How to Apply to Cognition

8 min read Last updated March 8, 2026 48 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Cognition built Devin, the first autonomous AI software engineer, and is one of the most ambitious AI companies at the frontier of code generation and AI agents
  • With only ~50 employees and 48+ open positions, Cognition is roughly doubling in size — every hire has enormous impact on the company
  • The company uses Ashby for recruiting — keep your resume clean, concise, and focused on your most impressive technical work
  • Interviews are technically rigorous, reflecting the team's competitive programming roots — prepare for challenging algorithmic and systems design questions
  • Cognition values exceptional talent and intensity over years of experience — demonstrate depth, creativity, and ambition rather than listing responsibilities
  • Equity in a $2B company of 50 employees represents significant ownership potential for early hires

About Cognition

Cognition is the company behind Devin, the world's first fully autonomous AI software engineer. Founded by Scott Wu, a competitive programming champion and former co-founder of Lunchclub, Cognition is pushing the boundaries of what AI can accomplish in software development. Rather than building code completion tools or copilots that assist human developers, Cognition created an AI agent that can independently plan, write, debug, and deploy entire software projects from a single prompt. The company has raised $175 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation, an extraordinary figure for a team of approximately 50 people. This lean, high-caliber team reflects Cognition's hiring philosophy: every person matters enormously, and the bar for joining is exceptionally high. Cognition is headquartered in San Francisco, and the entire company operates with the intensity and focus of a team that believes it is building one of the most transformative AI products in the world. With 48+ open positions, Cognition is roughly doubling its headcount, representing a pivotal growth moment for the company. Roles span engineering, quality assurance, marketing, and operations. Devin has captured enormous attention in the AI and developer communities since its debut, demonstrating capabilities that include solving real GitHub issues, building and deploying web applications, learning unfamiliar codebases, and passing real-world engineering interviews. Cognition's ambition extends beyond developer tools — the company is building toward a future where AI agents can handle increasingly complex cognitive work across many domains.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Review Open Roles on Cognition's Career Page

    Visit cognition.ai/careers to see Cognition's current openings. Given the company's small size (approximately 50 people), every role is highly consequential. Read each listing carefully — Cognition provides detailed descriptions of what you will work on and the impact you will have. The company hires across Engineering, QA, Marketing, and Operations. With only 48+ open positions, roles may fill quickly, so apply promptly when you find a strong match.

  2. 2
    Submit Your Application Through Ashby

    Cognition uses Ashby as its applicant tracking system. Click 'Apply' to access the application form for your chosen role. Provide your resume, contact information, and responses to any screening questions. For engineering roles, you may be asked to share links to GitHub profiles, competitive programming profiles, notable projects, or technical writing. The application is your first impression at a company where every hire is a significant decision — invest time in making it strong.

  3. 3
    Initial Screen

    Given Cognition's size, the initial screen may come from a recruiter or directly from the hiring manager. This conversation typically covers your background, your interest in Cognition and Devin specifically, and your technical depth. For engineering roles, expect some technical discussion even in this initial call. Cognition's small team means there is less room for purely administrative screening — every conversation tends to be substantive.

  4. 4
    Technical Assessment

    Cognition's technical assessment reflects the company's roots in competitive programming and rigorous engineering. Engineering candidates should expect challenging coding problems that test algorithmic thinking, systems design, and the ability to write clean, correct code under time constraints. The assessments are demanding — Cognition is building one of the most ambitious AI products in the world and needs engineers who can match that ambition. QA candidates may work through testing scenarios that require creative thinking about edge cases in AI-generated code.

  5. 5
    Team Interviews

    Candidates who pass the assessment meet with multiple team members, typically including engineers, cross-functional partners, and senior leadership. In a company of 50, you will likely meet people you will work with directly every day. Interviews assess technical ability, problem-solving approach, cultural fit, and your ability to contribute in a small, fast-moving team where everyone has outsized impact. Expect discussions about how you approach ambiguous problems, how you prioritize, and how you handle the intensity of startup work.

  6. 6
    Founder Interview

    Many candidates meet with founder Scott Wu or other senior leaders in the final stage. This conversation focuses on your long-term vision, how you think about the future of AI and software development, and whether your ambitions align with Cognition's mission. Scott Wu is deeply involved in hiring and evaluates candidates on both their current capabilities and their growth trajectory. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that you think deeply about the problems Cognition is solving.

  7. 7
    Offer and Onboarding

    Cognition extends competitive offers that include base salary, significant equity in a $2 billion company, and benefits. Given the team's small size, equity grants can represent meaningful ownership. Onboarding at Cognition is intensive and hands-on — new hires are expected to contribute meaningfully within their first weeks. You will work closely with existing team members, gain deep exposure to Devin's architecture, and quickly take ownership of consequential projects.

