Ibán Ríos
I put AI to work in your company. You get the work done, not another tool.
I step into your company, understand how your team works and build AI agents, automations or software that do real tasks with your data.
Today I do this across Sesame HR as Head of AI GTM Engineering. In 2021, before ChatGPT, I co-founded my own conversational AI startup and led it. Before that I was Global Lead, Automation & Tech at Dentsu in London.
- Head of AI GTM Engineering, Sesame HR
- Co-founder and lead of Chat Ergo Bot, 2021
- Before that, Dentsu, London
Head of AI GTM Engineering since April 2026, reporting directly to the CRO, COO and CEO.
Before Chat Ergo Bot, in 2020, #YoMeTesteoEnCasa: the first COVID-19 self-assessment tool for the whole of Spain, built in 24 hours.
Service-as-Software: you pay for finished, accepted work
Until now, buying software meant buying a tool. Someone on your team had to learn it, feed it and check what it said. If nobody did, the tool sat unused.
Now AI can do that work end to end: qualify incoming leads, write the report or check the case file.
Service-as-Software means selling that finished work. You do not buy licences or hours: you pay for each result that meets what we agreed. Before starting, we put in writing what counts as done and how AI models and third-party tools are paid for. You see those costs in the monthly report.
It suits repetitive tasks whose result can be checked.
Service-as-Software, step by step
Foundation Capital named it in 2024. In March 2026 Julien Bek, a partner at Sequoia, took it further in “Services: The New Software”.
Inside your company, with your team
An AI system that works in a demo is useless if it does not understand how your company works: your tools, your data, the exceptions nobody wrote down.
So I do not work from the outside. I work the way a forward deployed engineer does: with your team, I get to know how the work is really done and build the solution inside your systems, until it works.
The build has an end date: it ends when the system meets what we agreed. Then I maintain it, with the scope each project needs.
You can always see what the system does, why it does it and what it costs. Every month you get a report on results and cost.
That is how I work with every client, and inside Sesame HR too, where every team is an internal client.
Why selling results means working inside the client
The term comes from Palantir: engineers who work inside a single client, build whatever that client needs and are judged by its result. In June 2025 a16z called it the hottest job in startups.
What a programmable organization looks like
My view: a company is a system, and with AI it can be programmed. Its processes are in view and change under control. In every area, AI agents do part of the work, people bring judgement where it matters, and someone decides what gets built and answers for the result. I apply it every day at Sesame HR, across six areas and five markets, and at other companies that work with me.
Each agent or tool specializes in one thing and is part of a chain: it uses what others produce and feeds other flows. That way every decision is made with the best information. They are gears of the same engine.
Ibán: decides and is accountable
I decide what gets built, set the rules the agents work under, and answer for the result.
One possible example of what it could look like, area by area:
Marketing
One agent watches the campaigns and another prepares ads and content in several languages. What they learn flows to sales and data.
People choose the message and the budget, and approve what gets published.
Sales and revenue
An agent supports the sales team: it qualifies every lead using what marketing already knows, hands it to the right person, and can even close simple sales. Every closed deal goes back to marketing to sharpen who to look for.
Salespeople own the conversations and the deals that matter.
Data and market
One agent tracks competitors and another measures which channel brings revenue. The other areas draw on this, and leaders ask in plain language.
Leaders decide what the numbers mean and what to do next.
Internal tools
Agents build and look after the portals and tools that connect each piece to the others.
The teams that use them say what they need and whether it works.
Quality and security
An agent checks every change, whichever area it comes from, before it goes live, and keeps keys and permissions locked down.
A person sets the rules, not an agent, and only a person can loosen them.
Research
An agent reads documentation, regulation and new tools, and writes down what it learns for the others to use.
A person decides, not an agent, and answers for the decision.
What stays human
- Strategy: deciding what matters and what to leave out.
- Judgement: knowing when an answer is wrong, even if it looks right.
- Relationships with customers, colleagues and partners.
- Taste and new ideas.
- Leading the people who work around the system.
- Answering for the result.
Why this is not vibecoding
Today anyone can ask an AI for a website, a chatbot or an agent, including that nephew who is so good with computers, and it works by the evening. That is called vibecoding: accepting what the AI produces without reading or testing it. Fine for a trial. Not for a system your business depends on.
Security and data
Vibecoding
Keys end up inside the code, the agent obeys instructions hidden in an email, and customer data travels to unreviewed tools.
How I do it
Security comes first: keys outside the code, only the permissions each task needs, and nothing from outside is treated as an order. GDPR and the AI Act are part of the design from the start.
Reliability
Vibecoding
It works in the demo and with ten users. With real customers, it falls over.
How I do it
Automatic tests, usage limits and cost measured per task. Every change passes checks before it goes live. I have been building systems for more than ten years and I know where they break.
Maintenance and traceability
Vibecoding
Each automation runs on its own. When it fails, nobody knows what it did or why, and nobody dares to touch it.
