AI Account Executive (EMEA)

Aiven; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Aiven is seeking an AI Account Executive to win new customers for AI products across EMEA, starting with AI-native startups and regulated industries. The role is quota-carrying, involves closing deals and building a scalable AI sales playbook, with support from a dedicated Solutions Architect and Forward Deployed Engineer.

Based in London with hybrid working. You will collaborate with Field and Inside Sales to identify opportunities, build pipeline, and close both subscriptions and PAYG deals,

Qualifications

• 10+ years in B2B technology sales.
• 5+ years quota-carrying new business in cloud, AI, data or developer platforms.
• Track record of selling a new product from zero at an early-stage company or founder-led motion.
• Experience writing sales playbooks, positioning or value narratives that other sellers adopted.
• Fluency in AI infrastructure: models, inference, gateways, agents and MCP.

Responsibilities

• Find, qualify and close new customers for Nevia, AI Gateway, Inference and Managed Agents across EMEA.
• Position Aiven as the European choice for organisations that need data and AI workloads under European control; handle GDPR, EU AI Act, NIS2 and DORA questions.
• Build a list of lighthouse prospects and move them through proofs of concept to paying customers.
• Partner with Field and Inside Sales on AI opportunities in their accounts.
• Close both committed contracts and pay-as-you-go deals, and grow usage into larger accounts.
• Generate your own pipeline from product, funding and hiring signals, alongside leads from our signal engine.
• Use AI tools and agents in your own workflow so focus is on conversations and closing.
• Write the playbook for how Aiven sells AI: ICP, discovery, positioning, pricing narratives and proof points.

Skills

B2B sales

Quota carrying

AI infrastructure

Deal closing

GTM strategy

Job description

We’re a global team of over 400+ people, working together to push the boundaries of open-source technology and multi-cloud solutions. Our vision is to help developers, builders, and creators bring their ideas to life with speed and simplicity, by providing a cloud data platform that makes open-source databases, search, streaming, and application infrastructure easily accessible to everyone.

The role

The Role: As AI Account Executive, you will win new customers for Aiven's AI products across EMEA, with an early focus on AI-native start-ups and scale-ups and on highly regulated industries, where data sovereignty often decides the deal. You will also partner with our Field and Inside Sales teams on AI opportunities in the accounts they own. This is a quota-carrying sales role. A dedicated Solutions Architect and Forward Deployed Engineer support you on the technical side, so you can focus on building pipeline, closing deals and writing the playbook for how Aiven sells AI. The position is full-time and permanent, based in London with hybrid working.

What you'll do

• Find, qualify and close new customers for Nevia, AI Gateway, Inference and Managed Agents across EMEA
• Position Aiven as the European choice for organisations that need their data and AI workloads under European control, and handle questions on GDPR, the EU AI Act, NIS2 and DORA with confidence
• Build a list of lighthouse prospects and move them through short, focused proofs of concept to paying customers
• Partner with our Field and Inside Sales teams on AI opportunities in their accounts
• Close both committed contracts and pay-as-you-go deals, and grow usage into larger accounts
• Generate your own pipeline from product, funding and hiring signals, alongside leads from our signal engine
• Use AI tools and agents in your own workflow so your time goes on customer conversations and closing
• Write the playbook for how Aiven sells AI: ideal customer profile, discovery, competitive positioning, pricing narratives and proof points

What we're looking for

• Typically 10+ years in B2B technology sales, including at least 5 years of quota-carrying new business in cloud infrastructure, AI, data or developer platforms
• A track record of selling a new product or category from zero, ideally as one of the first sellers at an early-stage company or in a founder-led sales motion
• Experience writing sales playbooks, positioning or value narratives that other sellers adopted
• Fluency in AI infrastructure, including models, inference, gateways, agents and MCP, and the confidence to sell to founders, CTOs and engineering teams
• Nice to have: Experience selling to organisations in Europe that operate under Experience selling compute, inference, AI gateways or agent sandboxes regulation.

Global Benefits:

Our global benefits are designed to help you thrive and grow, personally and professionally:

• Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
• Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
• Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities.
• Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.
• Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time)
• Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast.

Equal Opportunities:

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at [e-mail].