Data & AI Presales Engineer

Data & AI Presales EngineerEngineering the Intelligent EnterpriseDepartment: Technical Advisory & PresalesReports to: Technical Advisory & Presales LeaderLocation: UAE · GBM HQ (with regional travel across the GCC)Employment type: Full-time · PermanentRole Overview:The Data & AI Presales Engineer is GBM’s technical subject matter expert for Data and Artificial Intelligence, supporting the presales, advisory and go-to-market execution of the AI Foundry practice. The role drives enterprise AI adoption across the GCC region and positions GBM as the most credible implementation and governance partner for the Data & AI portfolio. Working at the intersection of business strategy and technical delivery, the Presales Engineer helps clients move from AI experimentation to production-grade, governed and outcome-driven AI programs — translating business problems into workable architectures, demonstrations and proof-of-concepts.Key Responsibilities:Drive technical presales motion for Data & AI opportunities — covering data lakehouse, data integration, generative and agentic AI, and data and AI governance solutions.Act as a trusted technical advisor to GBM’s strategic accounts — running discovery workshops, prioritizing AI use cases and shaping AI strategies and roadmaps with clients.Design and present end-to-end solution architectures — from use-case discovery, data readiness and model selection through production deployment, security and governance.Build and deliver demonstrations, proof-of-concepts and proof-of-value engagements with clear success criteria that accelerate pipeline and shorten sales cycles.Maintain deep, hands-on expertise across IBM’s watsonx portfolio — watsonx.ai, watsonx.data, watsonx,governance and watsonx Orchestrate — and related IBM data integration and Red Hat OpenShift AI capabilities.Own the technical content of proposals and RFP responses — solution design, sizing, bill of materials, assumptions and effort estimates — and ensure a clean handover to delivery teams.Collaborate with the Data Solution Consultant to ensure AI initiatives are built on governed, trusted data foundations, and with AI Engineers on reusable assets and accelerators.Address client requirements for responsible AI, data residency and regulatory compliance in GCC markets as part of solution design.Contribute to thought leadership content, client events, partner enablement and certifications to strengthen GBM’s Data & AI positioning.Required Skills & Experience:8+ years of experience in enterprise technology, including at least 5 years specializing in data, AI, machine learning or data science, ideally in a presales or solution architecture role.Hands-on experience with IBM watsonx or equivalent enterprise AI platforms (Azure OpenAI / AI Foundry, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI).Strong understanding of LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI and orchestration frameworks, prompt engineering and model evaluation.Solid grounding in data architecture — lakehouse, data integration, data quality, catalog and lineage — and in AI governance and risk frameworks.Practical skills in Python and common AI/ML tooling, with the ability to build demos and prototypes quickly.Proven ability to lead technical presales engagements and advisory sessions with CIOs, CDOs and business leaders.Experience designing and delivering enterprise AI use cases across industries such as banking, government, telecoms and energy, preferably in the GCC.IBM watsonx certifications are highly advantageous; cloud or Red Hat certifications are a plus.Excellent communication and storytelling skills — able to make AI concepts accessible to non-technical audiences. Arabic is an advantage.Key Interfaces:Technical Advisory & PresalesAI Engineer — Models & ToolsData Solution ConsultantInnovation & Incubation LeadIBM & Red Hat technologiesStrategic Clients