Lead AI Research Scientist at Workato

<div class="content-intro"><h1><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>About Workato</strong></span></h1> <p>Workato delivers enterprise infrastructure for the agentic era, redefining iPaaS and helping enterprises unify data, applications, processes, and AI into a single, governed platform. A leader in Enterprise MCP and trusted by 50% of the Fortune 500, Workato’s cloud-native architecture connects every application, data source, and process to power real-time orchestration at scale. With enterprise-grade security and continuous innovation at its core, Workato provides the trusted foundation for organizations to automate with confidence and operationalize AI across the business. To learn more, visit <span><a href="http://www.workato.com" target="_blank">www.workato.com</a></span></p> <h1><strong>Why join us?</strong></h1> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ultimately, Workato believes in fostering a </span><strong>flexible, trust-oriented culture that empowers everyone to take full ownership of their roles</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">. We are driven by </span><strong>innovation </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">and looking for</span><strong> team players </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">who want to actively build our company.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, we also believe in </span><strong>balancing productivity with self-care</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">. That’s why we offer all of our employees a vibrant and dynamic work environment </span><a href="http://www.workato.com/careers"><span style="font-weight: 400;">along with a multitude of benefits</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> they can enjoy inside and outside of their work lives.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If this sounds right up your alley, please submit an application. We look forward to getting to know you!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also, feel free to check out why:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/47-enterprise-startups-to-bet-your-career-on-in-2020-2019-12"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Business Insider</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> named us an “enterprise startup to bet your career on”</span></p> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/cloud100/#a57477b5f941"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Forbes’ Cloud 100</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> recognized us as one of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world</span></p> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <p><a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/fast500-winners.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Deloitte Tech Fast 500</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> ranked us as the 17th fastest growing tech company in the Bay Area, and 96th in North America</span></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://qz.com/work/2053446/the-best-companies-for-working-from-home/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quartz</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> ranked us the #1 best company for remote workers</span></p> </li> </ul></div><h1><strong>Responsibilities</strong></h1> <p><strong>Workato’s AI Research Lab </strong>is seeking an exceptional <strong>Lead AI Research Scientist </strong>to join our growing team and define the next generation of enterprise AI systems. <br><br>This is a research-first role focused on redefining and advancing enterprise AI, with an emphasis on real-world impact for developers. In this role, you will set and execute a 24-month research vision spanning deterministic planners, self-healing automations, retrieval-augmented workflow graphs, and agent evaluation frameworks, while ensuring these innovations translate into real-world impact.</p> <p>The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise alongside a strong record of execution. You will build, lead, and mentor a team of applied researchers and interns, fostering a culture of technical excellence, strong authorship, and open scientific contribution.</p> <p>This role will define and drive forward-looking research initiatives while bridging the gap between cutting-edge innovation and production-ready enterprise solutions. You will partner closely with Product and Engineering teams to productionize prototypes within six months of proof of concept and engage directly with lighthouse customers to validate ideas and convert insights into scalable reference architectures.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this role, y</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">ou will also be responsible to:</span></p> <ul> <li> <p>Defining a 24-month research roadmap focused on automated agent building and optimization. goal based agent deign, synthetic data, automated postraining and RL, eval techniques, model optimizaiton</p> </li> <li> <p>Hiring, coaching, and inspiring a team of 10+ applied researchers and interns; fostering a publication-quality bar and culture of open science.</p> </li> <li> <p>Publish peer-reviewed papers and secure patents that differentiate Workato in enterprise AI.</p> </li> <li> <p>Partner with Product and Engineering to productionize prototypes within six months of proof of concept.</p> </li> <li> <p>Engage lighthouse customers to validate research and convert learnings into reference architectures.</p> </li> </ul> <h1><strong>Requirements</strong></h1> <h3><strong>Qualifications / Experience / Technical Skills</strong></h3> <ul> <li> <p>MS/PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.</p> </li> <li> <p>5+ years leading applied research teams.</p> </li> <li> <p>Hands-on experience with PyTorch or JAX and modern LLM frameworks.</p> </li> <li> <p>Proven track record of transitioning research into production within large-scale systems.</p> </li> <li> <p>Strong publication record in top-tier ML venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR).</p> </li> <li> <p>Hands-on experience with large-scale model training, transformer architectures, reinforcement learning techniques, and CUDA.</p> </li> <li> <p>Deep expertise across structured and unstructured enterprise data modalities.</p> </li> <li> <p>This role is onsite in our SF Office</p> </li> </ul> <h3><strong>Soft Skills / Personal Characteristics</strong></h3> <ul> <li> <p>Clear communicator able to translate complex research into business value.</p> </li> <li> <p>Ability to explain complex ideas to non-experts.</p> </li> <li> <p>Inspirational leader who attracts, mentors, and retains top talent.</p> </li> <li> <p>Comfortable making decisions in a fast-moving, on-site lab environment.</p> </li> <li> <p>Collaborative mindset; thrives at the intersection of research and product.</p> </li> <li> <p>Experience operating in high-growth startup environments.<br><br></p> <p>For California applicants, the pay for this role begins at $357,000 plus variable, benefits, perks and equity.</p> </li> </ul> <p><strong>(REQ ID: 2730)</strong></p>