Co-Founder & CEO – AI for AEC Project Proposals

FutureSight; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity stake

Job summary

FutureSight seeks an experienced Founding CEO to lead the launch of an AI-native platform for AEC firms, driving pilots, pricing, and retention. You will shape the MVP with the product/engineering team and lead seed fundraising, while building and aligning a founding team and culture.

The role is full-time with significant equity, reporting to investors and coordinating across business development, technical leadership, and executives to accelerate growth and market adoption.

Qualifications

• Founder-level drive to co-found a new venture as CEO.
• Experience founding a product company or B2B SaaS venture, or previously at a venture-backed company.
• Proven GTM, marketing, and customer engagement skills.
• Strong fundraising fluency and investor storytelling.
• Leadership of teams and culture in early-stage startups.
• Industry background in government contracting or professional services SaaS.

Responsibilities

• Win customers — run pilots, shape pricing, validate retention and expansion.
• Build the product — collaborate with product/engineering to launch V1.
• Raise capital — lead the seed round with initial investment.
• Build your team — hire founding team and establish culture.

Skills

Founder-level drive

Startup scrappiness

GTM chops

Fundraising fluency

People leadership

Industry experience

Risk appetite

Job description

FutureSight is seeking an experienced, visionary Founding CEO to lead the launch of a new AI-native platform that transforms how architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms win project pursuits and proposals.

AEC firms are drowning in complexity. Proposal and marketing teams juggle chasing technical experts, searching through outdated project experience and content, and manually tracking requirements across RFQs, RFPs, and qualification packages — coordinating across business development, technical leaders, and executives under tight deadlines.

The result: slower submissions, inconsistent win rates, and significant operational strain in a process directly tied to firm growth and backlog visibility.

We’re building BidOps – an AI-native proposal platform for AEC firms that automates requirement and compliance tracking, intelligently reuses institutional knowledge and proposal content, and streamlines coordination across technical experts.

Firms move faster, reduce submission risk, and pursue more opportunities with the same teams.

As Founding CEO, you will

• Win customers — Run pilots, shape pricing, and validate retention + expansion
• Build the product — Work with FutureSight’s product/engineering pod to launch V1
• Raise capital — Lead the seed round with our initial investment
• Build your team — Hire your founding team and set the cultural foundation

About FutureSight

FutureSight is a venture studio that co-creates and invests in B2B SaaS and Vertical AI startups alongside exceptional entrepreneurs. We give founders an unfair advantage — pairing hands-on studio support with early capital, thereby reducing risk and increasing the odds of success by 10x.

We’re led by a cross-functional team of builders and investors. Kevin Nguyen and Alan Smith lead venture design and product strategy. Prathna Ramesh applies her experience as a venture investor with capital strategy in every new business. Dennis Ensing mentors our ventures with operational and strategic expertise, Krista LaRiviere brings years of entrepreneurial and marketing experience as a multi-time exited founder, and Anupama Joshi drives founder excellence. John Carbrey (San Francisco), a successful software entrepreneur and people leader, adds deep insight into scaling startups from 0 to 1, having built and exited multiple prior SaaS ventures.

What We Bring

• Validated problem — You will enter a venture with a proven market need and strong momentum toward building and scaling
• Studio bench strength — Designers, engineers, growth marketers, and fundraising pros are embedded from Day 1
• Capital commitment — Initial pre-seed funding for early hires and building the MVP with potential for follow-on funding, and access to our investor and advisor network

What You Bring

• Founder-level drive — You’re motivated to co-found a new venture as the CEO. With or without us, this is your calling
• Startup scrappiness — You know what you’re signing up for. You’re familiar with the scrappiness of owning something from start to finish
• Previous founding experience — You have co-founded a product company or B2B SaaS venture, or have been at a venture-backed company
• Risk appetite and capacity — Read more on our post on the Entrepreneurial Risk Profile
• GTM chops — Proven success in B2B SaaS sales, marketing, and customer engagement
• Fundraising fluency — Able to craft investor narratives and close capital; well-networked in fintech and early-stage communities
• People leadership — Magnet for top talent; coach and culture carrier
• Industry experience — Background in government contracting, proposal management, or B2B SaaS for professional services

What You Can Expect

• Daily active engagement with our team to: launch initial product, achieve initial market traction and prepare for seed fundraise
• Full P/L ownership of the new entity
• A significant equity stake in the business
• This is a full-time role; we are seeking someone to dedicate themselves full-time and exclusively to building and owning a new SaaS venture

FutureSight is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and experiences.