How I do it
Every piece is documented, tested and connected to the others. Everything is logged: what each agent does, why, and what it costs. What no longer serves is retired.
Business judgement
Vibecoding
It solves the task you asked for with the tool it knows, without seeing the rest of the company.
How I do it
I have worked in business, marketing, sales and product. I see how each piece affects the others before I build it. And keeping up with AI is part of my job.
What people who worked with me say
Excerpts from recommendations on my LinkedIn profile, word for word.
Fabio Fanni, Director of Revenue Operations, senior to me at Sesame HR
What impressed me most was his ability to punch above his weight: he has the expertise and capability you'd expect from a Director or VP of Demand Gen. He understood the bigger picture, could translate numbers into meaningful business outcomes, and was always looking for ways to push performance further, leading the team and peers around him to the next level.
Libby Hughes, my direct manager at Dentsu, London
Having him on my team was a delight as he was able to tackle any challenge thrown at him with determination and critical thinking, and made everyone's life easier with this outstanding knowledge of automation.
Sneha Nagesh, senior to me at PHD Media, London
Within a short period of Iban joining my team, it became clear that he had the appetite and aptitude for complex digital projects. He contributed to the wider business by trying to find new ways to create reporting dashboards, as well as improving existing processes that were repetitive but essential.
Problems you may not know you have
First I learn how your company works, from the website to how your remote team coordinates. Then I pick the solution that works, even if it's the simplest one.
Website
Your website gets visits, but it doesn't answer, doesn't filter, and you don't know why it doesn't sell.
I turn it into your first employee: it answers at any hour, filters and hands each contact to the right person. Anyone can use it, screen reader included, and you see which pages bring you clients.
Your website as your first employeeClients
Leads come in and someone decides by hand who to call first.
An agent reads every lead, scores it and assigns it to the right person. Your team calls the most interested people first.
AI agents that do real work every dayTeam
Working remotely, decisions get lost between chat, meetings and email.
I map how information travels and leave one place where decisions live and anyone can ask. Sometimes that takes an agent; sometimes a rule and someone who owns it.
Your company is already a systemData
To get a number you have to ask the one person who knows how to pull it from the CRM.
I connect the data so anyone in leadership can ask in plain language and see where each answer comes from.
A case: reports no longer built by handAI
Your team already pastes customer data into ChatGPT, and nobody decided that.
I train the team, we pick an approved tool together and write a short usage policy. The EU AI Act already asks that people using AI at a company have sufficient training.
Shadow AIControl
You've chained tools and automations and nobody knows which data goes where.
With a diagnosis, I map your systems and flows: which tools your team uses, what data passes through each one and where AI makes decisions. I show you where the risks are and where hours go.
The diagnosis
Ways to work with me
I take on only a few projects at a time, alongside my role at Sesame HR. The core service is AI agents, automations or software that do a task for you. The diagnosis picks that task.
Implementation and maintenance: finished work
Built, maintained and paid per accepted result
- Who it's for
- Companies with a repetitive task that their team or a supplier does today.
- What you get
- As a forward deployed engineer, I build what the task needs inside your systems, on your real data: an AI agent, an automation or software. Not everything needs an agent. Before the first task we agree what counts as done. You can always see what it does and what it costs: every month you get a report on results and cost per task. Then I maintain it, with the scope the project needs. It is the same approach I use for Sesame HR's internal systems.
- How it starts
- You tell me the task, who does it today and how you know it is done well.
Diagnosis: which work to hand to AI
Systems, flows, risk and lost hours
- Who it's for
- Companies looking for the task to hand to AI, or already using it and wanting to know where their data and their time go.
- What you get
- A map of your systems and flows: which tools your team uses, what data passes through each one and where AI makes decisions. With it we pick the task worth handing to AI and see where there is risk under the AI Act, GDPR and security. It finds problems; it does not certify compliance.
- How it starts
- You tell me the tools and processes you want reviewed.
AI training for teams
Applied AI, best practices and safe use
- Who it's for
- Teams that already use AI, or are about to, and need to use it well and safely.
- What you get
- Hands-on training so your team uses AI well and learns to build with it. It covers AI applied to their work, how to build their own tools and software, best practices and everyday tips. Also safe use at work: which tool to approve, a usage policy and how to protect data, in line with Article 4 of the AI Act.
- How it starts
- You tell me your team size and the tools you use today.
Teaching, talks and interviews
I explain how to use AI at work with real examples and no jargon. I teach at EDEM business school and have taught at the Universitat de València. I also train teams and talk about it on radio and in the press.
EDEM Escuela de Empresarios
Visiting lecturer. I teach some of the AI subjects of the Master's in UX/UI Design, AI and Digital Strategy, and in-company training.
Chamber of Commerce business school
From 2027 I will teach AI applied to business and HR there, in executive education.
