--- title: 'Behavioral Scientist at Grotto AI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/behavioral-scientist-grotto-ai-new-york-yszkkfz125yz' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-11' --- # Behavioral Scientist at Grotto AI - **Company:** Grotto AI - **Location:** New York, NY - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-02-19 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/grotto/21d12f0c-d524-4036-a5b5-cf0d45c7b1e9 ## Job description Behavioral Scientist Grotto AI | New York City (In-Person) ## What We Do Grotto is the AI platform that supercharges multifamily apartment teams during the moments that matter most. We're starting with leasing conversations—one of the most important decisions most of us make every year. Our data from millions of prospect interactions shows that the #1 predictor of whether someone signs a lease isn't product knowledge or perfect scripts. It's agents who are genuinely curious and who laugh—things that AI alone struggles at today. So we built a platform that guides leasing agents in real-time during calls and tours—helping them build rapport, handle objections, and convert more prospects into signed leases. It's working. We've driven massive increases in conversion with some of the largest apartment owners in the country. And this is just the start. ## The Role Grotto is, at its core, a behavior change product. We're trying to help leasing agents build better habits, have more genuine conversations, and perform better in high-stakes moments. That means we need someone who deeply understands how humans actually change—and can build the feedback loops that make our product smarter over time. You'll own the full cycle: measure impact with rigor, understand why certain interventions work, and translate those insights into product improvements. You'll design studies, dig into the psychology of what moves people, and work directly with engineering to ship what you learn. ## What You'll Do - Design and run studies to measure Grotto's impact on agent behavior and customer outcomes - Go beyond "what works" to understand why—applying behavioral science to unpack the mechanisms behind our most effective interventions - Translate findings into product recommendations and work with engineering to ship them - Develop frameworks for how we think about behavior change at Grotto ## What We're Looking For - (Non-Negotiable) 3+ years applying behavioral science or psychology in a product or applied research setting - (Non-Negotiable) 1+ year at an early-stage or growth-stage startup - Strong research methods and causal inference skills - Fluency in behavioral science: habit formation, nudges, motivation, feedback loops, cognitive biases - You build with AI tools (Claude, Copilot, etc.) as a default - Programming skills in Python and SQL - Based in NYC or willing to relocate ## Nice to Have - Graduate degree in behavioral science, psychology, behavioral economics, or HCI - Background in product experimentation or UX research - Experience presenting deeply technical findings to non-technical audiences ## About Us GrottoAI’s mission is to help humans shine in the moments that matter most. We’re starting with the process of finding a home—one of life's most important moments—where we drive bottom-line impact by helping leasing teams shine in key prospect interactions and convert more leads to leases. GrottoAI was founded by Nick Deveau and Ben Epstein—we met at EvolutionIQ, an insurance AI company acquired for $730M in 2024. We've spent the last decade building vertical AI products in hiring, healthcare, and insurance. Now we're bringing that playbook to real estate. We just closed a $10M seed round led by ICONIQ. We're working with some of the largest apartment owners in the country. We're lean, we're moving fast, and we're building a world where, in life's most important moments, people leave every conversation feeling more connected. ## About Grotto AI ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Grotto AI provides an AI-powered platform that supercharges leasing teams for multifamily operators by providing real-time guidance, call coaching, and prospect engagement tools to reduce vacancy loss and increase Net Operating Income (NOI). - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed Stage) - **Headquarters**: New York City, New York, United States - **Founded**: 2025 - **Founders**: Nick Deveau (CEO) and Ben Epstein (CTO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Proptech / Multifamily Real Estate Technology / Vertical AI SaaS - **Target customers**: B2B, specifically multifamily property operators, leasing agents, and property management companies - **Mission / Purpose Statement**: "Help humans shine in the moments that matter most" — specifically, transforming the home-finding journey by using AI to enhance human-to-human interactions rather than replace them. ## Products & Services - **Tour & Call Coaching**: An AI-powered tool that analyzes leasing agent calls