Role overview

As AI Programs Lead, you will own one of the two business-facing verticals within the Data & AI organisation, shaping and delivering the group’s AI and GenAI portfolio from idea to adoption. Reporting to the Chief Data & AI Officer, you will partner closely with business leaders across Marketing, Sales, Revenue Management, Operations and corporate functions to identify the AI opportunities that create the greatest guest, revenue and efficiency impact.

Based in Madrid, with flexibility to travel to Greece, this role combines strategic portfolio ownership, hands-on programme leadership and executive governance. You will decide which initiatives to pursue, build the business case, lead delivery end to end with support from horizontal technical teams and external partners, and ensure every programme delivers measurable value.

Key responsibilities

- Own the AI programme portfolio: identify, size and prioritise AI and GenAI initiatives with the business, ensuring each programme has a clear business case, roadmap, time to value, cost and resource envelope before work starts.
- Lead delivery end to end: define scope, coordinate solution architecture with the horizontal teams, manage vendor selection where needed, guide build-versus-buy decisions, and oversee pilot, rollout and adoption.
- Manage and grow the team: lead the team, develop the capability as the portfolio grows, and ensure programme management and change discipline are embedded across delivery.
- Shape what is next: assess emerging topics such as AI agents for discovery and booking, answer-engine visibility, conversational booking and other disruptive opportunities, turning them into actionable proposals with architecture and business case.
- Apply the build-or-buy rule: buy where solutions are commodity, and build or adopt hybrid approaches where differentiation matters; run RFIs and RFPs with IT and Procurement and manage selected partners.
- Prepare executive governance materials: present priorities, progress, KPIs, risks and spend for the Data & AI Forum and, for commercial programmes, the Commercial Forum; keep ExCo sponsors informed between forums.
- Drive adoption and value realisation:



work with business owners to ensure delivered solutions are used, supported by training, change management and measurable post-go-live value tracking.
- Support AI adoption across the organisation with HR and other stakeholders, helping shape how AI changes ways of working and organisational design.
- Protect focus: keep the vertical on a realistic, controlled number of programmes with scalable impact and pause or stop initiatives that are not delivering value.

What success looks like in the first 12 months

- The agentic discovery and booking programme is live as a joint programme with Marketing, Sales and Revenue, with a visibility measure, a booking pilot rolled out and quarterly deliverables met.
- Every programme in the portfolio has a signed business case and a roadmap that ExCo recognises as realistic.
- ExCo priorities are anticipated proactively, ensuring portfolio stability and clear prioritisation.
- AI project managers and one senior AI engineer are hired or transferred and productive.
- The build-or-buy framework is applied to every new system with AI capabilities brought to the forum.
- At least one disruptive topic has been assessed and either launched or closed with a documented decision.

Required qualifications and experience

- Director-level profile with 15+ years’ experience in Data & AI, including at least 8 years leading cross-functional programmes with budget, vendors and teams.
- Proven ownership of outcomes, not only plans, with a track record of taking AI or GenAI products from business case to production and adoption in a corporate or consulting environment.
- Experience with executive governance, including steering committees, business cases, ROI tracking and reporting to ExCo or C-level stakeholders.
- Hands-on understanding of the current GenAI stack, including LLM APIs, agents and MCP-type integrations, RAG,



vector stores and cloud AI services on Azure, sufficient to challenge architectures and vendors.
- Experience in hospitality, travel or consumer-facing businesses is an advantage; experience with e-commerce and distribution technology such as booking engines, channel managers or CRS is a plus.
- Fluent English (C1) is required; Spanish native or C2.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in engineering, computer science, business or a related field.

Desired skills and competencies

- Business-first mindset: you start from the guest, revenue or cost impact, not from the technology.
- Strong decision-making: comfortable stopping initiatives and saying no to senior stakeholders when the business case does not justify further investment.
- Collaborative leadership: able to work through horizontal teams and business owners rather than around them.
- Clear communication: able to explain AI in plain language to ExCo and operational teams, both verbally and in writing.
- Strong programme and change leadership, with the ability to keep multiple stakeholders aligned and focused on outcomes.
- Strategic curiosity and judgement to identify what should be built, bought, scaled or stopped.

Benefits and perks

At Sani/Ikos Group, you will join a growing international organisation committed to meaningful experiences, warm service and responsible growth. We offer a supportive environment where people are encouraged to develop, contribute and thrive, alongside opportunities to shape high-impact transformation across the group.

Company culture and values

Sani/Ikos Group is a leader in award-winning beachfront resorts, where genuine hospitality and a deep sense of place come together. Our philosophy of Philoxenia — welcoming others with generosity and care — shapes every interaction and reflects our commitment to belonging, connection and thoughtful service.

We place people at the centre of our success, with a focus on continuous development, sustainable tourism and responsible business practices. As a proud member of the United Nations Integral Compact, we are committed to creating positive impact for our guests, our teams and the communities we serve.

📌 AI Programs Lead (Madrid)
🏢 Sani/Ikos Group
📍 Madrid