AI Engineer
Pathwork
San Francisco, CA · $175k–$275k a year · Posted January 21, 2026
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Where San Francisco, CA ranks
Where San Francisco, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for security jobs316 openings · of 20
- #1Best cities for technology jobs7,178 openings · of 100
- #1Best cities for financial services pay after cost of living$173k · of 33
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills35% · of 100
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills in the West Coast35% · of 54
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the West Coast902 jobs · of 47
Rankings about data & analytics jobs
- Best cities for data and analytics jobs #1 New York (1,713 openings)
- Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living #1 Foster ($232k)
- Most requested AI skills in data and analytics jobs #1 Machine learning engineering (17.1%)
- AI tools named most often in data and analytics jobs #1 Databricks (7.6%)
- Employers with the most data and analytics jobs #1 Amazon (711 roles)
Data & Analytics jobs · Top Data & Analytics employers · All rankings
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $225,000 a year. Across 30 open ai engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $144,500 to $222,500 and the median is $175,000. That is 29% above the median, above the middle half of those listings.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer and information research scientists, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer and information research scientists: 34% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
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About the job
AI Engineer
Location: San Francisco
ABOUT PATHWORK
Pathwork is redesigning life & health insurance jobs for the AI age. We believe the 2.5M professionals in the $1T life and health insurance industry don’t need better tools; they need a new operating system.
We’ve already proven it:
- 100+ top brokerages and national carriers use Pathwork
- Active pilots with multiple top-10 insurance companies
- 150%+ QoQ growth, every quarter since launch
Built from day one as AI-native, Pathwork uses agentic orchestration, structured data pipelines, predictive models, and generative AI to transform insurance distribution—bringing speed, structure, and intelligence to outdated workflows.
WHY JOIN US
- Category-defining product already in use by national brokerages and insurers
- $3.75M in funding from top VCs
- Deep founder experience: Work closely with experienced founders who’ve built and scaled companies from zero to IPO in insurance and AI
- Scenic, focused, intentional: Work from the Presidio in SF or our Domino Park office in Brooklyn—spaces built for walking meetings, deep work, and ambitious thinking.
- Early team, deep ownership, real impact: You’ll shape the systems, the stack, and the trajectory of the product.
- High-trust & Long-term oriented: Grow with a team that values trust, authenticity, learning, and lasting impact. Your contributions will help shape our product, culture, and the long-term legacy of the company.
OUR STACK
Python · TypeScript · Node.js · FastAPI · Postgres · Qdrant · LangGraph · Whisper · AWS (Lambda, EC2, ECS, S3) · Terraform · React · Next.js
ABOUT THE ROLE
We’re hiring an AI engineer, a full-stack, strategic builder who can take a large project from a working prototype to an industry-defining product. You’ll lead development of our agentic AI systems, owning model orchestration, retrieval, real-time inference, evaluation, and production infrastructure, and collaborating closely with the founding team on product and technical strategy.
WHAT YOU’LL OWN
- Build the engine: Design and own end-to-end agentic systems—retrieval, orchestration, inference, eval, and feedback loops
- Scale the stack: Shape our architecture across model interfaces, data pipelines, vector DBs, and streaming infrastructure
- Ship fast: Partner with product and design to prototype, test, and launch AI-driven features that deliver real value
- Improve performance: Continuously optimize accuracy, latency, and robustness through fine-tuning, eval frameworks, and data iteration
- Learn from the field: Join sales and customer calls to understand real-world pain points, pressure-test features, and translate feedback into product improvements
- Support growth: Build infrastructure and tools that help the whole company move faster—debugging, observability, agent testing
- Build your team: Hire, mentor, and collaborate with engineers who care about craft, velocity, and real-world impact
YOU MIGHT BE A FIT IF YOU...
- Have 5–10 years of experience building AI or ML-powered systems, ideally in high-growth or early-stage environments
- Have shipped real products that use LLMs, retrieval, orchestration, or streaming inference—not just prototypes
- Think full-stack, end-to-end: You’re comfortable moving between modeling, infra, and product-facing code
- Have an entrepreneurial mindset and thrive on building from scratch—systems, processes, tools, and the team
- Can explain complex ideas clearly, especially to non-technical teammates, customers, and stakeholders
- Thrive in ambiguity and take ownership in fast-paced, high-trust environments
- Bonus: Experience with vertical software businesses or agentic AI systems
WHAT YOU’LL GET
- Competitive comp + meaningful equity
- Employee-centric benefits including:
- High 401(k( match and FSA program
- Modern, employer-paid health benefits designed to support you on your terms
- Real ownership, autonomy, and direct collaboration with the founders
- A chance to define a category and shape a product from scratch
- You'll work side-by-side with the founding team, shape our rituals, and help create the moments and memories that define our company.