Research Lead Analyst - Cloud and Infrastructure SME

Website: Leading Global Technology Research & Advisory Firm | ISG (isg-one.com)

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the worlds top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data, in-depth knowledge of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,600 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

Position Description:

The ISG Senior Lead Analyst is a market-facing thought leader responsible for owning and shaping ISG Provider Lens benchmarks and buyer-focused research in defined cloud and AI domains. The role combines deep domain expertise with analytical rigor to evaluate provider capabilities, interpret market shifts and translate complex technology and business dynamics into actionable insights for enterprise decision-makers.

The Lead Analyst owns service lines or technology topics such as cloud infrastructure, AI-ready platforms, datacenter modernization and outsourcing models, continuously deepening subject-matter expertise while ensuring methodological consistency and comparability across benchmarks. The role requires developing defensible market perspectives, leading vendor evaluations, and articulating forward-looking views on provider differentiation, innovation trajectories and competitive positioning.

In addition to core benchmarking responsibilities, the analyst supports strategic inquiries, contributes to custom research initiatives and ensures structured tracking of market developments and stakeholder interactions. The role requires the ability to leverage AI-enabled research workflows while maintaining analytical independence, quality control and structural adherence to ISGs benchmarking standards.

Responsibilities:

• Own and lead ISG Provider Lens and related buyer-focused research end-to-end, including scoping, questionnaire design, provider evaluation, data validation, quadrant positioning and final report development.
• Define and refine benchmarking frameworks to ensure methodological rigor, apples-to-apples comparability and structural consistency across service providers and technology domains.
• Continuously deepen subject-matter expertise in assigned cloud and AI domains, monitoring market shifts, innovation patterns, regulatory developments and business model evolution.
• Design and evolve structured research instruments, including RFIs and evaluation criteria, ensuring relevance to enterprise demand, sourcing priorities and emerging technology dynamics.
• Assess provider capabilities and competitive positioning, translating quantitative and qualitative findings into defensible, forward-looking market perspectives.
• Synthesize enterprise needs, sourcing behavior and provider strategies to ensure benchmarks reflect real-world demand-side requirements rather than marketing narratives.
• Leverage AI-enabled research workflows responsibly to enhance efficiency, consistency and analytical depth, while maintaining full intellectual ownership and quality assurance.
• Develop and maintain senior-level relationships with service providers, technology vendors and ISG advisors to validate findings and strengthen market insight.
• Translate complex data into executive-ready narratives, including charts, positioning rationales and strategic implications for C-level audiences.
• Contribute to strategic inquiries and custom research engagements, providing market intelligence, competitive analysis and location insights.
• Mentor junior analysts and data specialists, ensuring methodological adherence, analytical rigor and professional development across the team.
• Manage multiple concurrent research tracks independently, delivering high-quality outputs within defined timelines and maintaining proactive stakeholder communication.

Skills Required:

• 58+ years of experience in technology, outsourcing, cloud or AI research, ideally within ITO/BPO, hyperscaler ecosystems or enterprise technology advisory environments.
• Deep understanding of cloud and AI technologies, including hyperscaler platforms, AI-native architectures (e.g., foundation models, RAG, agents), AI infrastructure stacks and data platform integration.
• Strong grasp of cloud and AI commercial models, including consumption-based pricing, infrastructure economics, sourcing strategies and total cost implications.
• Ability to assess provider maturity and competitive positioning, distinguishing marketing narratives from substantiated capabilities and identifying forward-looking differentiation.
• Proven capability to synthesize quantitative and qualitative data into defensible, evidence-based insights suitable for C-level audiences.
• Experience designing and interpreting structured research instruments, including RFIs, evaluation criteria and benchmarking frameworks.
• Strong understanding of enterprise demand-side dynamics, including sourcing priorities, digital transformation drivers and regulatory considerations (e.g., AI governance, data sovereignty).
• Ability to leverage AI-enabled research workflows responsibly, including structured prompting, content synthesis and quality validation, while maintaining analytical rigor and independence.
• Exceptional writing, communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex technical findings into concise executive narratives.
• Advanced data modeling and visualization capabilities (Excel or equivalent), and strong proficiency in executive-ready presentation development.
• Demonstrated stakeholder management skills, with confidence interacting with senior executives, providers and internal advisory teams.
• Strong organizational and time management capabilities, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent research tracks independently under deadline pressure.
• Collaborative leadership mindset, including mentoring junior analysts and ensuring methodological consistency across research outputs.
• Demonstrated market visibility or thought leadership in cloud and/or AI domains (articles, speaking engagements, or industry contributions preferred).

Education level and experience:

• Graduation/ Engineering from good institutes preferably with MBA.
• Overall good academic track-record

This will be an ICrole. The candidate will need to be an SME in Cloud / AI Infrastructure.

At ISG, we dont just accept difference we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our clients, and our communities. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. ISG is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. The more diverse and inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

The duties and responsibilities described in this job description may not be a comprehensive list. Additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time and/or the scope of the job may change as necessitated by business demands.