Department
Booth Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence

Job Summary
The Executive Director, AI Center and AI Transformation, is a newly created, dual-mandate role at Chicago Booth School of Business. This position carries two complementary accountabilities that together make it uniquely consequential, institutional executive leadership of the Center for Applied AI (CAAI), and School-wide responsibility for driving Booth's AI transformation agenda in close coordination with the CIO.

In the AI Center capacity, the Executive Director serves as the executive steward of the Center partnering closely with the Director, Center for Applied AI, who leads the Center's day-to-day operations and programmatic excellence. In the AI Transformation capacity, the Executive Director is Booth's primary architect of enterprise AI adoption, mapping the landscape of existing initiatives, resolving gaps and overlaps, advancing AI literacy across faculty, students, and staff, and coordinating with Booth IT on Institution-wide AI deployments such as the Claude platform rollout. Success is measured by the degree to which the entire Booth organization confidently adopts best practice AI initiatives aligned with departmental objectives.

This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Responsibilities

• Guides the evolution of the Center's mission and vision as AI and Booth's needs advance, partnering with the Director, who leads all Center operations, staff, and programs with day-to-day accountability
• Serves as the senior external representative of the Center in high-stakes academic, industry, and policy contexts, opening doors, deepening relationships, and elevating Booth's profile in the applied AI landscape.
• Champions the Center's interests in University-level forums, governance bodies, and cross-institutional AI initiatives, ensuring CAAI's voice is present where strategic decisions are made.
• Serves as a mentor to the Center leadership team and staff.
• Develops and stewards a multi-year AI transformation strategy grounded in Booth's educational mission; defines school-wide goals and success metrics for AI adoption and advises the Dean's Office and CIO on emerging AI trends, opportunities, and risks.
• Maps, catalogues, and critically assesses existing AI-related initiatives across Booth; identifies gaps and overlaps to enable coordinated, accountable adoption without duplicating the efforts of existing units.
• Leads an enterprise-wide change management effort that actively brings all audiences to AI usage, addressing concerns about academic integrity, equity, and job displacement, and building broad-based confidence in AI's role at Booth.
• Designs and oversees AI literacy and enablement programs tailored to the distinct needs of faculty, students, and staff; identifies early adopters, builds feedback loops, and executes a communications strategy through town halls, listening sessions, and targeted outreach, that keeps all constituencies informed and empowered. Works with the existing AI Awareness and Training team to advance AI literacy at Booth
• Serves as main point of contact on developing and coordinating all teaching and classroom AI initiatives in conjunction with the Dean's Office and Faculty Services.
• Integrates enterprise AI pilots into the broader strategic plan; partners closely with Booth IT and, through Booth IT, coordinates with University ITS on institutional deployments such as the Claude platform rollout.
• Develops and stewards AI use across research, teaching, and administration, addressing academic integrity, data privacy, and equity, closely coordinating with key partner departments at Booth.
• Provides strategic leadership for a Center with senior management and serves as a liaison to academic departments, professional organizations and administrative units of the University.
• Manages multiple related teams. Establishes department priorities, is responsible for the management of the center budget, allocates resources and executes strategic plans.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 10+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree.
• MBA or related advanced degree.

Experience:

• Progressive leadership experience with demonstrated success driving organizational change in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Background in or with higher education.

Preferred Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to translate enterprise AI capabilities and technical team outputs into practical, accessible programs for non-technical audiences; hands-on familiarity with AI platforms such as Claude or comparable enterprise tools.
• Proven track record in change management, including successfully engaging skeptical constituencies; background in innovation, entrepreneurship, consulting, or digital transformation.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement, facilitation, and communication skills - written, verbal, and presentation - to build trust and consensus across academic faculty, IT professionals, and administrators without direct authority.
• Executive-level relationship management and fundraising experience; comfortable representing an institution in high-profile external settings.
• Strategic thinker with strong execution instincts; comfortable in ambiguity, managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. Professional demeanor including tact, discretion, and a service-oriented approach.

Working Conditions

• This position is currently expected to work a minimum three days per week in the office.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
Administration & Management

Role Impact
People Manager

Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5

Drug Test Required
No

Health Screen Required
No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No

Pay Rate Type
Salary

FLSA Status
Exempt

Pay Range
$230,000.00 - $250,000.00
The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible
Yes
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.