Field CTO – Strategic Industries

Cresta is on a mission to turn every customer conversation into a competitive advantage by unlocking the true potential of the contact center. Our platform combines the best of AI and human intelligence to help contact centers discover customer insights and behavioral best practices, automate conversations and inefficient processes, and empower every team member to work smarter and faster. Born from the prestigious Stanford AI lab, Cresta's co-founder and chairman is Sebastian Thrun, the genius behind Google X, Waymo, Udacity, and more. Our leadership also includes CEO, Ping Wu, the co-founder of Google Contact Center AI and Vertex AI platform, and CTO & co-founder, Tim Shi, an early member of Open AI.

We’ve assembled a world-class team of AI and ML experts, go-to-market leaders, and top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Sequoia, and former AT&T CEO John Donovan. Our valued customers include brands like Intuit, Cox Communications, Hilton, and Carmax and we’ve been recognized by Forbes and Bain Consulting as one of the top private AI companies in the world.

Join us on this thrilling journey to revolutionize the workforce with AI. The future of work is here, and it's at Cresta.

About the Role:

The Field CTO – Strategic Industries role at Cresta is a senior technical leadership position that serves as the bridge between our customers and field sales teams. It is both strategic and customer-facing, focused on aligning Cresta’s technology strategy with customer needs and market trends. This role also provides critical feedback to Cresta’s Engineering and Product organizations to inform roadmap and feature prioritization.

As a trusted advisor and strategic partner, the Field CTO helps customers understand, adopt, and maximize value from Cresta’s technology solutions. The role blends deep technical expertise with strong communication and business acumen to drive technology adoption, influence product direction, and build long-term customer relationships.

If you enjoy leading strategic engagements, developing technology strategies for SaaS solutions, and influencing executive stakeholders, this may be a great fit. This is an individual contributor role reporting to the Chief Customer Officer, with a dotted-line relationship to Sales leadership.

Responsibilities:

Customer & Field Engagement

• Act as the primary technical executive interface for strategic customers.
• Translate business challenges into technical solutions using Cresta’s products and services.
• Partner with Sales, Customer Success, and Product teams to ensure technology alignment with customer needs.
• Deliver executive-level presentations, workshops, and architecture sessions to customer stakeholders.

Technology Evangelism

• Represent Cresta’s technology vision at conferences, industry events, and customer meetings.
• Demonstrate thought leadership on trends in AI, cloud computing, data analytics, and security.
• Create and deliver compelling narratives that showcase how Cresta’s technology drives innovation and business outcomes.

Product & Engineering Partnership

• Gather and synthesize customer feedback to inform product and engineering priorities.
• Identify and address gaps in technology adoption or deployment through cross-functional collaboration.
• Influence future product strategy with insights derived from real-world field engagements.

Strategic Leadership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to CXO-level executives on digital transformation and innovation.
• Collaborate with internal leadership to align go-to-market strategies with customer technology trends.
• Mentor and support solution architects and customer engineers.

Qualifications We Value:

• 10+ years in technology leadership roles (CTO, Architect, or equivalent).
• Strong expertise in enterprise architecture, cloud platforms, AI/ML, and data systems.
• Deep understanding of SaaS, APIs, and modern software development practices.
• Proven ability to influence C-suite stakeholders and technical decision-makers.
• Exceptional presentation and executive communication skills.
• Deep understanding of how enterprises leverage Generative AI solutions.
• Extensive experience with large-scale enterprise software implementations and complex use cases.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience managing and advising on large-scale programs with multiple stakeholders and dependencies.

Success Metrics:

• Revenue growth and deal win rates within key accounts.
• Thought leadership visibility (talks, publications, events).
• Contributions to product innovation and roadmap evolution.
• Customer adoption and satisfaction with Cresta’s technology solutions.

Perks & Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive and people-first benefits package to support you at work and in life:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with plans to fit you and your family
• Flexible PTO to take the time you need, when you need it
• Paid parental leave for all new parents welcoming a new child
• Retirement savings plan to help you plan for the future
• Remote work setup budget to help you create a productive home office
• Monthly wellness and communication stipend to keep you connected and balanced
• In-office meal program and commuter benefits provided for onsite employees

Compensation at Cresta:

Cresta’s approach to compensation is simple: recognize impact, reward excellence, and invest in our people. We offer competitive, location-based pay that reflects the market and what each individual brings to the table.

Compensation for this position includes a Base salary + Bonus + Equity.

Actual base salaries will be based on candidate-specific factors, including experience, skillset, and location, and local minimum pay requirements as applicable. Your recruiter can provide further details. In addition, total compensation includes a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family.

We have noticed a rise in recruiting impersonations across the industry, where scammers attempt to access candidates' personal and financial information through fake interviews and offers. All Cresta recruiting email communications will always come from the @cresta.ai domain. Any outreach claiming to be from Cresta via other sources should be ignored.  If you are uncertain whether you have been contacted by an official Cresta employee, reach out to recruiting@cresta.ai