Head of AI

Protogon Research builds AI models with a deep understanding of the world, monetizing them through proprietary trading. Founded and led by serial entrepreneur Rafael Cosman—co-founder of Archblock and the True Fi DeFi protocol—Protogon is charting a path toward superintelligence.

Why Trading?

Focusing on trading provides several key advantages:

• Proprietary models and datasets – This helps us avoid the race-to-the-bottom faced by many other AI companies.

• Fast innovation cycle – Technological advancements directly translate into increased revenue, allowing us to rapidly test and implement improvements.

• Pure focus on AI development – With no need for sales, marketing, or customer support, we can concentrate on building groundbreaking systems.

• True understanding, not imitation – We create AI that deeply understands the world, rather than just replicating human behavior or generating superficial outputs.

We believe trading is a powerful testbed for developing highly intelligent AI systems, offering unique advantages over other approaches. Backed by top VCs, our highly technical team is on a mission to build the most transformative invention of the 21st century.

Unlike traditional quant funds, our goal isn't to focus on short-term profits but to build the long-term success of our AI technology. While we leverage AI for trading, everything—from our investors to our culture—is aligned with this vision of lasting impact. Moreover, we're not just another AI company layering a thin wrapper over existing technologies or burning through resources on models that add little value.

Our work is original, proprietary, and defensible.

We are a small, dynamic team of eight based in Redwood City, CA, and we are seeking a talented Head of AI to help us build impactful technology and drive innovation. We believe working in person fosters the most fun, engaging, and creative work, so this role will be based at our Redwood City office.

Responsibilities and Expectations

• AI Strategy & Advanced Modeling Leadership Set the long-term AI research vision in partnership with the CEO and Head of Trading, defining the modeling approaches and architectural directions that will drive AI advances. Lead development of next-generation production-ready models that improve predictive capability, robustness, and adaptivity across diverse market conditions, with a focus on practical implementation and measurable real-world impact.

• Building & Leading the AI Team Build and lead a world-class AI team across research, engineering, and infrastructure. Foster a culture focused on applied research, rapid iteration, and operational excellence. Ensure tight collaboration with trading and operations teams to enable rapid hypothesis evaluation, integration of trading insights into modeling, and efficient experimentation across multiple research tracks.

• AI Systems, Data Pipelines & Model Quality Improvements Own the end-to-end AI platform, including data pipelines, training systems, and evaluation frameworks, ensuring models operate reliably and efficiently within both training and trading workflows.

• Align AI Strategy With Trading Objectives Translate trading objectives and market hypotheses into a cohesive AI roadmap.

Partner closely with the Head of Trading to prioritize high-impact research, validate modeling approaches, and ensure predictable execution across research, engineering, and trading.

Who You Are

• Experienced AI/ML Leader:

You bring 7–10+ years of applied machine learning and AI systems experience, with 3–6 years leading multi-disciplinary teams across research, engineering, and infrastructure. You have a proven ability to set technical direction, build high-performing teams, and guide research from concept to production in environments where model performance has direct business impact.

• Strategic & Applied Problem Solver:

You can translate trading objectives and market hypotheses into a cohesive AI research agenda, prioritizing work that enables meaningful improvements in performance and robustness. You communicate clearly across trading, operations, and executive teams, aligning research direction with firm-wide goals.

• Deep…