Job Title

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS AI is moving faster than the people who govern it. Boards, regulators, and Fortune 500 leaders need a new generation of AI experts — and the infrastructure to develop, deploy, and trust them. We are building that infrastructure. This is a founding-team role. You are not employee #200 at a Series C. You are the first dedicated operations hire at a platform that has the strategy, the IP, and the network — and now needs the operational backbone to bring it to market. If you are tired of executing other people's plans and want to be the one who turns strategy into reality, this is the seat for you. ABOUT KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS Knowledge Networks (KN) is building an integrated platform that develops, monetizes, and governs AI experts across their entire career arc — from authored thought leadership through keynote speaking, expert testimony, and board governance. The platform is supported by proprietary technology infrastructure spanning regulatory intelligence, governance simulation, and trusted scoring systems. Our affiliated programs include RegulatingAI (a 501(c)(3) with a 90,000+ subscriber newsletter and podcast) and CAIO Connect (a 501(c)(3) Fortune 500 Chief AI Officer network), alongside partnerships with Club de Madrid (representing 100+ former heads of state). Our work has appeared at UNGA, Davos, the India AI Impact Summit, and major AI summits worldwide. KN is at an inflection point: a thoroughly thought-through strategy is in place, foundational IP is being filed, and the platform is moving from planning to execution. We are looking for the operational backbone who will help turn that strategy into reality. THE ROLE This is a first dedicated hire for the platform — a founding-team role reporting directly to the Founder & Chairman. You will be the operational backbone that turns the strategy into reality across multiple revenue lines, a proprietary technology substrate, and a sequenced launch plan with specific milestones and gating criteria. This is not a status-meeting-and-Gantt-chart job. It is a zero-to-one orchestration role that requires you to make things happen across functions: standing up vendor relationships, running the hiring funnel for our growing team, coordinating outside IP counsel through a substantial filing portfolio, building the operating cadence the rest of the team will inherit, and protecting the Founder's bandwidth for the work only he can do. Trajectory: This role is positioned to grow into Chief of Staff to the Founder or VP of Operations as the platform scales. The first 90 days are about establishing trust, demonstrating cross-functional execution, and shaping the role around your strengths. WHAT YOU'LL OWN Cross-functional execution across the platform You'll run the operating rhythm across multiple business lines and product workstreams. That means: weekly stand-ups, milestone tracking against the launch plan, blocker resolution, and the quarterly business reviews that go to the Founder and Brand Council. Hiring orchestration Year 1 brings a meaningful hiring ramp across senior leadership and operating roles. You'll own the full funnel: drafting JDs (we have templates), coordinating with executive search firms for senior roles, scheduling Founder time efficiently, running reference checks, and onboarding. The earliest senior leadership hire is yours to drive end-to-end with Founder partnership. Vendor and counsel coordination Outside IP counsel, our trademark and patent portfolios, domain registrar, corporate registrar work, and trademark watch services. You'll be the single point of contact who makes sure nothing falls through the cracks across a substantial filing schedule sequenced over the year. Founder bandwidth protection Sanjay Puri, our Founder & Chairman, is the brand, the keynote voice, and the closer for the largest deals. His calendar is the constraint. You'll triage his inbox for delegate-able work, build the brief packs for his external meetings, draft his routine correspondence in his voice (short, declarative, no preamble), and protect his deep-work time for the work only he can do. Operating cadence and tooling Stand up the CRM (your call on platform), build the cross-functional KPI dashboard, establish the weekly leadership meeting, and codify the operating procedures for client onboarding, contract execution, and billing. By Q2, no client engagement should happen without flowing through systems you've built. Board and investor reporting Quarterly board updates, monthly Founder reports, and the data room for any future strategic conversations. You'll own the reporting infrastructure and the cadence — the Founder will own the narrative. WHAT YOU BRING Required ▪   7-12 years of progressive experience in project management, chief of staff, business operations, or strategy consulting roles. McKinsey/Bain/BCG/Accenture/Deloitte alumni a strong fit; tier-1 corporate strategy or PE-backed