Applied AI at First Citizens is not about fitting every problem to the nearest large language model, nor about chasing the latest foundation model release. It is about understanding a meaningful business problem well enough to know what kind of solution it actually calls for — which might be a predictive model, a decision tree, a classical statistical method, a natural language processing approach, a generative AI solution, or no AI at all. That last option is not a failure; it is good judgment.

Not every problem needs AI. Not every AI problem needs GenAI. Holding that standard — and being willing to say so — is central to how this team earns credibility and delivers durable value. Success here is measured by fit-for-purpose solutions, disciplined evaluation, responsible implementation, and outcomes that the bank can actually sustain and stand behind.

The Applied AI / Data Science Lead will provide hands-on execution capacity across data science ...