Senior Director, Analyst – Software Engineering for AI and Agentic Applications

Une version en langue française suitAbout the role:This is an individual contributor opportunity, based remotely in North America. Gartner Analysts are industry thought leaders who create must-have insights, market predictions and best practices for a broad range of world-leading organizations. A Senior Director serves as a leader within Gartner’s Business and Technology Insights (BTI) group, establishing oneself as a credible voice within their designated market at local, regional and global levels. Utilizing exceptional research and analytical skills, a Senior Director plays a significant role in producing pragmatic and provocative insights which Gartner clients consume and apply to propel their business toward key objectives. They are a trusted source of advice for clients, reinforcing Gartner’s value every day by engaging them via in-person meetings, virtual meetings, sales support visits and Gartner conferences to discuss complex client challenges and offer appropriate recommendations. This role sits within Gartner’s Software Engineering Practice and advises leaders of software engineering organizations around the world. The focus is on helping organizations develop and scale the next generation of software applications—particularly AI-powered applications and AI agent-based systems. The role provides strategic guidance on how to build, manage and operate these applications to enable organizations to successfully adopt and leverage advanced AI capabilities. What you will do: Create innovative, thought provoking, and highly leveraged “must-have insights” content Develop new insights and ideas through thought leadership and offer compelling, actionable approaches to client's needs and requests that accelerate the client's ability to act Develop in-depth analysis to identify the root cause of a client’s barriers or overall needs and reframe thinking to drive strategy forward Demonstrate thought leadership in establishing Insights positions across a team of analysts Bring provocative, independent insights to Gartner leaders that can evolve the course of a research agenda Research, analyze and predict market trends and shifts to provide clients and vendors with actionable insights Provide clients and prospects with actionable advice aligned to their designated content area via virtual or face-to-face interactions Create and deliver high value presentation materials on and off stage for Gartner events, industry and professional association conferences, and client briefings Support BTI and Sales: Provide sales support serving as voice of the market to help Insights teams create content and to drive engagement with clients to make progress against their critical priorities to grow their business Provide high quality and timely content peer review Build credibility as an industry expert to represent Gartner insights, methodology and strategy Actively participate in innovation, ideation, and research discussions and collaborate effectively with peers in the Insights community Identify research process improvements or develop new processes that help the team and BTI provide excellent service delivery Be a mentor and a coach by supporting more junior team members Be client-centric while actively seeking to help clients engage regularly and often with Gartner insights and interactions What you will need: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; Graduate degree preferred 12+ years of relevant field or industry experience Experience leading teams in the design, development, and deployment of AI-native applications, including applications powered by large language models (LLMs) and AI agent architectures. Deep knowledge and practical experience of agentic AI frameworks, orchestration platforms, model providers, and emerging patterns for building autonomous and semi-autonomous AI systems. Practical knowledge and experience of AI application architectures, including model integration, context management, harnesses, evaluation frameworks, observability, and the management of applications in production Knowledge of the leading vendors and platforms in the AI application and agentic AI development ecosystem, with the ability to identify their benefits, limitations, risks, and appropriate use cases. Demonstrate executive presence; can immediately establish credibility with executives and additional stakeholders Strong organizational skills; ability to work under tight deadlines and produce high quality deliverables Demonstrate excellence in research and writing ability Strong written and verbal proficiency, analytical and presentation skills; ability to engage clients and respond effectively to questions Proficient in analyzing and synthesizing data; can effectively apply critical thinking concepts while drawing and defending conclusions to client challenges Strong communication skills - able to explain complex concepts concisely and simply Track record of presenting at large and small-scale speaking engagements Strong