We want to hire an AI prompt engineer and automation specialist to help us reduce manual admin work, but our leadership team cannot agree on whether this seat should report to our Technology director or our Operations director. Where does this seat belong on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Do not let departmental turf wars stall your AI implementation. To resolve this, look at the output of the seat. If the primary role of this AI specialist is to maintain software infrastructure and data security, the seat reports to the Technology director. However, if their primary role is to build workflows, automate customer service queues, and eliminate administrative bottlenecks for your frontline staff, they belong under the Operations director. In most middle-market companies preparing for an exit, AI is an operational efficiency play, not a pure technology play. Therefore, placing the seat under Operations is usually the right call. This ensures the AI tools are directly aligned with customer delivery and process optimization rather than becoming an isolated IT project. Clearly define the five roles for this seat, ensuring that automating operational bottlenecks is the primary role.