--- title: 'AI Engineer at Makai Labs' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ai-engineer-makai-labs-new-york-ae1gqre90fdv' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-14' --- # AI Engineer at Makai Labs - **Company:** Makai Labs - **Location:** New York, NY - **Compensation:** $115k–$130k - **Employment:** contract - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-05-15 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/makai-labs/a350e730-8d80-4528-9d41-497acbd01223 ## Job description AI Engineer ## Who we are Makai Labs builds software that automates entire companies. We work across a diversified portfolio, which means our systems touch a wide range of domains, processes, and operational constraints. Our engineering team is small, senior, and high-output. We move fast, hold high standards, and trust each other to take ownership without being managed. ## What we're looking for Makai Labs is hiring a AI Engineer to help build AI systems for enterprise automation. This is a hands-on builder role where you’ll work closely with our engineering and design teams to prototype, ship, and improve AI-powered products and internal tools. You’ll have the opportunity to own smaller projects end to end while contributing to larger client and platform initiatives. ## Responsibilities will include - Build and improve AI-powered applications and internal tools - Rapidly prototype, experiment, and iterate across client and internal projects - Implement workflows that use LLMs, retrieval systems, agents, and structured outputs - Contribute to shared platform work and reusable tooling - Turn prototypes into reliable, client-ready systems - Conduct research, benchmarking, testing, and evaluation of new approaches - Own smaller projects or sub-projects with guidance from the team - Take ownership of deliverables and help deliver work that meets client needs - Write and maintain clear internal documentation Ideal Experience - Senior in college, recent graduate, or early-career engineer - Background in computer science (bonus if you also have business exposure) - Experience building AI applications through internships, coursework, research, or personal projects - Experience running AI experiments and iterating quickly - Strong Python skills ## What we value - Initiative and willingness to learn quickly on the job - Bias toward action and comfort with fast iteration - Interest in staying current with AI advancements and applying them in practical systems - Wants to solve hard problems Nice To Haves - Experience with APIs, backend services, or workflow automation - Familiarity with FastAPI, Flask, or similar backend frameworks - Familiarity with React and TypeScript - Familiarity with Docker and local development environments - Familiarity with testing in Python or TypeScript - Experience working with retrieval systems, embeddings, or search - Experience working with OCR, document processing, or PDF workflows - Experience with fine-tuning, benchmarking, or serving LLMs - Experience in fast-paced, high-accountability team settings Core values for Makai employees - Have a strong work ethic - Be self-sufficient and self-driven with an ownership mentality, no matter your role - Be a flexible thinker - Be congenial and a team player - Always be of service to each other and our clients, partners, and neighbors ## Benefits - Fully remote role, Eastern time zone - Opportunities to work in-person with local colleagues - Generous PTO - Full health insurance premium reimbursement - 401(k) matching - Career growth & development opportunities ## About Makai Labs ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Makai Labs develops AI-enabled process automation solutions that adapt to people, helping enterprises automate repetitive tasks and make smarter decisions. - **Entity Type**: Private (bootstrapped; no disclosed funding) - **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States - **Founded**: 2021 - **Founders**: Founded by MIT alumni (specific founder names not publicly listed; leadership includes CEO Joseph Kim, CTO Adrian Ghiuta) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Enterprise AI / Process Automation - **Target customers**: B2B – mid-market to large enterprises across industries (healthcare, finance, logistics, etc.) - **Mission**: “Workforce enablement, not employee replacement” – building human-machine teaming solutions that improve work quality while keeping people as the final check. ## Products & Services - **Enterprise Automation**: End-to-end automation services to streamline business operations, integrating various systems and processes. - **Robotic Process Automation (RPA)**: Automation of high-volume, rule-based tasks using software robots. - **Natural Language Processing (NLP)**: Textual analysis and data extraction from unstructured documents. - **Application Development**: Custom applications tailored to specific business needs. - **Computer Vision**: Image and video analysis to automate visual tasks. - **Market Intelligence**: AI-driven competitive and market research to support proactive decision-making. - **Product Design & Development**: Adaptation and improvement of existing tech tools to transform business processes. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly available - **Key Metric**: 13 employees (as of mid-2025), +90% YoY headcount growth - **Notable Investors/Partners**: None disclosed publicly - **Growth Signals**: - Active job postings: 21 (up 75% year-over-year) - LinkedIn follower growth: +163.9% yearly - Website traffic: +16.6% yearly - Expanding global presence: offices in Brazil, Poland, Romania ## Competitive Advantages - **Human-in-the-loop approach**: Technology is never 100% accurate, so Makai keeps people as the final firewall, ensuring quality and trust. - **MIT-alumni founded**: Brings 20+ years of cross-disciplinary experience in AI, computer science, UX/UI, and business. - **Full-stack AI capabilities**: Combines RPA, NLP, computer vision, and custom development under one roof – not just a point solution. - **Adaptive software**: Solutions that learn and adjust to how people work, rather than forcing users to adapt to rigid tools. ## Strategic Focus - Scaling the engineering and consulting team to meet growing client demand. - Continuing to develop “groundbreaking AI products” (per LinkedIn updates) while maintaining a strong human-in-the-loop philosophy. - Expanding into new verticals (healthcare, finance) and global markets (Europe, Latin America). ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Tight-knit, fast-moving team solving meaningful problems. Emphasis on collaboration and impact. - **Work policy**: Hybrid/remote flexibility – job postings list “In-Office or Remote”; HQ in New York with distributed team members. - **Engineering culture**: Modern tech stack (React, Python, Docker, PostgreSQL, Flask, etc.) and exposure to cutting-edge AI/ML projects. - **Growth**: Rapidly scaling company (90% headcount growth) with opportunities for ownership and career advancement. - **Perks**: Not explicitly detailed, but the company highlights “good people” and meaningful work as key draws. ## Sources 1. [makailabs.ai](https://makailabs.ai/) 2. [makailabs.ai/about](https://makailabs.ai/about) 3. [linkedin.com/company/makai-labs](https://www.linkedin.com/company/makai-labs) 4. [builtinnyc.com/company/makai-labs](https://www.builtinnyc.com/company/makai-labs) 5. [crunchbase.com/organization/makai-labs](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/makai-labs) ## Other roles at Makai Labs - [Forward Deployed AI Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-ai-analyst-makai-labs-new-york-3d5d5c9fj953) — New York, NY - [Talent Sourcer](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-sourcer-makai-labs-philippines-9af7swgypcqd) — Philippines - [Senior Backend Software Engineer - Node.js/TypeScript](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-backend-software-engineer-node-js-typescript-makai-labs-new-york-mbk6cy4mnndz) — New York, NY - [Senior QA Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-qa-engineer-makai-labs-new-york-be8q6nsb05a3) — New York, NY - [Senior Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-makai-labs-new-york-52jnsxgq6nng) — New York, NY - [Senior Azure Platform / DevOps Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-azure-platform-devops-engineer-makai-labs-remote-9kfbdsnmqde3) - [Business Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/business-analyst-makai-labs-new-york-bv470vq8aegr) — New York, NY - [AI Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-engineer-govworx-united-states-y9p6ccq9tb9c) — United States - [AI Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-engineer-vega-london-s8h9xg7jmzrd) — London, United Kingdom - [AI Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-engineer-baseten-san-francisco-2c7zvysvqzfx) — San Francisco, CA