Universitat de València
Course on e-commerce and applied digital marketing for students and alumni of UVemprén, the university's entrepreneurship programme.
Radio and press
Interviews on Radio Intereconomía, Onda Regional de Murcia, Metropolitan Radio, Capital Radio and Valencia Radio, in the Plaza Radio studio and on the Kapital Empresa podcast, among others. In the press, El Mundo, Expansión, Levante-EMV, Las Provincias, Xataka and Emprendedores, among others, have covered me or my projects. El Referente ranked Chat Ergo Bot in its Top 75 startups of Spain and Portugal (2022).
On stage
Pitched Chat Ergo Bot to investors at Forinvest, Valencia Digital Summit and Lanzadera, among others, and won the 75th edition of MentorDay's accelerator programme (2022).
Topics I talk about
Point of view
Companies are already building software with AI, fast, and almost nobody is in control of it. AI writes code that works, not code that's safe, and that ends up breaking. The answer isn't to slow AI down but to use it with control. That's what I build: systems to grow with AI, knowing at every moment what it does and what risk you are taking.
FAQ
Who is Ibán Ríos?
Ibán Ríos is Head of AI GTM Engineering at Sesame HR, based in Valencia, Spain. He sells Service-as-Software: AI agents, automations or software that do real tasks for companies, billed per accepted result. In 2021, before ChatGPT, he co-founded Chat Ergo Bot, a conversational AI startup he led. Before that, in London, he was Global Lead, Automation & Tech at Dentsu International and did paid search at PHD Media (Omnicom). He is a visiting lecturer at EDEM business school and builds independent products such as GeoAdsFinder, AIsWise and ValidWise.
Does Ibán Ríos work with companies?
Yes. He already works with other companies that have hired his services, alongside his role at Sesame HR, and takes on only a few projects at a time. It starts with a diagnosis: he maps the company's systems and flows, picks the task worth handing to AI and flags risk under the AI Act, GDPR and security. Then he builds the solution (an AI agent, an automation or software) and maintains it, with a monthly report on results and cost per task. He also trains teams in AI. To begin, use the contact form or email iban@ibanrios.com.
How does paying by result work?
Before the first task, both sides write down what counts as done: the acceptance standard. The billing unit is the result, such as a task, a processed case or a qualified lead, not the hour. The contract sets out in writing what happens if requirements change or a failure comes from your data, and the liability cap. How the costs of AI models and third-party tools are covered is also agreed in writing, and they appear in the monthly report. It is not a promise of business outcomes: what is billed is work that meets the standard.
How do I know if my company needs this?
From everyday signs. Leads assigned by hand, numbers only one person can pull, or decisions lost between chat and meetings. Also a team using ChatGPT on its own, or a website that gets visits and doesn't answer. The “Do you need it?” page lists them by type of company.
What is an AI agent?
A program that does a whole task on its own: it reads the information it needs, decides within a set of rules and acts, and leaves a trail so a person can see what it did and why. It isn't a generic chatbot or a demo: it works inside a real process, with real data and someone responsible for the result.
What is a forward deployed engineer?
An engineer who works inside the client's company, with its team and real data, and builds what that client needs until it works. They are judged by the client's result, not by the code they ship. The term comes from Palantir. Ibán Ríos works this way: the build phase has an end date, and afterwards he looks after maintenance.
What AI training does Ibán Ríos teach?
Applied AI for teams: how to use it well in their work, how to build their own tools and software with AI, best practices and tips. It includes AI literacy, in line with Article 4 of the AI Act, and safe use of AI at work: an approved tool, a usage policy and data protection. He is also a visiting lecturer at EDEM business school, where he teaches some of the AI subjects of the Master's in UX/UI Design, AI and Digital Strategy. From 2027 he will also teach at the Chamber of Commerce business school.
What is AI GTM Engineering?
GTM stands for go-to-market: everything a company does to take a product to market and sell it. AI GTM Engineering means designing, building and running the systems a company uses to sell and grow the way software is built, with more and more AI inside them. At Sesame HR, Ibán Ríos leads the company's internal AI projects: any process where information passes from one person or tool to another can be designed as a system.
What does a programmable organization mean?
Organizations are systems. A programmable organization keeps its processes in view, so they can be changed with control and improved. It does not rely on manual steps only a few people know.
What brands has Ibán Ríos worked with?
Apple, Square, HTC and Le Creuset through Dentsu International, where he worked closely with Google. Unilever and Upfield through PHD Media (Omnicom). MOBS Shoes as an independent client. Today he works at Sesame HR, closely with Meta.
Tell me what work you would hand to AI
Tell me which task takes up most of your time and how it is done today. I reply by email and tell you where I'd start, even if the answer is that you don't need anything new.
Received. I'll reply by email.
Not sent: check that you wrote your name, that the email looks like name@domain.com and that the message has at least 10 characters.
It could not be sent. Email me directly at iban@ibanrios.com.