Principal AI Engineer at Rhythms

About RhythmsRhythms is building the AI operating system that enables enterprises to become AI-native—fundamentally rethinking how organizations operate, execute, and scale. Founded by entrepreneurs who built and sold Chronus (acquired by Private Equity) and Ally.io (acquired by Microsoft), we've raised one of the largest seed rounds of $26M from top investors including GreenOaks, Madrona, and Accel, alongside CXOs from global technology leaders, earning GeekWire's 2024 Deal of the Year award and named a 2025 finalist for AI Innovation of the Year.Rhythms transform how teams operate by streamlining team operating processes—from meetings and KPI tracking to OKRs and strategic planning. Built on a multi-agent architecture that leverages foundational AI models, our platform seamlessly connects with communication tools like Slack and Teams, project management systems like Jira and Linear, and other work tools teams use daily. We turn meetings into structured workflows, eliminate manual updates with real-time insights, and build organizational memory that grows smarter through patterns, interactions, and knowledge captured across systems.Our enterprise customers chose us because we're solving the hardest problem: making agentic AI systems reliable enough to run critical business operations.As Principal AI Engineer, you'll work closely with CEO Vetri Vellore (ex-Microsoft VP, founded Chronus and Ally.io) alongside leaders and engineers from IIT, Stanford, and other top-tier institutions who ship production AI daily. Based in San Francisco Bay Area, CA, you'll be at the forefront of building the AI operating system that defines how enterprises run on artificial intelligence.What We're Looking ForAI-First Builder – Deep expertise in production-ready AI systems and agentic workflows, not just demosShip Fast, Learn Faster – Entrepreneurial ownership mentality with bias toward shipping and iterating in productionTechnical Leadership – Proven ability to architect complex AI systems, build evals-first, and make data-backed decisionsSystem Design Excellence – Strong architectural skills to design scalable, maintainable systems that balance complexity and pragmatismClear Communicator – Translate technical tradeoffs and risks effectively to both engineering teams and business stakeholdersPassion for the Cutting Edge – Deep curiosity and drive to explore, apply, and productionize the newest AI models and technologiesRequired Skills And ExperienceAI Engineering Excellence7+ years building production software with at least 2+ years deeply focused on LLMs, agents, or AI-native applicationsExpert proficiency in Python and experience with React/Next.js for AI-powered UIsExperience shipping agentic systems to production.Experience with RAG implementations: Hybrid search, Re-ranking, context optimization, and retrieval quality measurement.Technical LeadershipDesigned and architected distributed systems at production scale.Proven ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams while mentoring engineersTrack record of driving ambiguous, high-impact initiatives from concept to measurable business outcomesEffective collaboration across distributed teams spanning US and India time zonesPreferred QualificationsBachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience with demonstrable technical excellenceContributed to open source AI projects or published researchBackground in high-scale distributed systemsBased in or willing to relocate to San Francisco Bay AreaWhy Join Rhythms - Your Opportunity ToShape the Future of Enterprise AIBuild the core AI systems powering autonomous execution for thousands of organizationsYour technical leadership will define how enterprises actually run on AI—chat-native experiences, multi-agent orchestration, enterprise-grade reliabilityWork with cutting-edge tech stackWork With World-Class TeamCollaborate with engineers from IIT, Stanford, and top-tier institutions who've scaled systems to millionsLearn from CEO Vetri who is a Microsoft Veteran and a serial entrepreneur with successful exitsJoin at 15 people where your code and architectural decisions directly shape the product—no layers between you and impactOwn Meaningful EquitySignificant equity stake at early stage (15 people = meaningful ownership)$26M runway, paying enterprise customers, sustainable path—build the right product, not chase next fundraiseWork with founders who've built and sold companies—they know what mattersReal Impact, ImmediatelyDay one: You'll be shipping code to production—we deploy dailyFirst week: Your code will be running in production for enterprise customersFirst month: You'll own major features that thousands of users depend onSix months: Your architecture decisions will define how enterprises operate with AIJoin customer calls, hear feedback directly, and see your code transform how organizations work in real-timeEmbrace Entrepreneurial EnvironmentTake ownership of technical decisions with real autonomy—strong opinions backed by evals get shippedAI-native culture: use Cursor and Claude Code for development, Claude Code reviews PRs, ship AI features weeklyFlat structure, direct feedback, open technical debates—better ideas winIf you want FAANG stability, this isn't it. If you want to define a category, it is.How to Apply?Apply with your resume.GitHub profile showing AI engineering work (especially: agentic systems, eval frameworks, production LLM applications)If best work is closed-source, describe the architecture, challenges, and impact in your applicationInclude projects you have worked on, with technical details. For each project, include a one-liner description of the problem you were trying to solve, the technology you chose to use, the challenges you faced, and the scale (RPM) of the project. What you learned and what you'd do differently now.