Strategic Pursuits: The Role Companies Don’t Know They Need (Yet)

In an era where AI can’t see the field and static org structures are breaking, I’m seeing a new human-driven role emerge inside leading tech companies.

Photo by José Martín Ramírez Carrasco on Unsplash

Everyone I meet lately feels like they’re a little clueless about what’s going on in AI—because things are moving too fast for anyone to keep up.

Companies that scaled during Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 are now trying to rethink how they engage with startups—because many of today’s AI-first companies are generating and scaling revenue at a pace that breaks old playbooks.

One pattern I’m seeing: even the most advanced tech companies are questioning whether their For Startups flywheels are built to meet this moment. (Think: [Company] For Startups, Startup/Venture Coverage Teams, Corp Dev, Product Teams, etc.)

In the past few weeks, I’ve heard versions of this challenge from leaders at a large GPU provider and at a leading cloud monitoring and observability platform:

"We know we need to be close to the best founders—but our current org structure isn’t built for this pace. We need someone who’s out in the field, not behind a laptop."

One leader called this need Strategic Pursuits. They weren’t looking for a deck builder or a product marketer. They were looking for a human who could do what AI can’t do:

• Stay in the flow of hidden insights

• Know the best operators and VCs (especially earliest-stage)

• Build relationships with founders well before breakout

• Help inform multiple internal teams—from Corp Dev to Product to GTM

It reminded me of the window around 2013–2014 when I moved to the Bay Area. BizOps roles were becoming the new internal connective tissue—former consultants joining companies like LinkedIn or NerdWallet to plug gaps, translate strategy to action, and flex across teams.

But Strategic Pursuits is something new. More externally oriented.
More network-driven.
More about information advantage than analysis.

The ideal profiles?

• Former founders who know how to operate with resource constraints

• High EQ, high IQ VCs and operators who live in the network flow

• People who can both gather intelligence and translate it to internal teams in ways they can act on

And why now?
Because we are in an era where old patterns are shattered:

• Your ICP isn’t static anymore

• Your competition isn’t static anymore

• Threats and opportunities emerge faster than your org chart can adapt

Companies that understand this—and that empower adaptable, externally fluent humans—will be the ones best positioned to attach themselves to the next breakout wave.

This isn’t just about startups or venture firms. I’m seeing this same hunger across hyperscalers, public tech companies, corporate innovation groups.

I expect Strategic Pursuits to become a defined role inside these organizations in the next 12–18 months. The need is already here.

Curious what others are seeing: are you noticing this pattern? Who do you think is best suited to succeed in these roles?

— eiv