Director, AI

At Serve Robotics, we’re reimagining how things move in cities. Our personable sidewalk robot is our vision for the future. It’s designed to take deliveries away from congested streets, make deliveries available to more people, and benefit local businesses. The Serve fleet has been delighting merchants, customers, and pedestrians along the way in Los Angeles while doing commercial deliveries.

The Serve fleet has been delighting merchants, customers, and pedestrians along the way in Los Angeles while doing commercial deliveries. We’re looking for talented individuals who will grow robotic deliveries from surprising novelty to efficient ubiquity.

Who We Are

We are tech industry veterans in software, hardware, and design who are pooling our skills to build the future we want to live in. We are solving real-world problems leveraging robotics, machine learning and computer vision, among other disciplines, with a mindful eye towards the end-to-end user experience. Our team is agile, diverse, and driven. We believe that the best way to solve complicated dynamic problems is collaboratively and respectfully.

Role Overview

Serve Robotics aims to develop dependable and proficient sidewalk autonomy software. We are seeking a highly skilled and visionary Director of AI to lead our AI initiatives and drive technological excellence. The ideal candidate will be a strategic thinker with a strong background in AI and robotics, passionate about developing and implementing innovative AI solutions, and capable of mentoring a talented team of AI professionals.

Responsibilities

• Vision, Strategic Planning and Execution:

  • Define and drive the AI strategy aligned with the company's vision and objectives. Lead the AI team with conviction, fostering a culture of innovation.

  • Develop and manage AI project roadmaps, ensuring timely delivery and alignment with company goals. Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of AI initiatives.

  • Allocate resources effectively, balancing project priorities and team capabilities.

• AI Development and Innovation:

  • Mentor the development and optimization of onboard AI algorithms to enhance the autonomous capabilities of our robots.

  • Spearhead the implementation of AI solutions for auto-labeling of our multi-modal data, including HD map pre-annotation.

  • Lead the creation of AI agents to facilitate advanced human-robot interaction, ensuring seamless integration into our delivery systems.

  • Create best in class multi modal dataset of outdoor urban scenes that can also be commercialized for data partnerships.

• Research and Collaboration:

  • Stay abreast of the latest AI research and advancements, incorporating relevant findings into our projects.

  • Establish partnerships with academic institutions and industry leaders to promote research and innovation.

  • Ensure all AI solutions adhere to safety guidelines. Establish proper test benchmark datasets for model regressions, verification and validation processes for AI model testing by working closely with the system engineering team.

Qualifications

• Master's in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, or a related field.

• 8+ years of experience in AI research and development, with at least 3 years in a leadership role with a proven track record of delivering successful AI products in a robotics or related environment.

• Strong expertise in machine learning, computer vision and robotics with demonstrated leadership in scientific efforts, with contributions to top rated conferences and journals.

• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate complex ideas into actionable plans.

• Experience with using large-scale datasets and sensor data, with use of various transformer architectures and diffusion models.

• Adept with latest technology trends in AI / Robotics and Foundational models.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and lead a diverse team.

What Makes You Standout

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics..

• Hands-on experience with fine-tuning LLMs or vision-language models and their performance challenges and opportunities.

• Experience with multiple sensors such as Lidar, Mono/Stereo cameras, IMU, etc.

• Experience with MLOps or ML Infrastructure, ability to streamline machine learning workflows.

• Familiarity with edge-device perception stack deployment, experience with NVIDIA software libraries such as CUDA or TensorRT.