Ambient.ai · 2 months ago
Applied Research Scientist - Foundation Models
San Francisco Bay Area
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$180K/yr - $230K/yrAmbient.ai is a unified, AI-powered physical security platform helping enterprises reduce risk and improve operational efficiency. The Applied Research Scientist will be responsible for building the next generation of foundation models for computer vision, focusing on full-cycle model development and cross-team collaboration.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Computer VisionMachine LearningSecuritySensor
Responsibilities
Develop & Optimize VLMs: Design and optimize transformer-based vision-language models to understand images, videos, and text, and optimize for real-time inference
Pre-training & Fine-tuning: Own the full training pipeline—from pre-training on image-text data to fine-tuning for Ambient.ai’s physical security domain and use cases
Model Compression & Optimization: Apply techniques like distillation, quantization, and pruning to reduce model size and latency, enabling efficient edge deployment
Leverage Open-Source & Innovate: Use and extend state-of-the-art open-source models. Prototype new architectures and training methods to advance Ambient.ai’s multimodal AI research
Cross-Team Collaboration: Work with engineering and product teams to integrate models into the platform. Iterate based on real-world feedback and deployment data to improve performance
Research and Experimentation: Stay current with vision, NLP, and multimodal AI research. Design experiments to test new algorithms and continually enhance our core AI systems
Qualification
Required
Ph.D. or Master's in CS, EE, or related field, with a strong foundation in AI/ML
Proficient in Python/C++ and deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow. Comfortable with large-scale training pipelines
Hands-on experience with CNNs, Transformers, and Vision Transformers (ViT). Strong understanding of vision-language models and how to fine-tune or adapt them
Proven skills in model training and optimization, including fine-tuning on large datasets and applying distillation, quantization, or similar techniques
Strong problem-solving ability: quick prototyping, diagnosing failure cases, and iterating on solutions
Preferred
Ph.D. preferred or Master's with strong experience
Startup experience preferred: Comfortable with ambiguity, fast iteration, and owning projects end-to-end
Experience with foundation or multimodal models is a plus
Benefits
Regular Full-time employees receive stock options for the opportunity to share ownership in the success of our company
Comprehensive health + welfare package (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, EAP, Legal Services, 401k plan)
We offer flexible time off to rest and recharge, including Winter Break (time off between Christmas and New Year’s for most roles, depending on customer demand)
You’ll receive everything you need to hit the ground running, including cutting-edge equipment and branded gear
Enjoy a full range of opportunities to connect with your awesome co-workers
Company
Ambient.ai
Ambient.ai provides a security platform that applies AI to existing camera infrastructure to sensor and prevent incidents.
Founded in 2017
51-200 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Ambient.ai has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (6)
2024 (8)
2023 (7)
2022 (6)
2021 (9)
2020 (2)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$72.12MKey Investors
Allegion VenturesAndreessen Horowitz
2023-10-30Series Unknown· $20M
2022-01-19Series Unknown· $52M
2017-09-08Seed· $0.12M
Leadership Team
Shikhar Shrestha
CEO & Co-founder
Vikesh Khanna
CTO & Co-founder
Recent News
2026-01-10
Company data provided by crunchbase