Co-Founder, CTO, Physical AI for Process Industries

Job description

ABOUT MARBLE Marble https://marble.studio/ is a climate tech venture studio. We partner with scientists, engineers, and operators to create companies solving hard climate problems in the world's largest industries. Our first 14 companies https://marble.studio/companies are building transformative products across energy, industry, agriculture, and climate resilience. 100% have been successful in raising follow-on to date. We are looking to partner with exceptional individuals to create our next venture. The opportunity below is a founding role in our next company creation, which we think will be absolutely massive! MAKING PROCESS PLANTS INTELLIGENT & EFFICIENT Process industries - food & beverage, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metals, and materials - form the backbone of the global economy. In the EU alone, they generate €5T in annual revenue and consume 75-80% of all industrial energy. But inside these plants, critical decisions are still driven by conservative operating conditions, fragmented data, and operator intuition. As a result, 15-25% of plant revenue (~€1T annually) is lost to inefficiencies from over-cleaning, undetected fouling, suboptimal process conditions, and siloed optimisation. We want to support industrial competitiveness by focusing on addressing these process inefficiencies. These problems aren’t caused by a lack of data. Most plants produce continuous data from thousands of sensors, but that data sits locked in silos. Integration is slow, contextualisation is poor, analysis models are bespoke, and replication across sites takes months. We are building a new platform using AI and innovative modelling to solve these challenges, creating better decisions based on existing data and enabling it to scale across plants, faster. THE OPPORTUNITY We are building the physical AI for process plants: a system that combines physics-based models, live sensor data, and machine learning to make equipment behaviour observable and provide real-time recommendations across operations. We have identified a key entry point that has previously been overlooked. Where customer pain is high, and deployment is fast. Solving it delivers immediate savings across energy, water, chemicals, and downtime. And we’re already signing paid pilots. This early use case allows us to build the foundations of our platform. From there, our approach extends to adjacent unit operations within the plant and across industries, with the long-term vision of a unified layer that optimises process plant operations in real time. At scale, we address a €300B market, reduce industrial energy spend by 15%, and tackle 4% of global CO₂ emissions. We are looking for a CTO and Co-Founder with world-class ML engineering experience who wants to apply their talent to improving the physical world. You will take full ownership of the technical direction and execution, from early pilots to full-scale deployment. You will shape the platform models and architecture (data curation & contextualisation, physics models, ML pipelines, operator-facing apps), focused on building a robust, replicable product. As we scale, you will build the engineering team and set the bar for technical excellence. You will join our current Founder in Residence and CEO: a PhD in process engineering from ETH Zurich, with experience working on the factory floor across pulp & paper, waste-to-energy, cement, and food production. He has developed hybrid physics-ML models and optimised production lines. He brings deep knowledge of both the physics and the customer, and an obsession with making the industry better. REQUIREMENTS We are looking for an entrepreneurial Applied AI/ML Engineer who can turn ambiguous problems into a technical vision and operational reality. You have a driving motivation to build the future of industrial process plant operations. Must have: - Deep ML expertise across at least two of physics-informed models, time-series, reinforcement learning, or agentic systems; and the judgement to choose the right tool not the fanciest. - Comfortable turning dirty data into reliable training sets through sensor data curation, plant-graph contextualisation, and integration with semi-structured records. - AI-native by default, leveraging agents, automations, and AI workflows, and are ready to drive that culture as the company scales. You can architect and build our platform MVP from the ground up. You have deployed ML products in messy, real-world environments. You understand commissioning, safety constraints, and human-in-the-loop workflows. The ideal candidate will have prior experience working in or alongside process industries, and a hands-on understanding of industrial data stacks (OPC UA / SCADA / MES / ERP / historians), data compliance (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001) and industrial safety frameworks (IEC 61508, ATEX, GxP). Above all, the candidate should have an entrepreneurial mindset and a clear willingness to take ownership in a co-founder role. Location: We are primarily seeking candidates based in Europe, with a preference for France or Switzerland, with the ability to travel to project sites across the region when necessary. Examples of relevant backgrounds. - Senior Applied AI/ML Engineer or Forward Deployed Engineer who's deployed ML systems for industrial customers at a world-leading tech company or industrial AI startup - AI/ML Research engineer or scientist from an applied ML team with a track record of deploying and validating solutions in production, for example working on physical AI - Startup founder / operator with technical leadership experience in applied ML and production deployments in industrial environments You’re encouraged to apply even if your background isn’t a perfect match. Above all, we value intelligence, creativity, and founder potential. WHAT WE OFFER You will, of course, have the opportunity to meet and work with them before making any big commitments! We offer (among other things) - A €3,000 monthly allowance during your participation in the programme - €250,000 inception funding at incorporation, if you are successful. You and your team will own 80% of the company at incorporation. - Full-stack support in our venture creation programme - Mentorship and guidance at every step of the way - Hands-on support across technology and market research, landing interviews with experts and customers, techno-economic modelling, roadmap and scale-up strategy, sourcing your future co-founders and advisors, and more - Access to an unparalleled network across science, industry, talent, investors, mentors, and other climate deeptech founders - Access to our research insights, knowledge base, and curated resources - Weekly check-ins, work sessions in our Paris HQ (or remote), and continuous peer learning with other programme participants - Seed fundraising support after the programme. Introductions to the best seed investors and help with term sheet negotiation. - Founder visa sponsorship if you wish to relocate to France. Remote participation would be a challenge, but we're open to finding different partnership formats. We believe that a diverse group of minds is key to solving the climate crisis. We encourage women and people of colour to apply. Studies have shown that underrepresented candidates are less likely to apply for an opportunity unless they feel they meet every single qualification. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and mission-driven cohort. If you’re excited about the programme but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with what you read on our website, we encourage you to apply anyway! FAQS For a full list of FAQs, please visit our website https://marble.studio/faq.