> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/2720269-strategically-minded-cto](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/2720269-strategically-minded-cto). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # strategically-minded CTO - **Company:** SEMIOTIC AI, INC. - **Location:** United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Software Quality, Communications Protocols, Distributed Systems, Online Banking, Payment Systems, Systems Architecture, Web 2.0, Stripe, Ethereum, Real Time Data, Solidity, Web3.js - **Published:** September 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/semioticai-chief-technology-officer-cto-ai-to-ai-micropayments-decircle-8349840 ## About the Role * 7+ years of experience building distributed systems, ideally with a focus on scalability, protocol engineering, or financial infrastructure. * Comfort with bridging the gap between research and implementation, taking ideas from whitepapers to running systems. * Technical leadership in early-stage environments, preferably within Web3, fintech, or systems infrastructure. * Strong proficiency in Rust or Go, with working knowledge of smart contract development and on-chain execution, ideally in Solidity. * Familiarity with agent-based orchestration frameworks, coordination economies, or embedded AI tools. * Previous experience building payment protocols or protocol abstraction services * Strong grasp of payment flow architecture, including on-chain/off-chain interactions, cryptographic commitments, state channel design, and wallet infrastructure. * Clear and rigorous communicator; able to guide architectural decisions, explain tradeoffs, and pitch technical visions across stakeholder groups. Differentiators * Experience with AI x crypto hybrid systems or agent coordination in real-time data networks. * Experience with traditional payment systems (e.g. SWIFT, SEPA, ACH, Fedwire, Visa/Mastercard, Stripe, Plaid, Open Banking APIs). * Familiarity with on-chain payment rails (e.g. Ethereum, L2s like zkSync/Starknet, Solana Pay, Cosmos IBC, LayerZero, Axelar). * Understanding of EOAs and Account Abstraction developments like EIP-7702. * Awareness of protocol-level enhancements like the PAY opcode (EIP-5920) for native ETH transfers. * Experience bridging fiat and crypto flows, including on/off-ramps, stablecoins (USDC, DAI), and compliance layers (KYC, AML). ## Description This new protocol will serve as a payment substrate for autonomous agents, enabling granular, per-interaction value exchange across services, data feeds, and coordination layers. We believe that unlocking frictionless micro-transactions between intelligent agents is a prerequisite for the next evolution of economic coordination, and we're assembling the team who is going to make it happen. We're seeking a technically seasoned, strategically-minded CTO to lead this endeavour, someone who can bridge the rigour of systems architecture with the flexibility and pace of early-stage product development. Think: agents paying to query a subgraph, trigger a smart contract, or use compute. Think: embedded wallets, real-time payments and cryptographic receipts, all abstracted away in an invisible, seamless UX. The Mission. As the CTO of this initiative, you will design and steward the technical foundation for a machine-native payments layer. You'll architect systems, define standards, mentor contributors, and ensure that every engineering decision aligns with our broader strategic direction. That of enabling trust-minimized, low-cost, composable agent-to-agent commerce in both Web3 and Web2 environments. This is a deeply cross-disciplinary challenge, requiring fluency in Distributed Systems, On-Chain Logic, Cryptographic design, protocol scalability, and payments architecture. Your Areas of Play Technical Architecture & Protocol Design * Define the system-level architecture for agent-centric payments, including state channels, settlement layer, agent identity and reputation, wallet layers, plus on/off-ramping solutions. * Translate cryptographic and academic research into secure, performant, and modular protocol components. * Standardize a framework for agent-to-agent and agent-to-service payments, supporting high throughput, privacy, and cost-efficiency. * Lead or advise in the implementation of PoC agents, which can include DeFi data consumers and service access agents. * Define payment flow primitives that support machine coordination, access control, and service gating across decentralized infrastructure. Strategic Leadership & Roadmapping * Define and own the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for the micropayments protocol. * Co-develop the technical roadmap with the CEO, Head of Research and Cryptography team. * Define and prioritize development phases: from concept, prototype, MVP and final product. * Balance rapid product iterations with long-term scalability and integration viability. * Translate research and early-stage concepts into working protocols, interfaces, and dev infrastructure. * Partner with the CEO and Research team to synthesize market opportunity, technical constraints, and user needs into a coherent product vision. Team Leadership & Engineering Culture * Serve as an internal thought leader and external evangelist. * Establish robust processes for code quality, dev tooling, review, and testing. * Shape the technical team structure; hire, mentor, and align contributors with clearly defined technical goals. * Define and uphold standards for quality, velocity, and engineering excellence, fostering a strong culture of technical ownership, experimentation, and delivery. Ecosystem & Fundraising Support * Represent Semiotic.AI in research circles, dev conferences, and protocol working groups. * Support fundraising through technical diligence, roadmap presentation, and investor communication. * Coordinate conversations with integration partners, infra providers, and agent protocol developers. * Become the Subject Matter Expert on product Architecture. ## Related Videos - [Navigating Growth, Scaling Challenges, and Office Expansions with David Singleton, CTO at Stripe](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100362-navigating-growth-scaling-challenges-and-office-expansions-with-david-singleton-cto-at-stripe) - [Throwing off the burdens of scale in engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/608-throwing-off-the-burdens-of-scale-in-engineering) - [Smart Contract fundamentals - My first DApp](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/52-smart-contract-fundamentals-my-first-dapp) - [Web3: Embracing the Next Era of the Internet Within a Web2 Landscape](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/635-web3-embracing-the-next-era-of-the-internet-within-a-web2-landscape) - [Teaching agents to pay: what devs need to know](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100334-teaching-agents-to-pay-what-devs-need-to-know) - [WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Build Real Things: Real-World Problems That Blockchain Actually Solves](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1369-wearedevelopers-live-build-real-things-real-world-problems-that-blockchain-actually-solves) ## Related Articles - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [The Best X (Twitter) Accounts for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/294-the-best-x-twitter-accounts-for-developers) - [E-Commerce in the Agentic Age: When "Buy" Becomes a Function Call](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/750-e-commerce-in-the-agentic-age-when-buy-becomes-a-function-call) - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Dev Digest 137 - AI'm not sure about this](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/485-dev-digest-137-ai-m-not-sure-about-this)