AI Operations · Role
AI Solutions Architect
The AI Solutions Architect designs the architecture of AI solutions: how models, data, agents and integrations fit with existing systems. They translate the business problem into a design that holds up in production.
What they do
- Design the solution architecture (models, data, integrations).
- Choose build vs buy and the technical stack.
- Make sure the design scales, is secure and maintainable.
Skills it needs
Salary by country and seniority
| Country | Seniority | P25 | Median | P75 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Junior | €80.000 | €80.000 | €80.000 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| Germany | Senior | €110.000 | €110.000 | €110.000 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| Germany | All | €95.748 | €108.297 | €120.845 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| Spain | Mid | €63.954 | €63.954 | €63.954 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| Spain | Senior | €101.180 | €101.180 | €101.180 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| Spain | All | €43.900 | €43.900 | €43.900 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| France | All | €55.000 | €55.000 | €55.000 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| United Kingdom | Senior | €83.810 | €83.810 | €83.810 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| Portugal | All | €23.444 | €23.444 | €23.444 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| United States | Mid | €189.200 | €189.200 | €189.200 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| United States | Senior | €148.726 | €161.491 | €174.257 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
| United States | All | €160.600 | €190.080 | €213.039 | Stima da fonti pubbliche |
Figures in euros, gross annual — each with its source.
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How it changes by seniority
- Mid — Designs a solution’s architecture (models, data, integrations) with guidance.
- Senior — Decides build vs buy and the stack; ensures it scales, is secure and maintainable.
- Lead — Sets architecture standards and the platform across the whole portfolio.
When to hire
When the project is big enough to need design before building.
When not to
If it's a small, bounded automation: it doesn't need an architect.
Interview questions
1. A customer wants "AI in their support service". How do you get from that sentence to an architecture?
What to look for: Grounds the problem in concrete processes, data constraints and build-vs-buy before drawing anything.
2. When do you recommend building custom and when buying a tool?
What to look for: Decides by whether the process is a competitive edge and by control of cost/data/reliability.
3. How do you design so the solution holds when the provider changes or retires a model?
What to look for: Thinks model abstraction, regression evals and a maintenance plan from the design.
4. Which architecture decisions do you often see turn expensive at six months?
What to look for: Anticipates debt: provider coupling, missing observability, broad permissions.
Scorecard
- Problem to design — Translates a fuzzy need into processes, data and concrete architecture.
- Build-vs-buy — Decides build or buy by competitive edge and control of cost/data.
- Design for change — Abstracts the model and plans maintenance; the solution survives provider changes.
- Total-cost view — Counts integration, supervision and maintenance, not just the model.
Red flags
- — Jumps to technology before understanding the process and the data.
- — Couples everything to one provider with no plan for when it changes.
- — Designs with no observability or evals: no way to operate what they propose.
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