What is a Account Executive at Cognition?
At Cognition, an Account Executive does not just manage a pipeline—they act as a strategic partner to engineering leaders, enterprises, and federal agencies navigating the frontier of artificial intelligence. As an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents, Cognition is pioneering collaborative AI teammates like Devin, the first AI software engineer, and Windsurf, the world's first AI-native IDE. The Account Executive is responsible for taking these highly sophisticated, technical products to market, translating cutting-edge AI capabilities into quantifiable business value for engineering teams.
This role is critical to the company's trajectory because selling autonomous AI agents requires a fundamental shift in how organizations think about headcount, productivity, and software development lifecycles. Rather than selling traditional SaaS licenses, you are selling an autonomous teammate. You will engage with technical stakeholders—ranging from engineering managers and CTOs to defense prime OEMs and federal mission owners—to demonstrate how Devin and Windsurf can execute real-world tasks, accelerate code generation, and solve complex engineering bottlenecks.
Success in this role requires an exceptional blend of technical fluency, strategic business development, and raw drive. Because Cognition is a small, talent-dense startup, you will work closely with the core engineering and product teams, funneling direct customer feedback back into the development loop. You will help build the early go-to-market (GTM) playbook from scratch, defining capture strategies, navigating complex procurement pathways, and establishing repeatable sales cycles in a fast-paced, high-intensity environment.

