Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - Kabuni (https://kabuni.com/)
Pune, India | Strategic Hire for 2026
Location
Pune, India (Hybrid)
Reports to
COO
Key Partner
CPO (Matt McCartney)
Start Timeline
Strategic hire for 2026; exploratory conversations commencing now.
The Opportunity
Kabuni is an AI sports coaching platform dedicated to unlocking the true potential of every athlete. We give players access to professional-grade coaching, combining biomechanics, multimodal AI, and elite performance data to deliver real-time guidance that was once available only to academy athletes.
Starting with cricket, and with India as our core market, Kabuni is building a global ecosystem where coaching, gaming, and talent discovery come together. We are creating not just a product, but a movement powered by community, technology, and purpose.
Our mission is simple:
We are seeking our first CTO to be the foundational technology leader in Pune. You will build our long-term technical capability and own our global platform. This is a strategic leadership role with a critical initial phase: providing technical direction to our external development partner, Cambridge Design Partners (CDP), and executing a seamless transition to a full-scale, in-house engineering team in India.
Key Responsibilities
Technology Strategy & Transition Leadership:
Own the multi-year technical roadmap. Provide technical direction and oversight to Cambridge Design Partners for the launch version, ensuring it meets our strategic, quality, and scalability standards while planning the handover.Team Building & Scaling:
Establish and grow our core engineering centre of excellence in Pune. Create and execute a strategic headcount plan to build and lead a world-class team. Establish and grow our core engineering centre of excellence in Pune.Platform Ownership & Delivery:
Assume ultimate ownership of the end-to-end technology platform. Institute excellence in software development, CI/CD, QA, DevOps, and MLOps practices within the new team.AI/ML & Data Strategy:
Spearhead the development and evolution of our proprietary data pipelines and MLOps platform, which form the core IP of our coaching algorithms.Vendor & Partner Management:
Manage the critical relationship with CDP during the transition and evaluate other key technology partnerships.
Technical Competence & Experience
1. Core Software Engineering & Platform Architecture
Full-Stack Technical Vision:
Proven ability to architect and oversee end-to-end systems that integrate complex backend AI processing with consumer-facing 3D/mobile applications.Games Engine & Real-Time 3D Expertise:
Substantial professional experience with Unity and/or Unreal Engine for 3D presentation. Must have a track record of managing mixed-discipline scrum teams (frontend/backend engineers, 3D artists, technical designers, DevOps).Frontend & Deployment Mastery:
Deep experience in frontend application development for games, mobile, or high-performance web. Must have hands-on knowledge of modern CI/CD pipelines, multi-APK deployment strategies, and managing the full lifecycle of applications on Google Play and Apple App Stores.Scalable Cloud-Native Backend:
Demonstrated experience designing, building, and optimising secure, high-availability backend services on AWS, GCP, or Azure. Architecture must be designed for global scale with low-latency requirements.
2. Scalable Data & AI/ML Infrastructure (Critical Differentiator)
Large-Scale Video Data Pipeline:
Proven experience building and operating petabyte-scale data ingestion and processing pipelines, specifically for video and image data. This includes managing ingest from broadcast partners and user-generated content.MLOps & AI Platform Leadership:
Hands-on experience establishing a production-grade MLOps practice—encompassing data versioning, feature stores, model training/serving infrastructure, monitoring, and performance drift detection. Must understand cost optimisation for large-scale GPU training and inference.Applied Computer Vision Expertise:
Strong conceptual and practical understanding of the core AI/ML models: 2D/3D Human Pose Estimation, Object (Ball) Tracking, and Trajectory Prediction. Familiarity with voice synthesis and the responsible application of LLMs to structured media libraries is advantageous.
3. Security, Compliance & Systems Integrity
Security & Privacy by Design:
A fundamental commitment to embedding security into the SDLC. Must have experience implementing frameworks to protect sensitive IP, including proprietary AI models, source code, and user data.Advanced Data Compliance:
In-depth knowledge of GDPR and biometric/performance data privacy regulations (e.g., BIPA, evolving Indian digital laws). Experience implementing "right to be forgotten," granular access controls, and comprehensive audit trails in complex data systems is essential.
4. Strategic Technical Leadership for Scale
Global Performance Architecture:
Specific, proven experience architecting systems for optimal performance in the Indian and APAC markets. This includes CDN strategy, database geo-replication, and cost-effective infrastructure design for low-latency consumer experiences.Vendor & Tech Partnership Management:
Ability to evaluate, select, and manage critical third-party technologies, cloud services, and data partnerships integral to the platform.Technical Roadmapping & Debt Management:
Expertise in creating and executing a multi-year technical roadmap aligned with product and business goals. Must be adept at strategic build-vs.-buy decisions and managing technical debt in a high-growth environment.
5. Highly Advantageous
Mixed Reality (MR) / Spatial Computing Concepts:
An understanding of MR principles and spatial design, informing potential future product evolution.Hardware-Aware Software Development:
Knowledge of video capture hardware (sensors, cameras) and the accompanying software stack for processing and streaming media to applications.Experience Building Teams in Pune/India:
A proven track record of building, mentoring, and scaling high-performing engineering teams specifically within the Indian tech talent market.
Given the strategic nature of this role and the handover from CDP, we place a premium on proven experience in:
Technical oversight of external development teams
and managing complex technical partnerships.Building and scaling high-performance engineering organisations
from the ground up.Strategic architecture decisions
that account for long-term ownership and scale, not just immediate delivery.
Candidate Profile
We are looking for a leader who possesses:
Strategic Vision with Execution Grit:
You can set a clear multi-year technology vision and direct internal and external teams to deliver it.A Builder's Mindset:
You are passionate about creating high-performing teams, establishing engineering culture, and growing senior talent.Exceptional Communication & Influence:
You bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders and manage complex partner relationships with professionalism.Systems Thinking:
You focus on creating durable, scalable systems and processes to ensure a successful transition and long-term platform health.
You need to have led a team of at least 5 engineers previously, either at CTO level or reporting directly into Group CTO at a large organisation. You must have at least 10 years of post-university hands-on technical experience of scaling a technical team.
What We Offer
- The opportunity to be the foundational technology leader of a high-potential global startup.
- A central role in defining a new category at the intersection of sports, AI, and consumer technology.
- Significant equity/ESOP package.
- Competitive executive compensation, commensurate with experience and seniority.
Process
We are initiating exploratory conversations well in advance for this critical 2026 leadership role. Our process will involve discussions with our CEO, COO and CPO, and a deep-dive on technical and organisational strategy.
