Sales Executive, Applied AI

Business Area:

Seniority Level:

Job Description: 

At Cloudera, we empower people to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights. With as much data under management as the hyperscalers, we're the preferred data partner for the top companies in almost every industry.  Powered by the relentless innovation of the open source community, Cloudera advances digital transformation for the world’s largest enterprises.

Cloudera empowers the world’s largest enterprises to turn complex data into clear, actionable insight. With as much data under management as the hyperscalers, Cloudera is the preferred data partner across industries, running on-premises, in public cloud, and in hybrid architectures. Powered by open-source innovation, the platform is the foundation for digital transformation at global scale.

This role sits on the team that resells a Cloudera-supported OEM version of Mistral along with Cloudera Anywhere Cloud. You will sell enterprise AI on top of the data estates Cloudera already runs — models, deployment, and support delivered as a supported offering inside the customer’s existing Cloudera footprint, and net new customers who need Sovereign AI Models for their data.

Role summary

As an Applied AI Sales Executive, you own end-to-end enterprise deals for the Cloudera-supported OEM of Mistral: from the first conversation through proof of concept, negotiation, close, and expansion. You are the commercial owner for external stakeholders and the internal quarterback across customer engineering, product, legal, implementation, and executive sponsors, working in harmony with Cloudera's existing account executives who oversee the overall client relationship. Success means growing new and expansion subscription revenue while making AI a durable part of the customer’s data strategy.

What you will do:

Account coordination and revenue

• In alignment with the primary account executives from Cloudera and Mistral's partner sales team, develop and manage pipeline, forecast accurately, and exceed quarterly and annual goals for new and expansion software subscriptions, renewals, and related services for Cloudera's offering of Mistral and Cloudera's Anywhere Cloud.

• Introduce and grow designated enterprise accounts and strategic prospects, aligning plans with company objectives and customer priorities in data, analytics, and AI.
• Lead large, multi-threaded transactions and keep commercial control of the deal while coordinating specialists.

Development and qualification

•  Run strategic outbound and convert qualified inbound where a standard motion can become a broader, multi-year agreement.

•  Use warm introductions, installed-base relationships, and partner paths to reach heads of data, AI, innovation, and the C-suite.

•  Develop account and opportunity plans that map the Mistral offering to the customer’s technology footprint, growth plans, and competitive landscape.

Value validation and technical selling

•  Lead customers through proof of concept with the implementation and technical teams, so evaluation is structured, time-boxed, and tied to a commercial outcome.

•  Turn successful POCs into long-term contracts by linking model performance, deployment model (on-prem, cloud, hybrid), governance, and support to the customer’s operating reality on Cloudera.

• Articulate how the OEM Mistral offering fits the Cloudera platform—data under management, security, hybrid operations—and work side by side with specialists so technical questions are answered without losing account ownership.

Deal management and executive engagement

•  Align customer engineering, product, commercial, and legal stakeholders on both sides, including at executive level.

• Negotiate agreements end-to-end with legal and implementation support.

•  Build consensus across executive sponsors, influencers, and decision-makers. Position the offering inside strategic AI and data initiatives, not as a one-off tool purchase.

Market and internal enablement

•  Bring back field intelligence on use cases, objections, competitive moves, and deployment constraints to shape roadmap priorities and sales plays.

•  Introduce domain and technical specialists while retaining overall account responsibility and customer-success ownership.

Who you are

•  8+ years of enterprise software sales, with a record of exceeding quota on complex, consultative deals.

• Comfortable with senior C-level engagement, discussions and negotiations.

•  Experience selling highly technical products, ideally in data management, data platforms, analytics, or AI infrastructure.

•  Familiarity with public cloud, hybrid architectures, and modern infrastructure (containers, Kubernetes, or equivalent) enough to steer a technical conversation and know when to bring in specialists.

•  Meaningful exposure to the AI ecosystem or adjacent data and infrastructure markets. Startup pace plus large-enterprise process is a strong fit.

•  Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience; a degree in business, computer science, or a related field is welcome.

•  Outstanding negotiation, written communication, and executive presence. English required; additional languages (for example French, German, or Spanish) are an advantage in multinational accounts.

•  Comfort operating as the commercial owner within a matrix: portfolio account executives, partner sales teams, implementation specialists, solution engineers, product, and legal are partners, not a handoff.

Why this role

You sell AI where the data already lives. The motion combines Cloudera’s enterprise account discipline — installed base, hybrid deployment, multi-year subscription — with a full-cycle AI sales motion: outreach, POC, executive data.

What you can expect from us:

• Generous PTO Policy 

• Support work life balance with Unplugged Days

• Flexible WFH Policy 

• Mental & Physical Wellness programs 

• Phone and Internet Reimbursement program 

• Access to Continued Career Development 

• Comprehensive Benefits and Competitive Packages 

• Paid Volunteer Time

• Employee Resource Groups

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