Sr. Solutions Architect, AI Solutions

Role details

Who is Trace3 ? Trace3 is a leading Transformative IT Authority, providing unique technology solutions and consulting services to our clients. Equipped with elite engineering and dynamic innovation, we empower IT executives and their organizations to achieve competitive advantage through a process of Integrate, Automate, Innovate. Our culture at Trace3 embodies the spirit of a startup with the advantage of a scalable business. Employees can grow their career and have fun while doing it! Trace3 is headquartered in Irvine, California. We employ more than 1,200 people all over the United States. Our major field office locations include Denver, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Lexington, Los Angeles, Louisville, Texas, San Francisco. Ready to discover the possibilities that live in technology? Come Join Us! Street-Smart - Thriving in Dynamic Times We are flexible and resilient in a fast-changing environment. We continuously innovate and drive constructive change while keeping a focus on the “big picture.” We exercise sound business judgment in making high-quality decisions in a timely and cost-effective manner. We are highly creative and can dig deep within ourselves to find positive solutions to different problems. Juice - The “Stuff” it takes to be a Needle Mover We get things done and drive results. We lead without a title, empowering others through a can-do attitude. We look forward to the goal, mentally mapping out every checkpoint on the pathway to success, and visualizing what the final destination looks and feels like. Teamwork - Humble, Hungry and Smart We are humble individuals who understand how our job impacts the company's mission. We treat others with respect, admit mistakes, give credit where it’s due and demonstrate transparency. We “bring the weather” by exhibiting positive leadership and solution-focused thinking. We hug people in their trials, struggles, and failures – not just their success. We appreciate the individuality of the people around us. JOB SUMMARY: The Sr. Solutions Architect, AI Solutions is a hands-on technical presales role in Trace3’s Data & Analytics AI Solutions practice. Reporting to the Practice Director, AI Solutions, the Sr. Solutions Architect designs and defends the AI solutions Trace3 puts in front of clients before a statement of work exists. The role is presales only and does not carry delivery execution. The work centers on AI from a data and analytics perspective: connecting a client’s data estate to real business decisions, and moving agentic workflows from pilot into production. The Sr. Solutions Architect runs discovery, designs the architecture, proves it with working prototypes when a pursuit calls for one, and writes the technical content that becomes the scope. Each design draws on Data Platforms for the estate, AI Platforms for compute and runtime, and Security for the guardrails, and has to hold up in front of engineers and executives alike. The role is measured on the quality of the architectures it produces and on their commercial result: pursuits won, scope that delivery can execute without rework, and advisory work that grows into full-stack programs. SUMMARY OF ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Technical Presales and Solution Architecture Own the technical solution on assigned AI pursuits, from discovery and qualification through solution design and defense of the approach at close. Run discovery sessions, whiteboards, and technical workshops with client engineers, architects, and business stakeholders to define the problem before proposing a solution. Produce reference architectures, solution diagrams, stated assumptions, identified risks, and level of effort inputs for proposals, RFP responses, and statements of work. Present and defend proposed architectures to technical and executive audiences, including CIO, CDO, and CISO stakeholders. Partner with account executives to qualify opportunities honestly, including advising a client when AI is the wrong answer to the problem described. Hand off to Services with documented design so delivery starts from a known architecture, and support technical escalation during early delivery. Data for AI Assess client data estates for AI readiness: quality, lineage, access patterns, latency, semantics, and governance posture. Design the data layer AI depends on, including retrieval and context pipelines, vector and semantic search, feature engineering, evaluation and ground truth data sets, and supporting metadata. Align AI architectures to the client’s existing data platform investments across Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Fabric, and cloud-native stacks. State plainly where a client’s data estate cannot support the stated AI goal, and define the data work required to close the gap. Work with Data Strategy and Data Platforms architects so AI discovery informs data modernization scope. Agentic AI Solutions Design agentic workflows end to end: orchestration, tool and system integration, memory and state, human-in-the-loop controls, and evaluation. Apply the practice’s reference patterns for agent design, model selection, context engineering, and protocol-level integration including MCP, and recommend improvements based on field results. Build proofs of concept and pilots that demonstrate real integration with client data and systems, scoped to show a credible path to production. Test proposed agentic solutions against the practice’s production readiness standard for security, monitoring, cost, and failure handling. Advise clients on the operating model changes agentic AI requires, including ownership, change management, and cost control. Cross-Practice Collaboration Engage AI Platforms architects on inference architecture, sizing, and on-premises versus cloud placement for assigned pursuits. Engage Security and Risk on AI-specific exposure, including data leakage, prompt injection, agent identity and access, and alignment to NIST AI RMF. Coordinate with Cloud, Applications, and Customer Experiences teams