Poolside Company Culture

Poolside is a vertically integrated AI lab foundation model startup operating with an "AGI-or-nothing" philosophy, focusing on mission-critical applied research and engineering at scale. You'll find a highly concentrated, talent-dense environment where AI intelligence is viewed as a commodity on par with electricity. The culture is intensely technical and characterized by high invisibility where the only recognized value is the "diff that lands." Decision-making requires "system-level thinking," and even product heads are expected to dive deep into architectural decisions alongside engineering teams. The operating rhythm balances a remote-first setup across Europe and North America with monthly 3-day in-person intensives to foster team chemistry. However, rapid development iterations—including running a 'Model Factory' capable of taking a model from pre-training to release in eight weeks—and a shifting landscape bring challenges. You'll navigate an environment experiencing dramatic valuation shifts—such as a massive Series B funding round and securing 10,000s of GPUs—where adaptability, an "obsession" with the race to AGI, and raw technical execution are prioritized over polished, corporate processes.