AI Engineer Lead

About the Company

Pragmatike is recruiting on behalf of an early-stage startup building an AI-powered relationship intelligence and fundraising platform that connects funds, investors, and networks through a private relationship graph. The platform leverages graph architecture, data pipelines, and AI-driven recommendations to transform professional networks (Linked In, email, CRM, teams, advisors, and portfolio) into intelligent warm introduction paths. By combining relationship intelligence with AI and scalable infrastructure, the company aims to make fundraising faster, more efficient, and significantly more predictable. The product is already built and validated, and the current focus is on scaling the graph, strengthening the AI layer, improving recommendation quality, and building strong network effects and technical defensibility. The team is product-driven, fast-moving, and focused on building a scalable AI-native platform from the ground up.

About the Role

We are looking for a hands‑on AI Engineer Lead to drive the technical development of the Graph AI platform. This is not a managerial‑only position—it is a deeply technical builder role. You will be directly responsible for improving and scaling the relationship graph, developing AI‑driven matching and recommendation systems, and shipping core product and infrastructure features. You will work closely with the founders and play a critical role in shaping the technology roadmap, product direction, and system scalability while building a strong AI and graph‑based foundation for the platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end architecture and technical development of the Graph AI platform
• Improve and scale the private relationship graph (matching, pathfinding, performance, and privacy)
• Design and implement AI-powered relationship scoring and recommendation systems
• Develop Graph RAG and intelligent introduction recommendations
• Build and ship core backend and infrastructure features
• Maintain and improve data pipelines (email, Linked In, CRM integrations, identity resolution)
• Optimize onboarding and ensure fast product “aha moment”
• Lead cloud infrastructure and Dev Ops (AWS, Docker, deployments, scaling, reliability)
• Ensure performance, scalability, and security of the system
• Make key decisions on system design, architecture, and AI implementation
• Collaborate closely with founders on product roadmap and technical strategy
• Contribute to building a strong and defensible network‑effect‑driven platform

Required Experience & Profile

• 3–8+ years of experience in software engineering, AI, or ML
• Proven experience as: AI Engineer Lead, Tech Lead, Founding Engineer, or Senior backend / AI engineer in an early-stage startup
• Strong backend and system design experience
• Hands‑on experience building and shipping production systems
• Experience with AI/ML-powered features and LLM-based systems
• Experience working with Python and modern backend frameworks (e.g., Fast API)
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS) and scalable architectures
• Understanding of data pipelines and distributed systems
• Interest or experience in graph systems, recommendation systems, or AI agents
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced startup environment
• Strong ownership, autonomy, and product mindset

Nice to Have

• Experience with graph systems or network‑based platforms
• Experience with Graph RAG or knowledge graphs
• Background in fintech, fundraising, or marketplace platforms
• Experience with recommendation systems or ranking algorithms
• Experience with CRM, email, or Linked In data integrations
• Previous experience in early-stage or founding teams
• Experience scaling products from early-stage to growth

What we offer

• Founding-level role with high impact on company direction
• Full ownership of the AI and Graph platform development
• Opportunity to build a large‑scale AI-driven network platform
• Highly autonomous and fast-moving environment
• Fully remote setup with flexible work style