Account Development Representative (Chicago, IL) (Hybrid)

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others. Kong is the API and AI gateway company powering the connections behind the world's most demanding digital businesses, and now, its AI agents. We're building the infrastructure layer that lets enterprises govern APIs, tokens, and autonomous agents with equal confidence. Why Kong? The Mission: We sit at the center of the shift from traditional API management to AI Gateway and token governance helping enterprises put guardrails around the agentic systems they're racing to deploy. The Momentum: Category-defining product, enterprise logos, and a GTM engine built from the ground up for the AI era, not retrofitted onto one. The DNA: We look for people who treat outbound as a craft, not a numbers game. Curious operators who want to run at the frontier of AI-led selling. The Role AI hasn't just changed what we sell, it's changed how we sell it. As an Account Development Representative (ADR) at Kong, you'll be one of the first voices prospects hear about the next generation of API and AI Agent management, and you'll do it using the same class of AI-native tooling and signal-based workflows we sell. You won't be grinding through generic call lists. You'll operate inside a signal-based pipeline built on tools like Nooks, Octave, and ZoomInfo, surfacing accounts showing real buying intent (competitor churn signals, funding events, tech-stack shifts, hiring patterns) and turning that intelligence into sharp, personalized conversations. What You'll Be Doing

• Run signal-based prospecting across a defined set of intent categories competitive displacement, infrastructure investment, AI/agent initiatives, and more, rather than blanket outbound.
• Partner with Marketing and RevOps to build AI-assisted, auto-personalized outbound sequences across email, LinkedIn, and phone.
• Use AI-enabled prospecting and enrichment platforms to research accounts, tailor messaging, and multi-thread into CFO, CTO, and CISO personas.
• Qualify and convert inbound interest quickly, applying a modern qualification framework built for fast-moving AI buying cycles (tension, economic impact, buying mandate, proof, and optionality) rather than legacy checklist selling.
• Continuously test messaging, sequencing, and calling approaches, treating your pipeline like an experiment you're always optimizing.
• Build a point of view and public presence in the API/AI infrastructure space, becoming a trusted resource for prospects navigating this shift.
• Feed market and competitive intelligence back to GTM leadership to sharpen targeting and messaging over time.
• Deepen your product fluency by partnering closely with Sales and Product, especially on how enterprises are approaching AI Gateway and token governance.

Your pipeline directly fuels a company at the center of one of the biggest infrastructure shifts in software. Essential Skills

• 1-2+ years of SDR/ADR experience in high-growth B2B SaaS, ideally selling a technical or infrastructure product.
• Genuine AI curiosity - you've used (or are eager to master) modern AI-native prospecting tools, not just traditional sequencers.
• Growth mindset - you treat skill as something built through reps, feedback, and iteration.
• Comfortable on the phone and unafraid of cold outreach; you track and improve your own conversion rate.
• Resilient and self-driven - rejection is data, not a verdict.
• Coachable - you actively seek feedback and adapt quickly to new plays and tooling.

Who Thrives Here You'll fit right in if you:

• Get energized by fast-moving AI and infrastructure markets.
• Want ownership over your process from signal to sequence to booked meeting.
• Value a culture of experimentation over rigid scripts.
• Care about the quality of every touch, not just the volume.

\*Bonus points if you've got exposure to APIs, cloud-native platforms, or AI/agent tooling but curiosity and drive matter more than a specific resume line. Life at Kong

• Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) program
• Equity - you help build the category, you share in the upside
• Flexible PTO + company holidays
• Wellness and mental health support
• Learning and development budget
• Hybrid work model with regional hubs
• Regular team events and company offsites

Kong is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status.

#LI-JS2 About Kong: Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com .