---
title: 'Forward Deployed Engineer, GTM at Kong'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-gtm-kong-california-q4ay7mv91rp4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Forward Deployed Engineer, GTM at Kong

- **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong)
- **Location:** California, United States
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/33442c96-802c-450c-8200-16bbdf911142

## Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

We are looking for a GTM Forward Deployed Engineer to build and launch AI agents for our go to market (GTM) teams (Marketing, Sales, Product and Revenue Operations) using platforms like Salesforce, Slack, Claude Code, Gemini, Snowflake, Marketo, Clay, Nooks, and Rox

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

## #LI-KH1

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).

## About Kong

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Kong provides a unified API and AI platform that connects, secures, and manages APIs, events, and AI agents for modern architectures.
- **Entity Type**: Private – Series E, post‑money valuation $2B (2023)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2017 (company formalized; roots as Mashape go back to 2009)
- **Founders**: Augusto “Aghi” Marietti (CEO) and Marco Palladino (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: API management, AI connectivity, cloud infrastructure
- **Target customers**: B2B – enterprises, platform engineering teams, developers, and product managers building API‑driven or AI‑agent applications
- **Mission / Purpose**: To be the AI connectivity company – enabling organizations to connect, govern, and monetize APIs, events, and AI workloads at scale.

## Products & Services
- **[Kong Konnect](https://konghq.com/)**: Managed, unified API and AI platform covering the full lifecycle – design, test, publish, govern, monetize – across any cloud or environment. SaaS.
- **[Kong Gateway](https://konghq.com/)**: Open‑source (and enterprise) API gateway, the world’s most adopted, used for traffic management, security, and observability. Open‑source hybrid.
- **[Kong AI Gateway](https://konghq.com/)**: Extension for managing and securing AI traffic – token consumption, cost control, and agent governance. SaaS / add‑on.
- **[Kong Mesh](https://konghq.com/)**: Enterprise service mesh for Kubernetes and VMs (based on Kuma, donated to CNCF). Infrastructure.
- **[Insomnia](https://konghq.com/)**: API design and testing tool (acquired and integrated into the Kong ecosystem). Desktop / CLI.
- **[OpenMeter](https://konghq.com/)**: Usage‑based billing, entitlements, and invoicing for APIs, events, and AI (acquired 2025). SaaS.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: $2 billion (as of late 2023 Series E round) – not publicly traded.
- **Key Metric**: Surpassed **$100M ARR** in late 2023; processes **+1 trillion API/AI requests per day**; **600+ employees** in 25+ countries (LinkedIn reports 738 employees with +23.5% YoY growth).
- **Total Funding**: **$344.1M** across 6 rounds (including Series D $100M at $1.4B, and Series E $175M led by new investors).
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Include large institutional investors; partners include cloud providers and enterprises such as United Airlines (cited as customer). Open‑source community with 182K+ community users.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Most adopted open‑source API gateway** – strong developer mindshare and large community.
- **Unified platform** covering the entire API lifecycle plus AI agent management, reducing fragmentation for enterprises.
- **High‑performance, low‑latency** – proven at hyper‑volume (+1T requests/day), 99.99% availability SLA.
- **Strategic acquisitions** (Kuma, Insomnia, OpenMeter) that plug gaps in service mesh, developer tooling, and usage‑based billing.
- **Strong enterprise DNA** – trusted by global brands for mission‑critical applications.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI connectivity** – building the layer to manage LLM traffic, agent security, token cost, and real‑time data streams.
- **Monetization** – enabling customers to monetize APIs and AI consumption (chargeback, entitlements, pricing).
- **Developer productivity** – accelerating onboarding and reducing costs (claims 15% faster development, 57% operational cost reduction).
- **Global scale** – growing remote workforce and entering new geographic markets (e.g., Italy, ANZ roles posted).

## Why Work Here
- **Remote‑first culture** – 600+ employees across 25+ countries; strong emphasis on global collaboration.
- **Perks & benefits** (from [careers page](https://konghq.com/company/careers)):
  - Stock options for most employees
  - 4‑week paid sabbatical every 5 years
  - Flexible time off
  - Home office stipend
  - Regular “unplug days” (company‑wide long weekends)
  - Virtual events (Donut chats, trivia, fitness challenges)
- **Engineering culture** – values “owners, explorers, real, unstoppable” and encourages individual innovation. Focus on shipping fast and high trust.
- **Growth trajectory** – company is scaling (+23.5% headcount YoY) and is a unicorn with clear product‑market fit in a hot market (AI + API management).
- **Open roles** – 93 open positions across engineering, sales, solutions, customer success, and marketing.

## Sources
1. [konghq.com](https://konghq.com/)
2. [konghq.com/company/careers](https://konghq.com/company/careers)
3. [konghq.com/company/about-us](https://konghq.com/company/about-us)
4. [linkedin.com/company/konghq](https://www.linkedin.com/company/konghq)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong)

## Other roles at Kong

- [Partner Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/partner-sales-manager-kong-illinois-qs2tkmteyrby) — Illinois, United States
- [Partner Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/partner-sales-manager-kong-texas-dj4bp91n9s77) — Texas, United States
- [Commercial Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-account-executive-kong-singapore-2hwrft68j9kj) — Singapore
- [Commercial Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-account-executive-kong-australia-bfhqkn00krqb) — Australia
- [Manager, Sales Development - Austin, TX](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-sales-development-austin-tx-kong-texas-m6gz0yvdjbyk) — Texas, United States
- [Staff Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-solutions-engineer-kong-united-arab-emirates-cj1g6cnw7a64) — United Arab Emirates
- [Staff Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-solutions-engineer-kong-england-qqqp6v9kseb4) — England, United Kingdom
- [Staff Engagement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engagement-manager-kong-california-dmxmf22b4bxn) — California, United States
- [Staff Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-solutions-engineer-kong-new-york-py5qhd870rw9) — New York, NY
- [Senior Director, GTM People Business Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-gtm-people-business-partner-kong-california-x9qt14cjx3xg) — California, United States