Open to opportunities

KJ JOHNSON

@kjjohnson1

AI program and portfolio governance leader delivering regulated enterprise AI from roadmap to executive-ready deployment.

United States

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead enterprise AI programs where I can own portfolio governance, roadmap-to-delivery execution, and regulated compliance—partnering with IT, data, engineering, and executives to deliver measurable business impact.

I’m a Senior Program Manager and enterprise AI delivery executive with 10+ years leading complex, cross-functional programs and 2+ years driving enterprise AI initiatives end to end—from portfolio intake and prioritization through governance, delivery oversight, and executive reporting.

I build and manage AI portfolio roadmaps that turn ambiguous AI opportunities into prioritized workstreams, rollout phases, and integrated delivery timelines across IT, business, data, and engineering. I’m especially strong in program governance, risk mitigation, and compliance in regulated environments (HIPAA, GDPR, NIST), including oversight of third-party AI vendors and platforms.

In healthcare and enterprise settings, I’ve scaled agentic AI and LLM-driven programs—owning end-to-end delivery for denials prevention, prior authorization, and patient access, reducing cycle time by ~40% and recovering $25K+ per month in target revenue streams. I also led portfolio governance and executive reporting for cloud, SaaS, and AI transformation programs exceeding $50M, maintaining 99% on-time execution.

My work is grounded in structured PMO rigor and change enablement: I coordinated cross-functional teams of up to 230 resources while maintaining quality, security, and risk discipline through escalation routines and decision governance. I hold PRIME ARC™ CAIPMP™ credentials and have designed and taught an AI Product Management certification series for a nonprofit supporting women reentering the workforce; I’m also serving as a Senior Domain Expert (in partnership with OpenAI) to evaluate frontier AI model behavior for enterprise governance and agentic workflow scenarios.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Senior Domain Expert

Current

Mercor

May 2026 - Present (2 months)

Evaluates and refines frontier AI model behavior for enterprise governance and agentic workflow scenarios. Assesses model outputs for compliance, security, and operational standards before production for high-stakes use cases like denials management and prior authorization.

AI model evaluation AI Model Training Compliance Security Risk Mitigation AI Agentic Workflow Denials Management Prior Authorizations Workflow Automation

Current

Lead, AI/ML Engineering & Deployment

Current

Elevance Health

Jul 2024 - Present (2 years)

Leads and manages a portfolio of AI programs across denials prevention, prior authorization, patient access, recall automation, and AR workflows, including prioritization, delivery oversight, and executive reporting. Provides end-to-end visibility across internal and third-party initiatives and establishes HIPAA/GDPR/NIST-aligned governance guardrails including access controls, audit trails, human

AI Program Management Executive Reporting HIPAA GDPR NIST Access Control Audit Trail Review Human Review Gates Security Compliance Data Governance

Director, Implementation Services

Ceridian (Dayforce)

Jan 2020 - Jul 2024 (4 years 6 months)

Directed complex, cross-functional enterprise programs spanning cloud modernization, HCM transformation, and data platform delivery for regulated clients. Served as a liaison across delivery, executive sponsors, EPMO, legal/risk, and technology partners, and led risk pathways and decision logs to improve prioritization and program governance.

Program Management Implementation Services Cloud Modernization Data Platform Delivery Risk Management Governance Prioritization

Project Director, Merger Performance

Truist Bank (SunTrust)

Mar 2019 - Dec 2019 (9 months)

Led merger performance programs during the SunTrust–BB&T combination, coordinating business, operations, and technology stakeholders and identifying/mitigating program risk through transition activity. Managed a 100+ resource operating structure using planning, dependency tracking, and executive reporting to keep execution aligned.

Program Management Risk Mitigation Stakeholder Management Dependency Track Executive Reporting ACH

Program Director, Agile Transformation

Delta Air Lines

Jul 2018 - Mar 2019 (8 months)

Introduced agile delivery routines and cross-functional feedback loops across pilot teams to improve transparency and program governance. Supported rollout of the SVOC platform ahead of schedule through stakeholder alignment and adoption-readiness execution.

Agile Delivery Program Governance Change Enablement SVOC Rollout

Repatriation and Sourcing PMO Leader

Newell Brands

Jul 2015 - Jul 2018 (3 years)

Designed and deployed a global program governance model supporting reshoring and sourcing initiatives to improve portfolio visibility and cross-functional decision quality. Led PMO efforts to enable structured governance across reshoring/sourcing workstreams.

PMO Program Governance Portfolio Visibility Reshoring Sourcing Cross functional Decision Support