Freelance AI Transformation Program Manager

Our customer is scaling its AI ambitions — and we're looking for the person to bring order, direction, and momentum to that journey.

As AI Transformation Program Manager, you will take ownership of the company's AI transformation program: building a clear overview of every AI initiative across the organization, establishing a governance framework that actually works, and giving direction to the many AI tracks currently running in parallel.

This is not a back-office coordination role. It's a highly visible, people-facing position at the heart of our customer’s most strategic transformations — one that will shape how the entire organization builds, governs, and scales AI for years to come.

Why This Role Exists

Right now, AI adoption across the company is fragmented. Some teams are moving fast and building sophisticated solutions; others are barely getting started. Without a central overview, this leads to duplicated effort, siloed knowledge, and missed opportunities to scale what already works. You will bring structure to that landscape — not by controlling it top-down, but by creating transparency, alignment, and a shared sense of direction across departments.

You'll be working closely with a strong, technically mature Data & Analytics department of around 180 people, with an established foundation in:

• Near real-time data platforms

• Custom-built and AI-driven architectures

• MLOps, Apache Spark, and Pandas

• Open-source data and AI engineering practices

Budget and organizational appetite for strategic AI initiatives are firmly in place — what's needed now is the person who can bring it all together.

Preferred start date: Asap

Duration: 6 months

Rate: 850€/day

Your role

Building the foundation

• Create a complete inventory of all AI initiatives across the company

• Develop a maturity "health map" showing how far along each department is in its AI journey

• Establish a structured program with clear ownership and accountability

• Build visibility into ongoing AI tracks and the capabilities available to support them

Setting up governance

• Design and implement a clear, lightweight AI governance framework

• Bring structure to currently fragmented, informal decision-making (which today happens across chats, calls, and hallway conversations)

• Prioritize competing initiatives, with particular attention to the security track

• Align procurement and department stakeholders around a shared roadmap

Driving the transformation

• Act as the connective tissue between departments, translating a wide range of AI initiatives into one coherent story

• Support the long-term vision of enabling employees across the company to build and use AI agents themselves

• Contribute to focus areas including AI governance, AI agents, the developer lifecycle, security, capability building, and organization-wide change management

• Help accelerate software delivery and improve employee productivity through AI adoption

Required Experience

Technical skills alone isn't enough for this role. The right person combines program management discipline with genuine organizational change capability.

Must-haves:

• Strong communication skills — able to engage confidently with stakeholders at every level

• A structured, administratively accurate way of working

• Political awareness and the ability to navigate a complex organization

• A change-management mindset and genuine comfort operating in an evolving environment

• The ability to build trust quickly and maintain it over time

• A positive, resilient personality

• Comfort working directly with leadership that communicates in a direct, no-nonsense style

• An affinity for simplicity — KISS: keep it short and simple

Nice-to-haves:

• A technical IT background (strong advantage, not a hard requirement)

• Prior experience with AI transformation programs

Soft skills:

Other requirements:

• Fluent in English; knowledge of Dutch preferable above French

• Willingness to work 2 days per week onsite in Vlaams-Brabant (hybrid model).

Why join adesso Belgium?

• Work in an international group with strong local expertise in Belgium.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver trusted, compliant, reusable data products.

• Flexible freelance setup with the support of a growing adesso Belgium community.