Director, AI Transformation (Office of the CEO)
Boston, MA - USA
Job Summary
Toast is driven by building a platform that helps restaurants adapt take control and get back to what they do best: building the businesses they love. The Office of the CEO is hiring a Director AI Transformation to lead - hands-on - how AI changes the way Toast works starting with everyday fluency across thousands of Toasters and leading to real and measurable business impact. Its one of the companys top priorities from the CEO and this person owns it end to end: a thought partner to the CEO and senior team a dotted-line leader over the existing set of department-level AI leaders (all Director- and Senior Director-level) and a builder at ground level with each of our functional teams.
The role calls for an unusual mix of skills and were holding a high bar for it. The strongest candidate regardless of background is equal parts:
- AI-native builder and conceptual thinker - fluent enough with agentic tools to build real workflows themselves structured enough to break a messy cross-functional business process into parts that can be automated or streamlined with AI and sharp enough to do this outside their domain of expertise with little prep.
- Builder and coach - someone who can 10x their own output and just as important lift the people around them by building with them rather than for them.
- Operator who manages up down and around - as comfortable advising and challenging at the SVP / C-suite level as they are in the weeds driving enablement and adoption with the front lines.
In practice the balance shifts day to day: building enablement and shipping tooling one day coaching a VPs team to its first working automation the next advising the CEO and Chief of Staff on where to place the next internal AI bet after that. Were looking for someone who can move across all three without missing a step.
- Own Toasts company-wide AI transformation strategy - the roadmap from fluency to business impact and the North Star metric that measures it (adoption in 2026) advising the CEO and Chief of Staff on where to push.
- Coach and scale the org - work as a player-coach who builds capability by doing the work alongside teams lifting every function versus just their own.
- Be the eminent hands-on builder - personally design enablement and build agentic workflows and tools that get Toasters to real value fast setting the bar for what great looks like across the company.
- Think like a technologist - not only building one-off tooling but helping our R&D teams scope build and stress-tests the platforms that scale our impact as an org (i.e. internal app hosting)
- Manage up down and around - partner with influence and hold accountable leaders across the SVP- and C-level embedding AI into how their teams operate.
- Run the operating rhythm and cultural infrastructure - whether through enablement cohorts leadership offsites internal wins channels shared use-case and prompt libraries and the feedback loops that turn early energy into standard practice.
- Own the economics - track platform spend and usage against budget and model the cost of scaling adoption thats both deep and cost-effective.
- Build the function - define what Toasts AI team should become and grow from doing the work yourself into leading the team that does it.
- The combination at the heart of the role: deep hands-on AI fluency - you build agentic workflows yourself - paired with strong conceptual and analytical problem-solving and an unmatched hunger to move the needle incrementally every single day. This is the part we wont compromise on.
- A track record of driving change across a large complex organization and of influencing senior leaders (VP / SVP / C-suite) without formal authority.
- The ability to take an ambiguous messy business process reduce it to structured actionable parts - then act on it.
- A player-coach instinct - you make the people around you measurably better not just yourself.
- 10 years across consulting strategy and operations product or another builder role or fast-growth tech. Were hiring for capability and ceiling not pedigree.
- Exceptional written communication - you can make complex technical topics clear to a non-technical executive audience.
- Proactive and resourceful with a high bar on pace; comfortable with ambiguity quick to take a first pass and create momentum and able to define the role as you go.
- Flexible Vacation
- Sabbatical opportunity after five years
- Professional Development Reimbursement Program
- Commitment to Employee Wellness through resources such as a quarterly Wellness Stipend
- Various peer and company recognition programs
- 401(k) and matching
- Medical Dental & Vision Coverage
- Mental Health Benefits
- Subsidized backup childcare
The base salary range for this role is listed below. The starting salary will be determined based on skills experience and geographic addition to base salary our total rewards components include cash compensation (overtime bonus/commissions if eligible) equity and benefits. You can learn more about how we align pay with local labor markets in our Geographic Pay Zone Philosophy.
Pay Range
$160000 - $256000 USD
How Toast Uses AI in its Hiring Process
Throughout the hiring process our goal is to get to know you. We use AI tools to support our recruiters and interviewers with tasks like note-taking summarization and documentation of interviews to ensure they can be fully focused on your conversation. All hiring decisions are made by people. To learn more: Approach to Hybrid Working
We embrace a hybrid work model that fosters in-person collaboration while valuing individual needs. Our goal is to build a strong culture of connection as we work together to empower the hospitality community regardless of location. Please visit the Locations page on our career site to learn more about our in-office expectations by region: Equity and Inclusion is Baked into our Recipe for Success
At Toast our employees are our secret ingredientwhen they thrive we restaurant industry is one of the most diverse and we embrace that diversity with authenticity inclusivity respect and humility. By embedding these principles into our culture and design we create equitable opportunities for all and raise the bar in delivering exceptional experiences.
We Thrive Together
We embrace a hybrid work model that fosters in-person collaboration while valuing individual needs. Our goal is to build a strong culture of connection as we work together to empower the restaurant community. To learn more about how we work globally and regionally check out: today!
Toast is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive hiring process. As part of this commitment we strive to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities to enable them to access the hiring process. If you need an accommodation to access the job application or interview process please contact .
------
For roles in the United States it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Required Experience:
Senior IC
About Company
Toast is a restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.