Product Lead
AE Studio (AE.STUDIO) is a bootstrapped software studio founded in 2016 that combines frontier AI alignment research with high-stakes production AI engineering. The team of 150 senior professionals builds AI-native products, custom ML models, and internal AI systems for enterprise, PE/portfolio, mid-market, and startup clients across industries like aviation, edtech, medical devices, and manufacturing.
Projects
About AE Studio
AE Studio operates as an applied AI and software engineering firm that ships production AI systems for clients while also conducting frontier alignment research in collaboration with organizations like DARPA and Anthropic. Bootstrapped since 2016 with no outside investors, the company emphasizes independence that allows it to fund alignment research and select projects it believes in. Its client work spans building AI-native products, custom machine learning models, agentic automations, evals and red-teaming, observability tooling, and knowledge graphs, delivered by senior pods embedded directly with client teams. Notable projects include pricing and marketing AI for Azul Airlines, an AI-native learning platform for Alpha School, production software for Blackrock Neurotech's brain-computer interface, and AI document ingestion automation for Global Shop Solutions. The company serves a range of clients including large enterprises navigating procurement and architecture review, private equity portfolios seeking value creation, mid-market businesses focused on operations and margins, and startups needing founder-level velocity.
Skills
About the Role
You'll act as a hybrid strategic advisor, technical PM, AI architect, and founder-in-training. You'll sit at the table with senior leadership, run complex AI projects spanning generative AI, automation, agent orchestration, and custom software, and build real products. You may have the opportunity to spin off a startup and become CEO or CTO of a venture, either one already in the works or one you help create. You'll facilitate workshops with client leadership teams new to AI, translate their goals into concrete roadmaps, and help them make smart build/buy/sequence decisions. You'll prototype, test, and ship real things rather than just handing off slides, leading high-stakes projects end-to-end while breaking down ambiguity and defining milestones.
Requirements
- Proven experience in product leadership, AI product development, or startup building
- Strong understanding of generative AI stacks, LLMs, vector DBs, and APIs
- Track record of advising or working directly with senior leadership on complex, ambiguous problems
- Strong judgment around product, technical, and commercial trade-offs
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams and ship without waiting for permission
- Excellent communication across technical and strategic contexts
- Alignment with AE's mission and long-term thinking
- Full-time availability
Responsibilities
- Own delivery for high-stakes client and internal projects end-to-end
- Advise senior client stakeholders including C-level executives
- Facilitate workshops with client leadership teams new to AI
- Translate client goals into concrete roadmaps
- Help clients make build/buy/sequence decisions
- Prototype, test, and ship real products
- Break down ambiguity and define milestones
- Lead cross-functional teams and unblock collaborators
- Translate between engineers, clients, researchers, and executives
- Potentially spin off and lead a startup venture as CEO or CTO
Benefits
- Equity in client projects and Skunkworks ventures