operations roles equally so. ▪   Demonstrated cross-functional execution in environments where you owned outcomes across legal, marketing, operations, and product simultaneously. You can credibly cite specific initiatives where you turned strategy into results in compressed timeframes. ▪   Founder/CEO partnership experience — you've worked directly with a founder, CEO, or division GM and understand how to extend their bandwidth without overstepping. References from prior principals will be requested. ▪   Vendor and counsel orchestration — you've coordinated outside law firms, marketing agencies, search firms, or technology vendors and understand how to keep them accountable to deliverables and budgets. ▪   Excellent written communication — you can draft a board memo, an investor update, a client email, and an internal Slack post all in different voices. The Founder writes in short declarative sentences with no preamble; you'll match that style for routine correspondence. ▪   Operational systems thinking — you instinctively look for the workflow, the checklist, the dashboard, the recurring meeting that turns a one-off into a system. You can stand up CRM, project tracking, and reporting infrastructure without needing it built for you. ▪   Bachelor's degree in business, public policy, economics, engineering, or related field. MBA welcomed but not required. Strongly preferred ▪   Familiarity with AI policy, AI governance, or the responsible-AI ecosystem — you don't need to be a technical AI expert, but you should understand the difference between EU AI Act and NIST RMF, know who NACD is, and follow the AI governance conversation. ▪   Experience with IP processes — you've worked with outside IP counsel on trademarks, patents, or both. You understand USPTO mechanics at a working level. ▪   Nonprofit or 501(c)(3) experience — KN's affiliated programs include 501(c)(3) entities; compliance and governance for nonprofit-adjacent operations differ from for-profit work in ways you should be familiar with. ▪   Network in AI policy or governance circles — relationships across policy, regulatory, government-affairs, or AI thought leadership communities are an asset given KN's policy-adjacent positioning. ▪   Event and conference operations — you've helped run executive events at scale (NACD, Aspen Ideas, Concordia, similar) and understand the operational complexity. Personal attributes that matter here ▪   High agency. You don't wait for instructions. You see what needs to happen and start doing it. The Founder will trust you with significant autonomy from Day 1; you have to earn that with judgment, not seek it through approval-seeking. ▪   Comfort with ambiguity. Early-stage means the playbook is being written as we go. You bring structure to unstructured situations without imposing rigidity that the business hasn't earned. ▪   Discretion. You'll see Founder calendar, financials, candidate compensation, partner negotiations, and internal disagreements. Confidentiality is non-negotiable. ▪   Bias to action over deliberation. We move fast. A B+ decision executed Tuesday beats an A decision executed three weeks from Tuesday. You'll know when to escalate vs. when to decide; we trust your judgment. ▪   Genuine interest in the mission. AI governance is consequential work. The platform's clients are board chairs, general counsels, regulators, and litigators making decisions that affect millions of people. If that doesn't energize you, this is the wrong role. WHAT WE OFFER Compensation ▪   Competitive base salary commensurate with experience, with details discussed during the interview process. ▪   Performance bonus tied to Year-1 platform milestones. ▪   Founding-team equity participation through KN's affiliated for-profit operating structure (details discussed in final round). ▪   Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, vision, 401(k) with match, generous PTO, and professional development budget. Work environment ▪   India-based — work from anywhere in India with reliable connectivity. Standard hours are IST with flexibility for early-morning or evening calls with the Founder and US-based team members. ▪   Travel: ~10-15% (occasional travel to the US, UAE, Singapore, and within India for major industry events and partnerships). ▪   Direct access to the Founder, the Brand Council, and the broader KN network including former heads of state, Fortune 500 CAIOs, and AI thought leaders. KN has deep ties to the Global Indian Diaspora and a strong India presence through partnerships including the India AI Impact Summit. ▪   A documented playbook — strategy notes, execution plan, brand strategy, and IP roadmap. You're not building from a blank page; you're operationalizing a thoroughly thought-through plan. Career trajectory This role is positioned to grow into Chief of Staff to the Founder or VP of Operations as the platform scales. We are looking for someone who wants to grow with the company, not someone who wants this exact title for the next five years.