Forward Deployed Engineer, GTM

konghq.com; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc. seeks a senior AI/ML Software Engineer to prototype and deploy AI agents across GTM functions. You will craft prompts, define agent personas, and connect LLMs to GTM systems, ensuring scalable automation and security compliance.

You’ll document experiences and share playbooks to empower teams worldwide. You will lead cross-functional collaboration, improve output quality, and drive adoption with practical tooling and well-structured guidelines.

Qualifications

• Have 5+ years of software engineering experience.
• Working knowledge of GTM strategy, AI operations and production AI workflows.
• Experience creating internal docs, toolkits and playbooks at scale.
• Proven problem-solving across teams in technical or cross-functional roles.
• Track record of building AI-powered tools or automations with tangible impact.
• Clear, concise communication capable of explaining complex concepts.
• Comfort with ambiguity and self-direction.

Responsibilities

• Prototype and deploy AI agents for retention, pipeline, GTM productivity, and deal prep.
• Create prompt templates and system instructions for reliable outputs.
• Define agent persona, tone, and fallback logic.
• Reconnect GTM processes by linking LLMs to GTM systems.
• Build and test agentic tools rapidly.
• Document agent logic and prompt structures for scalable automation.
• Test prompts, context retrieval, and model selection to raise quality and adoption.
• Audit production agents to fix drift, gaps, and inaccuracies.
• Collaborate with GTM Analytics to integrate real-time data sources.
• Create prompt libraries, playbooks, and training sessions to maximize value.
• Ensure prompts, workflows, and solutions meet security and AI standards.

Skills

Software engineering

AI operations

GTM strategy

Cross-functional work

Documentation

Communication

Ambiguity tolerance

Security & compliance

Tools

Claude

Claude Code

LLM APIs

Workflow automation platforms

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Prototype and deploy AI agents for customer retention, pipeline generation, GTM productivity, deal inspection, account research, opportunity updates, and meeting prep.
• Create prompt templates and system instructions for accurate, consistent outputs.
• Define agent persona, tone, and fallback logic
• Re-engineer GTM processes by connecting LLMs to GTM systems
• Build and test agentic tools quickly.
• Document agent logic and prompt structures to ensure scalable, independent automation across the global GTM organization.
• Test system prompts, context retrieval, and model selection to boost output quality, seller adoption, and deal velocity.
• Track and audit production agents to quickly fix output drift, performance gaps, and accuracy issues
• Partner with GTM Analytics teams to integrate GTM data sources for real-time customer and pipeline insights.
• Create practical prompt libraries, quick-reference playbooks, and training sessions to maximize seller, customer and/or potential customer value.
• Ensure prompt, workflow, and deployed solutions meet security, legal, and company AI standards.

Required Qualifications

• Have 5+ years of software engineering experience
• Working knowledge of GTM strategy, AI Operations and hands-on experience putting AI workflows or LLM agents into production.
• Experience creating internal documentation, toolkits and playbooks that outlived your involvement and were adopted at scale.
• Experience in a technical or cross-functional role that required problem-solving across teams and functions.
• A track record of building AI-powered tools, automations, or workflows that changed how real work gets done — with specific examples you can speak to.
• Clear, concise communication skills — you can explain a technical concept to someone who's never thought about it before, without talking down to them.
• Comfort with ambiguity and self-direction; you don't need a detailed roadmap to know where to start.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on experience with AI development platforms and tools such as Claude, Claude Code, MCPs, LLM APIs, custom agent frameworks, or workflow automation platforms.
• Background in change management, organizational development, or a large-scale rollout that required bringing skeptical stakeholders along.
• Experience in solutions engineering where you had to earn trust and deliver results quickly.
• Familiarity with the enterprise SaaS tools Kong runs on: Okta, Slack, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Jira, or Freshservice.
• Familiarity with Kong Konnect, Kong Gateway, or API management concepts — understanding how APIs and AI models connect will help you build smarter tools.
• Experience helping others develop new technical skills, whether through formal training, one-on-one coaching, or team enablement programs

About Kong:

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500 and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com http://www.konghq.com.