Founding Account Executive

Spice AI•Bellevue, WA

2d•$138,000 - $320,000

About The Position

Building data-driven AI applications and agents is too complex, even for advanced developers. This new generation of applications need fast, secure access to data across disparate systems, the ability to search and reason over that data, and infrastructure that’s reliable enough to run in production. Today, teams often need to piece together query engines, search systems, caches, and AI tooling, adding significant complexity along the way. At Spice AI, we simplify this by unifying query federation, search, and AI into a single runtime for building intelligent applications. Our mission is to make building AI-powered software as easy building a modern web application and help developers build the next generation of applications. We offer both open source and fully managed cloud deployments. For a deeper dive into the vision, watch Founder and CEO Luke Kim's CMU Databases talk on Spice.ai OSS at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyM-ec1lKfU and read his Materialized View interview at https://materializedview.io/p/building-a-cdn-for-databases-spice-ai . At Spice AI, we hire for MEI: Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence . We're looking for exceptional, ambitious builders who are driven to solve hard problems and push the boundaries of what's possible for AI. As the Founding Account Executive , you will be instrumental in turning a differentiated product with early enterprise customers into repeatable revenue. You will not only close deals but architect the GTM engine alongside the leadership team.

Requirements

Adaptable and entrepreneurial. You are comfortable and excited about building a sales engine in a resource-constrained, early-stage environment. You thrive in ambiguity and take ownership.
Hunter mentality. You are willing and able to proactively source new leads, build pipeline from scratch, and close new logos. Experience with outbound and early GTM motion-building is essential.
Relational and consultative. You build trust with technical and executive stakeholders alike.
Technically fluent. You are able to understand and explain APIs, data infrastructure, and AI concepts. Comfortable discussing architecture with engineers without relying heavily on sales engineers.
Early-stage SaaS experience. Proven track record selling complex products at seed, Series A, or Series B startups, including shaping or refining GTM motions.
Strong operator and communicator. You manage pipeline, forecasting, and deal execution with discipline and proactively share feedback with product and leadership.
Proven domain success. Demonstrated success selling data infrastructure, analytics, databases, or developer tooling (e.g., experience adjacent to companies like Dremio, Snowflake, Databricks, or Starburst).
Enterprise sales acumen. You understand how to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales cycles from first contact to close.
Relevant background. Prior experience as a founding AE, early sales hire, former founder, or seller in data analytics, databases, or developer-first platforms.

Responsibilities

Own the full sales cycle : We won't sugarcoat it - this is a role requiring breadth and depth. Run the outbound motion, discovery calls, deliver technical demos, navigate security reviews, and close contracts.
Generate pipeline : Build and qualify pipeline through outbound prospecting, inbound lead follow‑up, events, and whatever other channel you discover works.
Collaborate cross‑functionally : Work closely with engineering and product to ensure successful proof‑of-concepts and capture product feedback; refine the sales playbook, track pipeline and build forecasts.
Refine go‑to‑market strategy : Build and continually improve outreach templates, sales processes and territory plans. Improve sales playbooks and methodology, identifying ways to increase efficiency
Navigate complex technical sales : Understand and explain data infrastructure and AI/ML concepts and be comfortable discussing architecture with engineers. Speak the language of technical stakeholders and engage without relying heavily on sales engineers.