Pre-Sales (Data, Analytics & AI)

About the Role

The Pre-Sales (Data, Analytics & AI) role involves leading and scaling proposal, pursuit, and partner engagement functions for Data, Analytics, and AI across strategic and complex client opportunities. This position is a valued member of the AI & Analytics (AIA) practice team, requiring collaboration with sales, solution, delivery, and practice leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Own opportunity qualification, account intelligence, and client research.
• Lead the end-to-end development of proposals, presentations, response documents, and sales collateral for strategic and complex pursuits.
• Drive pursuit governance, reviews, and submission timelines, ensuring compliance with bid processes.
• Track progress, risks, dependencies, and action items with proactive escalation to leadership.
• Partner with sales, solution, delivery, and practice leadership to shape and defend compelling AI and Data narratives for client and leadership audiences.
• Build and curate reusable assets, case studies, and proposal repositories across the practice.
• Mentor junior pre-sales talent and bring structure and rigor to the pursuit lifecycle.
• Maintain cadence with partner alliance points of contact (e.g., AWS, Azure, Databricks) to align proposals with joint solutions and co-sell motions.
• Support partner-aligned RFPs, correctly tagged for partner funding and co-sell credit.

Work Model

This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in India.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Experience in Pre-Sales, Business Development, Bid Management, or Proposal Management, with a proven track record leading large and complex RFP responses.
• Experience managing stakeholders up to senior leadership and client CXO levels.
• Experience owning solutioning narratives for Data, Analytics, AI, and Generative AI opportunities.
• Strong analytical, storytelling, and executive communication skills, with comfort presenting to leadership.
• Exposure to partner ecosystems (e.g., AWS, Azure, Databricks, Snowflake, GCP) and funding or co-sell motions.
• Ability to manage and develop a small team of pre-sales professionals.
• Proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel, and collaboration tools.
• Exposure to CRM or pursuit-tracking platforms.
• Ability to thrive and lead in a fast-paced, global environment.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience designing or deploying GenAI and Agentic AI solutions to improve pursuit management, proposal development, research, knowledge management, and sales productivity.