Ocho
AI Business Strategy Manager
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AI Innovation Manager – Contract
Location: London / Hybrid
Contract: 6 months
IR35: Outside IR35
Start Date: 26th October 2026
Rate: Up to £700 per day
Ocho is working with a major global payments organisation that is investing heavily in AI and automation across its Enterprise business. They are building a new two-person AI Innovation Lab designed to identify high-value business problems, rapidly prototype solutions and prove value before successful ideas are handed into Product, Engineering and Delivery teams for full productionisation. They are now looking for an experienced AI Innovation Manager to lead this capability.
The Role
This is a highly autonomous, business-facing AI innovation role sitting at the intersection of technology, consulting and commercial problem solving. You will work directly with Commercial, Operations and wider business teams to identify pain points, assess where technology can make the biggest impact and rapidly turn those opportunities into practical AI and automation initiatives. Rather than spending months producing requirements before anything is built, the aim is to move quickly: understand the problem, frame the opportunity, prototype a solution, test whether it delivers value and either progress it or stop it. You will work alongside a hands-on AI Innovation Specialist, forming a small, agile team reporting directly into the programme leadership.
Key Responsibilities
- Build and manage a pipeline of AI and automation opportunities across Commercial and Operations
- Work directly with business stakeholders to understand pain points, inefficiencies and growth opportunities
- Translate ambiguous business problems into practical technology solutions
- Decide when the right answer is generative AI, machine learning, automation, an API, an off-the-shelf platform or something simpler
- Commercially frame opportunities around revenue growth, cost reduction, risk, speed or customer experience
- Define success criteria and clear stop conditions before pilots begin
- Lead the rapid prototyping and proof-of-value process
- Work closely with the AI Innovation Specialist to turn ideas into working prototypes
- Test prototypes with real users and iterate quickly based on feedback
- Measure pilot performance against agreed baselines and expected benefits
- Present findings and recommendations clearly to senior stakeholders
- Identify gaps in the existing technology stack and recommend new tools, platforms or capabilities worth exploring
- Hand successful pilots into Product, Engineering and Delivery teams for full implementation
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What We’re Looking For
We are looking for someone who combines strong business-facing capability with credible technical understanding. You do not need to be the strongest software engineer in the room, but you should be technically fluent enough to understand modern AI and automation technologies, evaluate different approaches and contribute meaningfully to prototype design.
Strong candidates are likely to come from backgrounds such as:
- Technology consulting
- AI or digital consulting
- AI innovation
- Applied AI
- Product or technology strategy
- Forward-deployed engineering
- Startup or technology leadership
Essential Experience
- Strong understanding of how AI and automation can be applied to real business problems
- Experience delivering AI-enabled solutions, prototypes, pilots or automations
- Good understanding of generative AI, LLMs, machine learning and automation technologies
- Ability to assess when AI is appropriate — and when a simpler solution is better
- Strong commercial acumen and ability to build a clear benefits case
- Experience working directly with senior business stakeholders
- Ability to translate vague or complex problems into actionable solutions
- Strong structured problem-solving and communication skills
- Comfortable working autonomously in a fast-moving and ambiguous environment
- Able to balance value, speed, risk, complexity and implementation effort
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Nice to Have
- Consulting background within strategy, digital or technology
- Payments, fintech or broader financial services experience
- Experience with AWS, including Bedrock
- Salesforce / Agentforce experience
- Experience with AI agent frameworks
- Data platform or analytics experience
- Familiarity with machine learning models and predictive analytics
- Experience evaluating new AI or automation tooling
What Success Looks Like
Over the initial six-month contract, the focus will be on tangible output and measurable value. Success is likely to include:
- Building a strong pipeline of qualified AI and automation opportunities
- Rapidly testing multiple prototypes and proofs of value
- Progressing the strongest initiatives into full delivery
- Demonstrating measurable commercial or operational benefit
- Identifying technology gaps and recommending tools that could accelerate future AI adoption
This is a strong opportunity for someone who enjoys working at the very front end of innovation — identifying the right problems, applying the right technology and proving what works before the organisation commits to full-scale delivery.
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