Applied AI Researcher, System Self-Construction
At a glance
Mid-level AI Research role at Distyl AI. San Francisco · full-time · $150,000–$250,000 base.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Design systems that generate, assemble and improve smaller systems with less human input
- Develop meta-learning cycles, automated pipeline creation and frameworks that let systems shape their own architecture
- Explore how systems model, assess and revise the processes used to build them
- Build prototypes and run experiments to demonstrate whether your research ideas work
What you bring
- You have built modular architectures where components work together dynamically, such as planners or workflow engines
- You know how to build intelligent systems with models, including compound AI systems and agent collaboration
- You can point to research results, such as published work or other projects you have shared
- You program and analyze data well enough to prototype ideas and test their effectiveness
Who this fits
This suits a researcher who wants to rethink how software is built and prefers practical demonstrations alongside research. The role is hybrid, with at least three office days each week, Tuesday through Thursday, in San Francisco.
From the employer
About Distyl AI
Distyl is an applied AI technology company partnering with the world’s most ambitious institutions to rearchitect critical operations for the frontier of AI. Our customers include the largest companies in telecom, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, consumer goods, and global social organizations.
We research and deploy technologies that power AI-native operations — both for our partners and for Distyl itself. Our work spans research into self-constructing systems, the development of the most reliable execution of AI systems, and products that transform mission-critical workflows. As a result, Distyl's technologies affect some of the world's largest operations — from hundreds of millions of consumer interactions to tens of millions of supply chain transactions and millions of patient journeys.
Distyl is backed by leading investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Coatue, DST Global, and the board-members of 20+ F500s.
What We Are Looking For
At Distyl we’re pushing the envelope of AI utilization in enterprise. This requires creative researchers who don’t just want to drive incremental improvements on benchmarks or optimize an existing process but instead are looking to creatively redefine how software is used.
Our researchers come from many academic backgrounds but have strong research track records, operate in an AI-native way, and would be bored staying on the rails of a traditional research org.
Key Responsibilities
The System Self-Construction team builds systems that can build other systems. Researchers design architectures capable of autonomously generating, assembling, and refining sub-systems. This involves developing meta-learning loops, automated pipeline generation, and self-architecting frameworks that reduce the human bottleneck in complex system creation.
Researchers in Self-Construction study recursive design principles: how systems represent their own construction processes, evaluate them, and evolve. They draw from meta-learning, program synthesis, and evolutionary computation to explore what it means for a system to “understand” and redesign itself. Their work defines the frontier of self-referential, generative system architectures.
Who We Are
Experience Building Modular and Composable Systems: You’ve engineered architectures where components interact dynamically (e.g. graph-based planners, agent orchestration frameworks, workflow engines, or automated pipeline builders).
Experience Building with Models, Not Just Building Models: We develop intelligent systems using models rather than training or fine-tuning them. Ideal candidates have expertise in compound AI systems, agentic collaboration, and associated techniques (ensembling, ReAct, graph-of-thoughts, etc.).
Proven Track Record of Research Results: Whether you’ve published in top journals, posted amazing work on twitter, or somewhere else we want to see what you've done.
Uses AI Every Day: Before you can revolutionize someone else’s workflow, you need to revolutionize yours. You should be using tools like ChatGPT, Cursor, and Perplexity to accelerate your workflow.
Strong Programming and Data Analysis Skills: While you might not consider yourself a software engineer you need to be able to build prototypes of your ideas and then perform the experiments to prove the effectiveness to a F500 Head of AI.
Biases Towards Showing vs Telling: Our customers want to see the power of AI today vs discuss the most elegant idea that will take 5 years to realize.
What We Offer
The base salary range for this role is $150K – $250K, depending on experience, location, and level. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for meaningful equity, along with a comprehensive benefits package
100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents
Flexible time off
Retirement and financial planning benefits, including access to pre-tax HSA, FSA, and commuter accounts, 401(k), and financial coaching resources
Comprehensive wellness benefits, including physical fitness, mental well-being, and fertility and family-building benefits through Carrot
Complimentary in-office lunches and snacks provided
Access to state-of-the-art AI models, generous usage of modern AI tools, and real-world business problems
Ownership of high-impact projects across top enterprises
A mission-driven, fast-moving culture that values curiosity, pragmatism, and excellence
Distyl has offices in San Francisco and New York. This role follows a hybrid collaboration model with 3+ days per week (Tuesday–Thursday) in‑office.
We believe diverse perspectives make our work stronger and more impactful. We are an equal opportunity employer and evaluate all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.