicated across engagements

• Contribute to the firm's methodology and AI-augmented delivery approach

• 12+ years of professional experience, including 6+ years in client-facing consulting and the remainder in professional services, advisory, or enterprise delivery roles

• Track record of leading multi-stakeholder engagements independently from discovery to delivered outcome

• C-suite client exposure — comfortable presenting, pushing back, and advising at that level

• Commercial instinct — you've been involved in scoping, pricing, or expanding client relationships

• Deep sector expertise in at least one relevant industry (financial services, healthcare, logistics, enterprise software, or similar), with demonstrable ability to apply insights across sectors

• Genuine AI fluency — you use AI tools daily (e.g., LLMs for research and drafting, AI copilots for analysis, automation tools for workflows), have strong opinions on where they help and where they don't, and have embedded them into your personal and professional workflows

• Strong track record on AI/digital transformation initiatives that reached production, not just pilot

• Ability to mentor, and eventually lead, a small team while staying hands-on with delivery

Backgrounds we'd consider

• Manager / Senior Manager / Principal at Big 4, MBB, or boutique digital/AI consulting firm

• Director of Digital Transformation or AI at an enterprise organisation

• Principal/Lead at a specialist AI or enterprise technology consultancy

• VP-level delivery or customer success at B2B enterprise software

• Head of Strategy or Operations with significant client-facing project leadership and commercial exposure

• Head of AI / Applied AI at a product or enterprise company, with consulting or professional services exposure

• Other equivalent senior roles with a strong combination of consulting delivery, commercial ownership, and AI fluency

• You've run engagements where you were the most senior consulting presence and it went well

• You get uncomfortable when a client has a great first project and there's no plan for what comes next

• You've had the "what's your next priority?" conversation with a CXO before being asked to

• You use AI to do your own work faster and better, not just advise others to use it

• You find mentoring junior consultants as satisfying as the delivery itself

• You want to help define the methodology, not just follow it

• You're excited about building a practice from the ground up, not just joining an established one

• You've always had a senior partner to escalate commercial decisions to

• You're more comfortable executing a well-defined scope than shaping an ambiguous one

• You treat AI as something you recommend to clients but haven't deeply integrated into your own work

• You haven't had meaningful C-suite client exposure

• You've built your career entirely in one sector without applying your expertise across different industries or contexts

• You need clear internal processes and structures before you can operate effectively

Recruitment process & guidelines

Please read this JD carefully and apply only if you have a strong match against the experience and background criteria.

• Application: Submit your application explaining where your experience maps to the work described above, including one example of an engagement you led independently

• Screening Call: 45–60 minute conversation on engagement leadership, commercial instinct, and AI fluency

• Experience Deep Dive: A 60 minute conversation on 2–3 significant engagements you've led, with focus on commercial dynamics, stakeholder navigation, and AI/transformation outcomes

• Bar Raiser: Cross-functional round with founding partners on strategic thinking, methodology contribution, and cultural fit

Additional details

• Compensation: Per industry standards, commensurate with experience

• Reports to: Head of AI Transformation & Consulting

• Work mode: Hybrid — mostly remote with client travel if required

• Travel: Moderate — client presence expected at key engagement milestones