Ashok Sami
Developer Relations & Partner Engineering Leader | Physical AI | Enterprise GenAI | Reference Architectures | Cloud-Native Platforms
Hire this person
Send a job offer directly to this candidate
About
Senior technical leader and C-suite advisor with 35+ years building AI, data, IoT, and cloud platforms at enterprise scale. Proven record guiding architecture, implementation plans, and production adoption with Fortune 500 clients and partner teams across high-tech, retail, financial services, energy, and healthcare. Currently leads enterprise GenAI adoption, agentic workflow programs, responsible AI governance, and Azure-based AI platform delivery at PwC Digital.
Brings hands-on credibility across LLM/RAG systems, MLOps, Kubernetes, Docker, streaming data, predictive maintenance, and executive-level partner engagement, with a strong fit for accelerating NVIDIA Omniverse and physical AI ecosystem adoption through reference architectures, enablement, and technical problem solving.
Experience
Chief Technology and Innovation Officer - PwC - Dallas, TX
(2016-01)
Serve as a senior technical advisor and delivery leader for PwC's Chief Data Office and Fortune 500 clients, shaping AI strategy, partner implementation plans, platform roadmaps, and production delivery across multiple industries.
- Define and drive enterprise-wide AI strategy for 10+ Fortune 500 clients, translating business goals into technical roadmaps, integration plans, and measurable adoption programs
- Architect and deploy production GenAI solutions using Azure OpenAI, LangChain, and RAG frameworks, including reusable patterns that partner engineering teams can adapt for enterprise workflows
- Spearheaded agentic workflow programs for finance, HR, and operations functions, achieving 40-60% reduction in manual processing time in pilots now scaling enterprise-wide
- Advise boards, C-suite leaders, product owners, and engineering teams on AI architecture, vendor selection, build-vs.-buy tradeoffs, adoption sequencing, and investment prioritization
- Established enterprise AI governance frameworks including responsible AI guardrails, bias monitoring, explainability standards, and audit trails satisfying financial services regulatory requirements
- Defined data ethics policies and AI risk assessment processes positioning clients to meet emerging EU AI Act and U.S. executive order requirements ahead of enforcement deadlines
- Lead PwC Insights platform as Product Lead overseeing roadmap, global onshore + offshore team, 30+ client POC engagements, and enterprise delivery on Azure using Kubernetes, Docker, Azure ML, Azure OpenAI, and Cloudera
- Delivered Azure-native predictive maintenance SaaS platform using Data Lake, Data Factory, Event Hub, Stream Analytics, Azure ML, Power BI, and pre-built anomaly detection models, cutting client deployment time by 65%
- Drive measurable time-to-insight improvements across 30+ client engagements through platform standardization, reference patterns, self-service enablement, and repeatable solution playbooks
- Create executive-ready workshops, solution narratives, and technical enablement artifacts that help business, product, and engineering stakeholders align on architecture, adoption milestones, and production readiness
Head of Data & Analytics - Ziosk - Dallas, TX
(2013-06 - 2016-01)
Built and led the enterprise data function for the nation's largest restaurant tablet network, standing up IoT data pipelines, real-time streaming analytics, and ML-powered operational insights across thousands of restaurant locations.
- Designed ML models for customer behavior analysis, restaurant benchmarking, demand forecasting, and operational decision support, delivering actionable intelligence to C-suite and field teams
- Architected enterprise data warehouse on PDW/APS, modeling ODS, MDM, Data Warehouse, and OLAP layers; partnered with executives on KPI frameworks and strategic analytics roadmaps
Business Systems Architect - Think Finance - Dallas, TX
(2009-07 - 2013-05)
Partnered with CIO and CTO to define enterprise data architecture strategy; architected Hadoop-based platform enabling scalable reporting, ad-hoc analysis, and ML model scoring.
- Designed enterprise credit decision engine incorporating statistical risk scoring models directly impacting loan approval quality and risk-adjusted returns
Engagement Manager - Strategy& (PwC) - Dallas, TX
(2006-09 - 2009-01)
Advised Fortune 100 companies including Duke Energy, BP, and Toyota Motor Services on IT strategy, enterprise analytics architecture, modernization, and digital transformation.
- Toyota engagement: delivered $4.8M savings and $6.2M cost reductions through architecture modernization and data quality improvements
Director - Oracle Energy Upstream - Denver, CO
(1998-01 - 2006-09)
Designed and implemented enterprise data warehouses and BI solutions for major energy clients, covering data modeling, ETL, OLAP, executive reporting, and analytics enablement.
Data Architect - Transamerica Life - Kansas City
(1996-01 - 1997-12)
Claimant Information Systems - WCB - Albany, NY
(1995-01 - 1996-12)
Software Engineer - Protech Electronics
(1994-01 - 1995-12)
Software Engineer - Center for Railways Info. Systems - India
(1991-01 - 1993-12)
Education
M.S. - Electrical Engineering - Montana State University (1995)
B.E. - Electronics & Communication Engineering - Tamil Nadu College of Engineering (1991)
