COO – Regional Operations — Applied-AI Portfolio

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing regional delivery split across incompatible operating models within a multinational-owned enterprise artificial-intelligence products company. The immediate arena is the applied-AI portfolio during a research-to-product transition. For mandate 194, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The COO – Regional Operations operating perimeter covers approximately C$1,150 million in AI product and services revenue, with activity spanning several applied-AI portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The COO – Regional Operations Artificial Intelligence remit carries direct influence over roughly 950 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a COO – Regional Operations who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the applied-AI portfolio. The COO – Regional Operations Artificial Intelligence seat must resolve a research-to-product transition, while preserving the underlying strengths of the applied-AI portfolio. For mandate 194, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The COO – Regional Operations’s first year on the applied-AI portfolio is expected to end with one operating system, service reliability and scalable capacity. In mandate 194, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created COO – Regional Operations — Applied-AI Portfolio seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the applied-ai portfolio remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the COO – Regional Operations value-creation thesis for the applied-AI portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately C$1,150 million in AI product and services revenue, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the COO – Regional Operations Artificial Intelligence organisation of about 950 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the applied-AI portfolio economics and execution constraints created by a research-to-product transition, with COO – Regional Operations-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one COO – Regional Operations operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the applied-AI portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have carried end-to-end delivery accountability across multiple sites, channels or markets with quantified service and cost outcomes in mandate 194.
• Build the COO – Regional Operations’s three-year succession and capability plan for the applied-AI portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Artificial Intelligence organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the applied-AI portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to regional delivery split across incompatible operating models, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal COO – Regional Operations portfolio and organisation choices for the applied-AI portfolio, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable applied-AI portfolio trend against one operating system, service reliability and scalable capacity, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the COO – Regional Operations’s agreed first-year applied-AI portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A COO – Regional Operations forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the applied-AI portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the COO – Regional Operations mandate’s highest-priority applied-AI portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical applied-AI portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the COO – Regional Operations’s direct reports.
• A quantified COO – Regional Operations-owned improvement in the applied-AI portfolio operating constraint behind a research-to-product transition, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 194: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Regional COO, Operations President or Delivery Executive in a multinational-owned Artificial Intelligence or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the applied-AI portfolio, your COO – Regional Operations track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics or applied research will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this COO – Regional Operations brief.

As a COO – Regional Operations candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of C$1,150 million and led an organisation of at least 950 people.

For mandate 194, the board wants two transitions: a difficult applied-AI portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a research-to-product transition. As the prospective COO – Regional Operations for this applied-AI portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 194 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The COO – Regional Operations must be based in Toronto; international relocation is supported, but this Artificial Intelligence role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Regional COO, Operations President or Delivery Executive, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Artificial Intelligence governance forum.
• Proven COO – Regional Operations ownership of at least C$1,150 million and leadership of no fewer than 950 employees in a comparable applied-AI portfolio context.
• One completed Artificial Intelligence or adjacent-sector example of regional delivery split across incompatible operating models with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from AI, enterprise software, data infrastructure, cloud, analytics or applied research; experience that is purely functional and lacks COO – Regional Operations-level applied-AI portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Toronto location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 194.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated COO – Regional Operations package is C$460,000–620,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final applied-AI portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 194 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The COO – Regional Operations appointment in Toronto, centred on the applied-AI portfolio, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 194.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 194. They will be shared with qualified candidates under a mutual undertaking, and the composite facts here must not be reverse-engineered or circulated for mandate 194.