Firsthand has built the first AI-powered Brand Agent platform, transforming the way marketers and publishers engage consumers through their own AI agents, anywhere online.
While most AI applications in marketing and advertising focus on back-office automation, the Firsthand Brand Agent Platform™ powers front-line consumer engagement. Operating across both owned properties and paid media, Firsthand's Brand Agents make a company’s expertise accessible in real time, adapting to consumers’ interests and guiding them towards the information they need to take action. Central to the platform is Lakebed™, the company’s AI-first data and knowledge rights management system that ensures brands retain full ownership and control of their expertise.
Firsthand is led by Jon Heller, Michael Rubenstein, and Wei Wei, whose previous ventures helped build the foundations of modern digital advertising. Backed by Radical Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, and Crossbeam Venture Partners, Firsthand is shaping the future of AI-driven consumer engagement.
Firsthand is headquartered in NYC, with team members working together in-office three days a week.
Responsibilities:Own full lifecycle management of advertising systems, from experimentation through deployment and continuous enhancement
Design, implement, and deploy data-driven algorithms and computational models for intelligent advertising platforms
Build scalable, high-performance software components that enable content personalization for publishers and brands
Monitor and evaluate performance of deployed models to ensure high system reliability
Analyze performance data and implement improvements to optimize accuracy and efficiency
Conduct ongoing research into emerging algorithms and data processing techniques, aligning solutions with latest academic and industry advancements
Proactively integrate new methodologies and technologies to strengthen and expand system capabilities
Perform data wrangling and preprocessing using SQL and related tools to prepare structured training data
Ensure data integrity and usability through best practices in validation, error handling, and resource management
Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Communication and Information Systems
1 year of work experience in the offered position or a related role
JOBSITE & INTERVIEW: New York, NY
If you are ready to embark on an exhilarating journey at the forefront of AI, seize this incredible opportunity and apply here. We eagerly anticipate hearing from you!
Note: Compensation and equity will be market-competitive for well-capitalized, early stage startups and will be discussed during the interview process.
Top Skills
What We Do
Firsthand is the AI agent platform purpose-built for brands and publishers.
Our platform allows brands and publishers to protect, control, and deploy their data and content across direct conversational campaigns that are powered by custom AI agents, and distributed anywhere a consumer is seeking information online.
Founded by digital advertising veterans and funded by AI pioneers, Firsthand is focused on building the data and agent infrastructure that will power consumer interactions in the AI era.
We have offices in NYC and also support hybrid work. We welcome top talent from anywhere in the United States.
