Unusual

Market to AI agents

Engagement Lead, AI Strategy

$140K - $185KSan Francisco, CA, US
Job type
Full-time
Role
Operations
Experience
3+ years
Visa
US citizen/visa only
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Will Jack
Will Jack
Founder

About the role

The Future of Agentic Buying

People are increasingly trusting AI to help them buy things. First AI agents were information aggregators, trusted to search and summarize. Now they're trusted to advise on key decision-making. Increasingly, they're becoming autonomous buyers: agents that shop, evaluate, and transact on behalf of humans.

When AI is the audience, how it perceives your value proposition becomes one of the most consequential things a company can understand about itself.

We apply the principles of AI interpretability research to study how models actually think about companies, and underneath the surface noise we find remarkably stable beliefs, formed from the proof points a company has put into the world (often inadvertently).

Companies starting to take this seriously are realizing something uncomfortable: in an AI-evaluated market, marketing claims without substance to back them up don’t work anymore. Conversely, companies that deliver on their value proposition have unbounded opportunity to reach and acquire new buyers. AI agents are judging every brand's value promise, and are teaching humans how to do the same.

About Unusual

Unusual is the AI interpretability platform for marketing and GTM teams. We help companies shape how AI models actually think about their brand and value proposition.

Why this role exists

Every company has a unique path to get ready for the rapidly approaching future of agentic buying. When agentic buying arrives for their industry, a company’s ability to thrive will depend on their ability to (1) understand how AI agents evaluate them, (2) enable AI agents to interact with their business, and (3) make the right strategic bets that continually refine their value proposition as perceived by AI.

We build the platform and we apply the methodology directly alongside companies and consultancies. Being at the forefront of the practice of AI brand management, we are committed to learning alongside our partners and sharing what we learn. This role exists to be the trusted voice on the ground with each client; the person who turns the platform and methodology into decisions that move the business.

Who we're looking for

You're a strategic problem-solver who wants to work on critical problems. You can hold your own across the table from a CMO, CRO, or CEO, and you can push on the assumptions behind their most consequential decisions. You're already using tools like Claude Code to do your work better, and you want a role where that orientation is the work itself.

You want the leverage that comes from learning and teaching a practice that's category-defining, with a research team that's done the work to make this approach possible and a platform already producing insights no one else can.

What you'd own

You'd be the engagement lead for a portfolio of companies who want to shape how AI models perceive their brand and value proposition. That means:

  • Ramping quickly on each client's business and operating model so they want you in the room when strategic GTM decisions are being made
  • Translating our interpretability analyses, grounded in each client's business reality, into clear and actionable moves on content, positioning, and proof points
  • Operating at the leadership level, bringing the clarity that helps client executives act
  • Using Claude Code and our internal platform to generate analyses, prototype features, and contribute back to the systems your teammates rely on

Capabilities we look for

  • Stakeholder mapping. You can read a room, see the dynamics, and figure out how to deliver value in a way that lets every stakeholder win.
  • First-principles communication. You can write a tight brief and walk a CEO through it without losing the room or oversimplifying. You can also write it for a senior IC who'll do the implementation work.
  • AI-native orientation. Claude Code, MCPs, and prototyping with agents are already part of how you work.
  • Curiosity, ownership, truth-seeking, comfort with constructive disagreement, self-awareness when things get hard.

If you haven't gone deep on Claude Code yet but you're a fast learner who wants to build that fluency, we still want to hear from you. The later stages of the interview process include a collaborative exercise using Claude Code, so spend some time with it ahead of time.

What we offer

  • Generous equity package now and future cash compensation refreshes as the company matures
  • A research team that's done the work to make this approach possible, and a platform already producing insights no one else can (we’ll share a confidential walkthrough of current customers and impact generated, post-NDA)
  • A small team of people who care deeply about their craft and about each other
  • A front-row seat to a shift in how every company gets evaluated over the next decade
  • The chance to build the playbook for a role that doesn't fully exist anywhere else yet

About Unusual

AI agents are the newest audience brands need to speak to, but go-to-market teams don't have the tools to understand how they form opinions or make decisions.

Unusual helps brands in the Fortune 100 and scale-ups like Change.org and Astronomer drive more sales and win more market share by shifting how AI models perceive their offerings.

We work closely with every brand to (1) identify the root cause of AI misperception, (2) align on marketing, sales, and product strategies that appeal to agents, and (3) build infrastructure and content that makes their strongest proof more legible to agents.

Our methodology centers on applying black-box interpretability techniques to AI agents like ChatGPT and Claude to understand how they form opinions about a brand and its competitors. Seeing the why behind each opinion gives us the ability to create targeted interventions that change them.

Our team is ex- MIT, Princeton, and SpaceX

Why work at Unusual?

  • You have a chance to help define an entire new technical field and market. We're essentially doing applied psychology on LLMs, and we think that's pretty cool, and extremely valuable.
  • We're riding a huge tailwind. While many AI companies may be threatened by a bubble, we think the usage of tools like ChatGPT and Claude Code is only going to increase. The need for our product is only going to get greater.
  • We aim to be the premium solution in the space -- we pull no punches when it comes to providing a better service, which means you won't be constrained from doing your best work. Culture and Values
  • Character comes first. We only work with people we deeply trust and respect. We think this makes work more fun, freeing, and effective.
  • We try to remain down to earth and in touch with customer's real pains. Everyone at Unusual works in the customer service department.
  • We do whatever it takes. When we know what we must do, we don't take shortcuts or shy away from huge ugly challenges. That means we usually work pretty hard, and occasionally have to do some big sprints.
Unusual
Founded:2024
Batch:F24
Team Size:4
Status:
Active
Location:San Francisco
Founders
Will Jack
Will Jack
Founder
Keller Maloney
Keller Maloney
Founder