and tours, providing post-interaction coaching to reinforce best-practices and improve conversion rates. - **Call Guidance**: A real-time AI assistant that provides live guidance to agents during calls, helping them handle objections, ask the right questions, and book tours. - **Emails and Texts**: An AI layer that supercharges written prospect communications, helping agents respond faster and more effectively. - **Leasing Performance Platform**: A full-stack analytics platform that measures ROI and tracks performance improvement across every stage of the prospect lifecycle, with a focus on eliminating "avoidable vacancy loss." ## Market Standing - **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed for a seed-stage company - **Total Funding**: USD $19.4M across two seed rounds - **Key Investors**: ICONIQ Capital (led the initial seed round); other undisclosed investors in subsequent rounds. - **Growth Signals**: - Employee headcount grew +500% year-over-year (from 2 to 9+ employees). - Founded in 2025 and already raised $19.4M, a very large seed round indicating strong investor confidence. - Co-founders have a track record from EvolutionIQ, which was acquired for $730M in late 2024. - Leadership team includes executives from Procore (PCOR), Bozzuto, Windsor Communities, Bilt Rewards, and Equity Residential, bringing deep domain expertise in both AI and real estate. - **Notable Team**: - Jamie Gorski: CRO, former CRO at Procore (PCOR). - David Dear: Former Sr. Director at Bilt Rewards and First Vice President at Equity Residential. - Dennis Lyandres: Former CMO at Bozzuto / CXO at Windsor Communities. ## Competitive Advantages - **Unique "Human + AI" Philosophy**: Unlike legacy chatbots that automate and depersonalize, Grotto focuses on supercharging human agents in the critical moments (calls, tours) that drive leasing decisions. - **Deep Vertical Expertise**: Built by a team with a proven track record in vertical AI (EvolutionIQ) and direct experience in the multifamily industry (Procore, Equity Residential, Bilt Rewards). - **Measurable ROI Focus**: The platform is built with ROI measurement as a core feature, helping operators directly track NOI and vacancy loss reduction — a critical differentiator in a conservative real estate industry. - **Strong Industry Credibility**: The advisory and leadership team includes C-suite veterans from the top multifamily operators and tech companies in the US. ## Strategic Focus - **Market Penetration**: Rapidly deploying the platform with major multifamily operators across the US. - **Product Expansion**: Likely expanding beyond leasing to cover the full resident lifecycle (renewals, service). - **Scaling the Team**: With $19M in the bank and early traction, Grotto is actively hiring for Deployments, Engineering, Product Marketing, and Client Strategy roles. - **Building the Category**: Establishing "AI-enabled leasing performance" as a must-have category for multifamily operators, moving beyond back-office efficiency to revenue generation. ## Why Work Here - **High-Impact, Small Team**: With <10 employees currently, new hires will have significant ownership and direct impact on product direction and company trajectory. - **Prestigious Backing**: Backed by top-tier VC ICONIQ Capital, providing strong financial stability and network. - **Mission-Driven**: The focus on improving the home-finding experience for renters is a tangible, emotionally resonant mission. - **Hybrid Workspace**: The company operates a hybrid model with an in-office presence in New York City (NYC) combined with remote flexibility. - **World-Class Founding Team**: Opportunity to learn from founders and executives who have previously scaled companies to unicorn status and successful exits (EvolutionIQ, Procore). - **Cutting-Edge Tech Stack**: The company is at the forefront of applying LLMs and generative AI to a real-world, high-value problem. ## Sources 1. [grotto.ai](https://grotto.ai/) 2. [grotto.ai/about-us](https://grotto.ai/about-us) 3. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/grottoai) 4. [Built In](https://builtin.com/company/grotto-ai) 5. [Jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/grotto) ## Other roles at Grotto AI - [Product Marketing](https://feeny.ai/job/product-marketing-grotto-ai-new-york-v635d4vxzjqb) — New York, NY - [Product](https://feeny.ai/job/product-grotto-ai-new-york-82psdt2t78cc) — New York, NY - [Resume Drop](https://feeny.ai/job/resume-drop-grotto-ai-new-york-r74tncq1xpxa) — New York, NY - [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-grotto-ai-new-york-2y1fmnf8tqy5) — New York, NY - [Software Engineer, Deployments](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-deployments-grotto-ai-new-york-8a9qnhj27zr7) — New York, NY - [Deployments Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/deployments-lead-grotto-ai-new-york-77ytpn31kzt3) — New York, NY - [Client Strategist](https://feeny.ai/job/client-strategist-grotto-ai-new-york-tgmc99s28caq) — New York, NY