Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture and AI

An overview of this role

As the Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture and AI, you will define and govern how GitLab's internal systems connect, integrate, and evolve to support our rapidly scaling business. Reporting to the CIO and serving as a key member of the CIO leadership team, you will lead our Integration, RPA, and AI Engineering teams, setting the architectural standards, governance frameworks, and strategic vision that keep our technology landscape coherent, scalable, and aligned with business objectives. This role is both deeply strategic and hands-on: you will shape the long-term architecture while staying close enough to the work to guide critical technical decisions across teams.

As the architectural leader for GitLab's internal technology ecosystem, you will establish and lead our Architecture Review Board, partnering early and often with system owners so architecture becomes an enabler rather than a gate. You will rationalize our automation and integration landscape, clarify when to use AI, RPA, or traditional integration, reduce shadow IT and software sprawl, and drive clear patterns for data flows and system-of-record designations. In close partnership with the Director of AI Engineering and the CIO, you will be accountable for internal AI strategy and delivery, ensuring AI initiatives are secure, compliant, and integrated with core enterprise platforms while delivering measurable impact across sales, customer success, support, and operations. You will also set direction for how we use modern AI technologies like vector databases, large language models, fine-tuning, and prompt engineering to transform internal workflows while maintaining SOX compliance and strong security controls.

What you'll do

• Define and drive GitLab's enterprise architecture strategy, setting clear principles and patterns for how internal systems connect, integrate, and scale across platforms like Salesforce, NetSuite, Zuora, Workato, and other core business applications.
• Establish and lead GitLab's Architecture Review Board, engaging early with system owners and project teams to shape technical approaches, guide integration patterns, and ensure architectural decisions align with enterprise standards and business objectives.
• Design and govern integration architectures and data flow patterns, including API-first approaches, point-to-point integrations, and data warehouse and reverse ETL models, in close partnership with Data Governance and other cross-functional stakeholders.
• Co-own internal AI program strategy and delivery with the Director of AI Engineering and CIO, ensuring AI initiatives are architected for scalability, compliance, and measurable business impact across sales, customer success, support, and operations.
• Create and execute a cohesive automation strategy th