Lightning AI reviews

4.1

70% would recommend to a friend

(46 total reviews)
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William Falcon

69% approve of CEO

79% positive business outlook

Lightning AI has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 46 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Lightning AI employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

46 reviews
5.0
Oct 9, 2024

Come to be challenged, stay to shape the future of AI

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working at Lightning AI is nothing like a typical start, let alone a run-of-the-mill corporate role: it's fast-paced—breathtakingly so—and a testament to what a small group of talented people can accomplish. At Lightning, everyone is a domain expert, but also able and willing to branch into neighboring areas of expertise. Engineers spend as much time with users as does anyone on the product and design teams, such that each product update is trained squarely on the user. Updates are frequent and numerous too; Lightning has taken the adage, "always be shipping," to new heights. Yet colleagues are, by and large, kind and more than willing to help when called upon. Rarely does so much talent and kindness come together, but at Lightning, it does.

Cons

The speed of change—not just at Lightning, but of the entire AI industry—can be dizzying. Quick changes in direction and focus are common, and for some, bewildering. But that's part and parcel of startup culture.

5.0
Sep 9, 2024

Great People working on Creating Something Meaningful

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Coworkers are all at the top of their game; smart, knowledgable, hardworking, but also personable and nice. The work itself is challenging and great for people who enjoy hard work and moving fast. It is a small team, so you are asked to bring all of yourself to the job, help others grow, and be open to growth yourself. As a result, you end up accomplishing some great things at the job, while your skill set grows for whatever comes next. Hybrid model for remote/office work allows for some flexibility.

Cons

Challenging work is indeed challenging, so there are stressful days and times when you may experience burnout. Management does try to protect you from burnout by providing you processes that make big tasks manageable and encouraging time off /recovery when needed.

5.0
Jul 19, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I am a 3x founder with multiple early stage, yet successful exits. I have managed teams of > 10 engineers and mentored employees who have gone on to be successful engineering and operations managers in their own rights. This is my first experience with a Series B company, and I have been thoroughly blown away by my first year here. I thought I knew how to iterate fast on features, having done so multiple times before, and yet I've unlocked a new level of engineering speed and focus adapting to the company culture. I thought I knew how to learn fast, having pivoted companies before and managed at startups in multiple spaces, and yet I've learned more about AI theory, application, and infrastructure in the past 8 months, than 3 years as founder of an AI startup previously taught me. This is a very intense culture, but members of the leadership team do an exceptional job of exhibiting empathy for their employees. At this stage of the company, there may be project deadlines that require you to work late nights and weekends, but this is often rewarded by days off the following week and periods of managed lighter workload. The best week-to-week example of this empathy is in how well the CEO and CTO protect their employees weekends, constantly reminding the team that weekends are for re-energizing, and that anything other than urgent messages should be scheduled for Monday. Regarding coworkers, the engineering team is a collection of PhDs and ex-academics with extensive open-source experience, and serial founders / early-stage operators. It is an excellent group to learn with and learn from. Regardless of job title, everyone here is hyper focused on one thing: Building a multi-billion dollar company. It permeates everything we do. There are plenty of hard challenges to solve and responsibility to be had, if you are the type that strives toward this obstacle.

Cons

There is a tremendous amount of learning and knowledge sharing that goes on here, but you will struggle to succeed if you are not a proactive learner. Everyone here stays busy and stays focused, so if you do not vocalize that you need to understand something you currently do not, then the assumption will be you already understand how to solve the problem with which you are tasked. I think this is why people sometimes struggle to adapt. This is such a unique culture such that nobody (not even 3x founders) are a one-to-one fit for the company culture. Everyone requires some tweaking, up-skilling, and learning to reach their optimal efficiency within the team, but some people aren't willing to vocalize their flaws or lack of understanding of certain tasks. Some people are proactive, but lack the consciousness or foresight to properly pre-empt the problems they may face when tasked with a challenge, and similarly fail to surpass it.

Viewing 10 - 12 of 46 Reviews

Glassdoor has 47 Lightning AI reviews submitted anonymously by Lightning AI employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Lightning AI is right for you.