---
title: 'Forward-Deployed Engineer (f/m/d) at Zeit AI (YC S24)'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-f-m-d-zeit-ai-yc-s24-munich-jxancbsvcpst'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Forward-Deployed Engineer (f/m/d) at Zeit AI (YC S24)

- **Company:** Zeit AI (YC S24)
- **Location:** Munich, Germany
- **Compensation:** €70k–€230k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zeit-ai/a4c51bad-0186-4619-b3a0-6656bf51dd51

## Job description

The opportunity LLMs are changing how analytical work gets done. Tasks that once required teams of data engineers can now be solved faster and more flexibly, if the underlying data and workflows are set up correctly. Zeit AI builds ZeitMind, the autonomous data engineer for the European mid-market. We work with real companies and real data: exports from ERP systems, CRM data, spreadsheets, internal databases. Our goal is that non-technical operators answer questions and run workflows using natural language that used to require external support or a lot of manual work. As a Forward-Deployed Engineer, you make this happen with the customer. You connect data and solve concrete business problems with our product. You are a technical problem solver, the customer's trusted partner, and you feed everything you learn back into the product.

## What you will do

- sit with customers across different industries and understand how they operate today and where ZeitMind can take real work off their plate
- solve real-world problems where value is hidden inside of data
- model business logic in ZeitMind and get it running in production
- own customers end to end and build data applications to make critical business decisions
- feed what you learn back into the product

You will thrive here if you

- are comfortable and enjoy working directly with customers from Day 1
- think in production systems, not one-off analyses
- care whether something works in production and delivers value to end users
- are comfortable with ambiguity and enjoy figuring out what the right solution is
- bring a solid technical foundation to work with large data sets and critically understand SQL logic
- studied at the intersection of business and computer science, such as business analytics, IT systems engineering or information systems
- speak English C1 or above; German is a big plus (much of our customer base runs in German)

## What we offer

- Munich is our home base, while we grow internationally from London. In-person by design, we support your relocation within Europe.
- Regular team offsites for product sprints and staying close to the frontier.
- Zeit AI package: daily lunch allowance, covered dinner in the office, wellpass membership, best tech & tools
- €5k referral bonus if we hire someone you refer.

## About the interview process

- First call with Elisa
- Founder data interview with Marvin
- Decomposition interview
- Behavioural founder interview
- Reference check
- ZeitMind take-home case + Meet the team
- Offer

Apply Still apply if you do not match every requirement. What matters most is ownership, curiosity, and the ability to execute in real-world environments.

## About Zeit AI (YC S24)

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Zeit AI builds an autonomous AI Forward Deployed Engineer that connects to business systems (ERP, CRM, SAP) and turns raw data into operational applications and decisions using natural language.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Startup) — Y Combinator S24 batch, Seed stage
- **Headquarters**: Munich, Germany
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Leopold von Waldthausen (CEO) and Marvin Bornstein (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Data Infrastructure and Analytics, Enterprise AI
- **Target customers**: Mid-market and enterprise companies in Europe, specifically heads of controlling, operations managers, and business operators who rely on ERP, CRM, and SAP systems
- **Mission**: To build the first AI Forward Deployed Engineer for the European market — an autonomous system that connects to source systems, prepares messy data, and turns business questions into operational applications in natural language.

## Products & Services
- **ZeitMind**: The core product — an autonomous AI system that connects to business systems (ERP, CRM, SAP, etc.), cleans messy data, and builds custom operational applications and dashboards using natural language. No IT or data engineering team required. Use cases include inventory control, procurement analytics, financial controlling, and margin risk detection.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Total Funding**: $625,000 USD (Seed round led by Y Combinator, with a prior pre-seed round)
- **Key Metric**: Reached €1M ARR within 12 months of founding
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (S24 batch), backed by top global investors and industry leaders
- **Growth Signals**: 10 employees (+66.7% YoY), 8 active job postings, reached €1M ARR in first year, customer results include €700k saved through AI inventory control, €24M in unified procurement data, 370 hours back per month from automated reporting

## Competitive Advantages
- **Founder-market fit**: Both founders are former Palantir Forward Deployed Engineers who built and deployed the first instances of Palantir's AIP platform and generated over €50M in new revenue for large industrial clients
- **Speed of deployment**: Claims to deliver measurable results within weeks, not months — a risk-free, low-friction onboarding model
- **Natural language interface**: Business users can build analytics, dashboards, and workflows without engineering effort, using plain language
- **In-person, forward-deployed model**: Engineers work directly at customer sites, ensuring deep integration and rapid value delivery
- **YC-backed credibility**: Part of Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch, with strong investor backing

## Strategic Focus
- **European market dominance**: Specifically targeting European industrial and mid-market companies that rely on SAP, ERP, and CRM systems
- **Product-led growth**: Building an autonomous system that scales from initial use cases (inventory, procurement, controlling) to full operational control
- **Hiring aggressively**: 8 open positions across engineering, forward-deployed, sales, and GTM — signaling a push to scale the team and customer base
- **Proven ROI model**: Using a six-month engagement to prove value, track savings, and validate impact before scaling

## Why Work Here
- **High-impact, small team**: A team of 10 engineers, builders, and operators — every hire has outsized ownership and impact
- **YC-backed startup**: Part of Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch, with strong investor support and a clear growth trajectory
- **In-person culture**: Munich-based, in-person work — not remote. Engineers are forward-deployed at customer sites, not behind a screen
- **Cutting-edge AI work**: Building with frontier models to solve real, messy enterprise data problems — the kind of work that was previously only possible at Palantir or large tech companies
- **Founding team pedigree**: Founders are ex-Palantir (Leopold led DACH business, Marvin deployed first AIP instances). Early engineers come from Palantir, BCG, and top European tech companies
- **Transparent and principled culture**: The team operates on five core principles: Bias for Action, Live Growth, Ownership, Candor, and Craftsmanship
- **Competitive compensation**: Salaries range from €70K–€120K EUR for engineering roles, with equity (0.10%–1.00%) for founding team members
- **Real business impact**: Customer results include €700k saved in inventory control, €450k in procurement savings, and 90% reduction in Excel reporting

## Sources
1. [zeit-ai.com](https://www.zeit-ai.com/)
2. [zeit-ai.com/about-us](https://www.zeit-ai.com/about-us)
3. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/zeit-ai)
4. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/zeit-ai)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zeit-ai)

## Other roles at Zeit AI (YC S24)

- [(Senior) Business Development Representative France (f/m/d)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-business-development-representative-france-f-m-d-zeit-ai-yc-s24-munich-xpggwj9x2z03) — Munich, Germany
- [Founders Associate (Growth & Marketing) (f/m/d)](https://feeny.ai/job/founders-associate-growth-marketing-f-m-d-zeit-ai-yc-s24-munich-k07sm1wg5ay1) — Munich, Germany
- [(Senior) Business Development Representative (f/m/d)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-business-development-representative-f-m-d-zeit-ai-yc-s24-munich-3pc48ydrpeyw) — Munich, Germany
- [Backend Engineer (Infrastructure & Platform) (f/m/d)](https://feeny.ai/job/backend-engineer-infrastructure-platform-f-m-d-zeit-ai-yc-s24-munich-e5p8bant3zwm) — Munich, Germany
- [(Junior) Account Executive (f/m/d)](https://feeny.ai/job/junior-account-executive-f-m-d-zeit-ai-yc-s24-munich-h3wk4gmstxz8) — Munich, Germany