Co-Founder & CEO – AI for AEC Project Proposals

FutureSight; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

FutureSight seeks a visionary Founding CEO to lead the launch of an AI-native platform for the AEC sector. You will drive pilots, pricing, and retention strategies while shaping the MVP with our product and engineering teams.

As a founder, you will raise seed capital, hire your founding team, and establish the cultural foundation to accelerate growth and backlog visibility for our SaaS venture. This full-time leadership role is Chicago-based, with equity upside.

Qualifications

• Founder-level drive to co-found a new venture as the CEO.
• Startup scrappiness and willingness to own a venture end-to-end.
• Previous founding experience in a product company or B2B SaaS, or at a venture-backed company.
• GTM (go-to-market) chops across sales, marketing, and customer engagement.
• Fundraising fluency with investor storytelling and networks in fintech/early-stage communities.
• People leadership — ability to attract and retain top talent and shape culture.
• Industry experience in government contracting, proposal management, or B2B SaaS for professional services.

Responsibilities

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

Skills

Founder-level drive

Startup scrappiness

Previous founding experience

GTM chops

Fundraising fluency

People leadership

Industry experience

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 Proposal and marketing teams juggle chasing technical experts, searching through outdated project experience and content, and manually tracking requirements across RFQs, RFPs, and qualification packages — coordinating across business development,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.