Sales Engineer (Pre-Sales)

WHAT WE DO

Adaptive is a vertical AI company of 50, building the agentic operating system for the $2 trillion U.S. construction industry. We work with over 1,000 customers, partner with over 50 accounting firms, and have raised $26m from Emergence, a16z, and other top funds.

WHY JOIN US?

Win a massive category that's up for grabs. Construction is among the least digitized industries left, and no AI king has been crowned. With our momentum, team, and backing, we are in position to be that company

Build a moat that compounds. We orchestrate multi-stakeholder workflows across an industry that today runs on paper, email, and phone calls. Every process we manage generates data no one else has. That data makes each new use case easier to expand to, while building a compounding moat

Work with the rare team that can pull this off. Winning here takes deep construction knowledge and deep AI fluency in the same room. That intersection is rare, and we have it with backgrounds across finance, technology, and construction

Serve the people building the world around you. Your favorite local café. The new house on the corner. The massive new skyscraper at Central Park South. All built by our customers: skilled, creative people who have spent their lives bringing neighborhoods to life

ABOUT THE ROLE

Adaptive is the AI-native financial automation platform for the construction industry. As a Sales Engineer, you own the technical side of the sales cycle. You partner with Account Executives on every serious opportunity: running discovery, designing the solution, building and delivering demos, and handling technical objections from finance buyers who have seen a lot of software and believe very little of it.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Partner with AEs to own the technical thread of the deal: discovery, solution design, demos, proof-of-concept environments, and objection handling

- Run discovery that gets underneath the surface ask, mapping the prospect's systems, workflows, and reporting needs

- Build tailored demo environments seeded with realistic data so buyers see their own operation, not a sandbox

- Deliver demos to executive and operational audiences, from CFOs to project accountants

- Scope technical requirements and integrations, and translate them into SOWs and deal documentation

- Support RFPs, security reviews, and technical evaluation processes

- Feed field learnings back to product and marketing

WHAT YOU BRING

- 4+ years in pre-sales solutions engineering, sales engineering, or a similar technical customer-facing role at a B2B SaaS company

- Strong demo craft: you can build an environment, tell a story with data, and adjust live when the room shifts

- Comfort with data and systems: expert Excel, ability to read API docs, understanding of how integrations work

- Working fluency with AI tools and the ability to speak credibly about AI capabilities and limits to a skeptical buyer

- Executive presence and clear communication with finance and operations audiences

- Strong written output: SOWs, technical responses, follow-up documentation

- Construction or ERP experience is a plus, not a requirement. We will teach the domain to the right person

WHAT WE OFFER

- Competitive salary plus meaningful equity

- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance

- 401(k) match and flexible PTO policy

- A seat at the table in a rapidly scaling vertical AI startup

- Unlimited opportunities for professional growth and leadership

IN-OFFICE MANDATE

- This role requires you to work Monday - Thursday in either our New York or Boston offices.