ex-CTO (70% IC work on code for the foreseeable)

• This is a full-time, in-person role based in San Francisco (Presidio) - we work from the office 5 days a week.

• You must be based in the Bay Area or willing to relocate before starting.

• We require US work authorisation, but are open to O-1 visa sponsorship for truly exceptional candidates.

Wordware is an IDE for building AI agents using natural language.

It looks and feels like Notion, but lets you design, test, and deploy AI systems in real time - without writing code.

Our mission is to bring structure and joy to human–AI collaboration.

We’re building a generational company that empowers the next billion knowledge workers to create with AI - not by writing code, but by expressing intent.

We’re backed by Spark Capital, Felicis, and Y Combinator ($30M seed round - the largest in YC history).

We work hard, move fast, and don’t take ourselves too seriously. It’s intense, but it’s also fun - at Wordware, you’ll do the best work of your life alongside people you genuinely like.

tl;dr we're building a magical repository where AI agents can be shared, forked, and instantly run (complete with a possible generative UI) and need someone technical enough to be an IC at the start but with the product vision to make this massive

we're creating wordware, the all-in-one platform for building AI that actually makes sense. our AI agent repository is the beating heart of this ecosystem - it's where tinkerers share their agents, where builders fork and instantly run each other's work, and where the UI itself might even be generative. imagine browsing a library of AI agents that you can not just see, but immediately interact with, customize, and deploy without diving into code.

think about it: most AI today requires diving into code or dealing with complex configurations. we're building something different - a place where AI agents are first-class objects that can be shared, discovered, and deployed without friction. fork an agent, tweak it with our intuitive interface (maybe even with the help of AI), and instantly have your version running and ready to use. this could fundamentally change how AI gets built and shared.

this isn't just a feature - it's the foundation of our community and a key growth engine.

• we're looking for super smart ex-CTOs who will start off spending 70% of their time on IC engineering and 30% on PM, with scope for the role to shift over time. please do not apply if this does not sound like the right mix to you

• owning this project from literal zero to a thriving community

• getting your hands dirty with early implementation (yes, we need someone who can contribute, not just direct)

• designing how forking, contribution tracking, and community recognition actually works for AI flows

• figuring out what metrics actually matter for this kind of community

• building a system that feels natural to both hardcore AI engineers and people who just want to plug solutions into their workflow

• you've built products from nothing before (bonus if you were a founder)

• you understand AI agents and multi-agent frameworks deeply enough to have opinions

• you can code when needed but know when to step back and focus on product

• you've contributed to or built developer communities

• you get genuinely excited about creating systems that help people collaborate

• you understand repository and discovery systems and can reimagine them for an AI-first world

• you can simplify complex concepts without dumbing them down

• you need a perfectly defined role with clear boundaries

• you're looking for a pure management position right now

• you think AI is "just hype"

• you've never shipped something from 0 to 1

building AI is too damn hard and too damn messy right now. we're trying to fix that, and this collaborative repository is a key piece. get this right, and you'll help shape how the next generation of AI applications gets built.

• early enough to have massive impact

• small, technical team that moves fast

• onsite culture in SF + office is 70m from the beach + wind/kite surfing rack + gym and a sauna 🧖‍♂️ 🏄‍♀️

if you've read this far and it resonates, shoot us a note at sebastian @ wordware.ai . tell us about something you built from zero and why you're excited about creating GitHub for AI.

p.s. building this right is incredibly challenging, but that's exactly what makes it worth doing