Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of Clay, will host a session titled “The GTM Engineer: How AI Created Tech’s Next Big Job Category” on the AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The session will explore how AI is transforming the traditional go-to-market (GTM) structure and how it has given rise to a new job category called the “GTM engineer.”
This role, which did not exist at most companies two years ago, is now becoming widespread in the tech industry. Clay defined the role in 2023; according to the company’s own GTM engineering guide, these specialists build automated revenue workflows instead of performing individual tasks manually. According to the company, around 100 GTM engineering job postings are published each month; companies such as Cursor, Lovable, and Webflow are among those posting these listings.
Traditional GTM work can involve hours-long tasks such as account research, data cleaning, lead qualification, and moving information between systems. GTM engineering, by contrast, envisions turning these tasks into repeatable systems using AI, data, and automation. The fundamental question for founders and GTM leaders is this: Should more people be hired to run the existing process, or should systems be built that allow the existing team to work differently?
Clay itself is an example of this transformation. Founded in Brooklyn in 2017, the company set out with the goal of opening up the power of programming to more people; its first product was a spreadsheet that enabled data connection and business automation without writing code. When salespeople, growth teams, and agencies began using the product to find customers, the company shifted toward the GTM space. Today, Clay provides GTM teams with data access, agent-based workflows, and campaign infrastructure; its OpenAI-powered agent, Claygent, automates research and outreach for sales, marketing, and recruiting teams.
Rapid growth accompanied this transformation. According to TechCrunch’s report in February, the company tripled its annual recurring revenue in one year, reaching $100 million, and announced a tender offer for employees at a $5 billion valuation. In September, Clay announced that it had raised a $115 million Series D round at a $7.1 billion valuation. Also in September, the company announced a $1 million scholarship fund to train GTM engineers.
Before Clay, Amin served as vice president of product at The Wall Street Journal and founded Frame, a collaboration startup that was acquired by Sailthru in 2012.
Amin’s session is just one of more than 200 sessions at Disrupt. The numbers for the event, which will take place October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, are as follows:
- More than 200 sessions, roundtables, and workshops across six industry stages
- More than 10,000 founders, investors, executives, and technology leaders
- More than 250 speakers
- More than 300 exhibiting startups
The event also aims to bring participants together with potential customers, investors, and business partners through matchmaking, deal-making, and networking opportunities. At the event, where the second ticket is offered at a 50 percent discount, additional discounts apply for groups of four or more people.
Why it matters
This development shows that AI is transforming not only products but also organizational charts in the technology sector. The fact that a role that did not exist two years ago is now sought after with roughly 100 job postings per month points to a shift in the competencies sought in sales and marketing; a new area of expertise is opening up for job seekers and recruiters alike. For founders, the issue boils down to a choice between achieving growth by expanding headcount or by building automation systems. Clay’s allocation of resources to a scholarship fund implies that the supply of trained talent in this field is falling short of demand. The open question is whether GTM engineering will become a lasting profession or whether it will be absorbed into standard sales and marketing roles as AI tools become more widespread.
Background
Disrupt is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 18 stories featuring this name in the last 90 days; the most recent is dated October 6, 2026.
Term: agent
An AI agent is software that, rather than producing a single response, calls tools and carries out multi-step tasks to achieve a goal.