Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
About Whissle

Whissle is an innovative, early-stage AI company focused on building the intelligent streaming intelligence layer for machines. Our core technology is a unified streaming intelligence layer that merges context, speech, words, intent, and multi-sensory data to provide real-time voice AI and live agent assist, moving beyond traditional turn-based systems. Our mission is to build intelligent voice agents for global enterprise, with a revenue model based on SaaS, enterprise licensing, and APIs.

The Opportunity

This technical leader will establish the product architecture, define infrastructure needs, and set the budget baseline for technical scaling.

We are seeking a visionary and technically deep Chief Technology Officer to partner with the founding team and take full ownership of our technology strategy and execution. This role is essential for architecting a robust, scalable platform that can support many applications and their derivatives across cloud and edge environments. The ideal candidate will be a senior leader with a passion for cutting-edge AI, who can build and lead a high-performing team while establishing best-in-class technical standards.

Key Responsibilities
Technology Strategy and Architecture

Define and execute a comprehensive technology roadmap that aligns with Whissle's business objectives and growth strategy.
Design, build, and oversee the scalable platform architecture required to deploy and manage real-time voice AI agents and derivative applications across diverse cloud and edge environments. At this point in Whissle’s existence, the CTO will also be the platform and software architect.
Ensure the security, reliability, and performance of the core Streaming Intelligence platform.
Evaluate, select, and manage the technology stack, ensuring it is optimized for high performance, low latency, and cost efficiency.
Drive continuous innovation by evaluating emerging technologies, specifically in multi-modal AI, speech, and distributed computing.

Engineering Leadership and Management

Hire, Lead, mentor, and scale the engineering, data infrastructure and science, and MLOps teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous delivery (CI/CD, DevOps).
Set and enforce technical standards, best practices, and agile methodologies for software development and platform operations.
Manage the technology budget, resources, and vendor relationships efficiently.
Remove technical barriers and manage technical debt to allow founders to focus more on the business strategy.

Intellectual Property (IP) and Invention

Establish and formalize the company's process for documenting inventions and establishing a timeline record for Whissle’s proprietary algorithms, platform architecture, and models.
Work closely with the leadership team and IP counsel to review invention disclosures and assess patentability based on criteria like defensibility, detectability, and non-obviousness in the context of the solution and end-application UX.
Help define a program that rewards and encourages team members for their commitment to the invention and patent process.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Collaborate with the CEO and C-suite to translate business goals into technological strategy and measurable outcomes.

Qualifications
Required Experience

10+ years of progressive technical leadership experience, with 5+ years in an executive CTO, VP of Engineering, or similar role at an early-stage or high-growth company.
Deep expertise in designing and implementing complex, scalable platform architectures for enterprise-grade solutions with a focus on supporting real-time products/services .
Strong, hands-on experience in the AI/ML domain, specifically with building and deploying models at scale (MLOps).
Proven track record with cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and experience with edge/embedded device deployments.
Demonstrated ability to attract, hire, mentor, and lead diverse, high-performing engineering teams.

Highly Desired Skills

Experience with real-time data streaming, multi-modal systems, and low-latency processing.
Familiarity with the patent process, invention disclosure, and the principles of IP protection, especially for software and AI-related technologies (e.g., non-obviousness test).
Strong business acumen and experience in aligning technology investment with SaaS and API-based business models.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate technical vision to non-technical stakeholders, including investors.
Strong coding skills in the various languages that will be required in the space. CTO is expected to be a hands-on employee, during the early stages of the company.

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Chief Technology Officer