Principal Solutions Engineer, AI Agent

About the role:

As a Principal Solutions Engineer, AI Agent you will serve as the dedicated expert on AI Agent technology, a specialist resource who engages early in the sales cycle to drive and support AI Agent opportunities alongside our Core Solutions Engineering team. You bring expertise that Core SEs can pull in at the right moments, owning the AI Agent technical narrative end-to-end: from workshop facilitation and use case design through high-stakes demos and API discovery. You are a force multiplier who makes every AI Agent opportunity stronger.

Responsibilities:

• Be the AI Agent expert. Serve as the go-to internal and external expert on Cresta's AI Agent capabilities, engaging early in the sales process to establish technical credibility and accelerate opportunity velocity.
• Work hand-in-hand with Core SEs. Partner closely with Core SEs as the AI Agent specialist, owning the AI Agent technical narrative.
• Lead AI Agent workshops. Design and facilitate technical discovery workshops with prospective customers to explore AI Agent use cases, define implementation scope, and align on a path to value, translating business problems into agent-powered solutions.
• Own use case and API discovery. Lead deep-dive technical discovery sessions to surface, propose, and refine AI Agent use cases. Evaluate integration requirements and API feasibility to give the deal a solid technical foundation.
• Support high-stakes AI Agent demos. You step in to own the most complex and high-stakes AI Agent demonstrations in partnership with the Core SE team.
• Engage early as a specialist resource. Enter opportunities early, helping to qualify and shape AI Agent deals before proof-of-value, bringing depth and structure to the technical conversation from the start.
• Build the business case. Partner with Sales Directors and Core SEs to translate AI Agent solutions into financial ROI models, contributing to ROI workshops and framing the business case in terms that resonate with economic buyers.
• Partner with FDX. Collaborate closely with Forward Deployed PMs and Engineers in both directions, ensuring smooth handoff from pre-sale to deployment and pulling FDX learnings on agent performance, edge cases, and customer outcomes back into pre-sale positioning and discovery.
• Close the product feedback loop. Synthesize patterns from AI Agent opportunities and provide structured feedback to Product and Engineering, accelerating Cresta's roadmap to stay ahead of enterprise demand.
• Elevate the SE team's AI Agent fluency. Share expertise across the broader SE organization through enablement, playbooks, and informal coaching, raising the team's collective capability.

Qualifications We Value:

• 5+ years in a customer-facing technical role, with at least 1–3 years in pre-sales selling to large enterprises
• Hands-on experience designing, building, or selling AI Agents or agentic AI systems, including familiarity with agent frameworks, orchestration patterns, and LLM-based architectures
• Practical understanding of APIs, integration patterns, and how enterprise systems connect to AI Agent workflows
• Experience with Conversational AI, contact center platforms, or voice/chat automation technologies
• Demonstrated ability to make complex AI concepts accessible, translating technical depth into clear business value for both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Natural workshop facilitator and collaborator, equally comfortable whiteboarding with a prospect's engineering team and presenting to a C-suite audience
• Highly organized, meticulous in preparation, and relentlessly focused on delivering excellent prospect experiences
• Resourceful problem-solver who can navigate ambiguity, rally internal support, and drive complex technical conversations to a clear outcome
• Ability to write Python for prototyping, scripting, or demo customization is a plus
• Familiarity with Salesforce.com and enterprise contact center technologies is a plus
• You embody our core values

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.

The posted base salary range represents what we expect to pay for this role in a given location. Final offers are shaped by factors like experience, skills, education, and geography. In addition to base pay, total compensation includes equity and a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family.

This role is variable target compensation eligible. There is potential to exceed target earnings when goals are surpassed.

OTE Range: $160,000-$205,000 + variable & Offers Equity