Resume Tips for Cognition

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Showcase Exceptional Technical Depth

Cognition was founded by a competitive programming champion and hires engineers with extraordinary technical talent. Highlight your most technically impressive work: complex systems you built, difficult bugs you solved, performance optimizations with measurable results, or novel approaches to hard problems. Cognition values depth over breadth — one deeply impressive project is worth more than a list of routine work.

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Include Competitive Programming or Algorithmic Achievements

Cognition's engineering culture has strong roots in competitive programming. If you have competed in ICPC, Codeforces, LeetCode contests, TopCoder, Google Code Jam, or similar platforms, include your ratings, rankings, or notable results. Even strong performance on platforms like Project Euler or Advent of Code signals the kind of algorithmic thinking Cognition values. If you do not have competitive programming experience, emphasize equivalent demonstrations of problem-solving ability.

critical

Demonstrate AI or ML Engineering Experience

Cognition builds an autonomous AI agent that writes and debugs code. Experience with AI/ML systems is highly relevant, particularly work involving code generation, program synthesis, LLMs, reinforcement learning, or AI agents. Include specific details about models you trained, evaluation methodologies you developed, or AI systems you deployed. Even experience as a user of AI coding tools demonstrates relevant context.

critical

Highlight Impact in Small Teams or Early-Stage Companies

With approximately 50 employees, Cognition operates as a small, high-impact team. Experience at early-stage startups, small teams within larger companies, or situations where you wore multiple hats and had outsized responsibility is directly relevant. Show that you can be productive without extensive infrastructure, processes, or support systems. Cognition needs people who create impact, not people who follow processes.

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Keep Your Resume Concise and Focused

At a company of Cognition's size, hiring managers read every resume carefully. A concise, focused resume that highlights your best work is far more effective than an exhaustive list of every project. Aim for 1-2 pages maximum. Lead with your most impressive and relevant experience. Remove anything that does not strengthen your candidacy.

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Format for Ashby ATS Compatibility

Cognition uses Ashby for applicant tracking. Use a clean, single-column layout with standard section headers. Submit as PDF. Avoid tables, graphics, multi-column layouts, or unusual formatting that might not parse correctly. Let the substance of your experience, not the design of your resume, make the impression.

recommended

Reference Open-Source Contributions or Notable Projects

If you have open-source contributions, notable personal projects, or technical blog posts that demonstrate your capabilities, include links. Cognition's team appreciates people who build things on their own initiative. A well-crafted personal project can be as compelling as professional experience, especially if it demonstrates creativity, technical depth, or relevance to AI and developer tools.

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Signal Your Ambition and Vision for AI

Cognition is not building a feature — it is building a new category of AI agent. Your resume should signal that you think big and are motivated by ambitious problems. In your summary or cover letter, briefly articulate your view on the future of AI in software development and why Cognition's approach excites you. This level of thoughtfulness distinguishes exceptional candidates from good ones.

ATS System: Ashby

Cognition uses Ashby, a modern applicant tracking system popular with high-growth AI companies. Ashby provides a straightforward application experience with structured forms and automated communication. Given Cognition's small team size, applications receive close personal attention — your resume and screening responses are reviewed by people who will work alongside you.

  • Submit your resume as a PDF with a clean, single-column format for best parsing results
  • Use standard section headers (Experience, Education, Skills, Projects) to ensure Ashby correctly categorizes your information
  • Screening questions are read carefully by the hiring team — generic answers will not advance you at a company this selective
  • Include links to GitHub, competitive programming profiles, or notable projects when the application form allows it
  • Ashby sends status update emails — add cognition.ai to your contacts to prevent spam filtering
  • Apply to only your strongest-fit role rather than multiple positions, as Cognition's small team tracks all applications

Complete Ashby Resume Guide →

Interview Culture

Cognition's interview culture reflects the intensity, rigor, and ambition that define the company.

With approximately 50 employees building one of the most watched AI products in the world, every hire has a dramatic impact on the team. The interview process is designed to identify exceptional talent — people who can contribute immediately to building Devin and advancing Cognition's mission. Engineering interviews are technically demanding. Cognition was founded by competitive programming champions, and the engineering team includes some of the strongest algorithmic problem-solvers in the industry. Expect coding challenges that test not just correctness but elegance, efficiency, and the ability to reason clearly about complex problems under pressure. System design discussions focus on the unique challenges of building autonomous AI agents — how to handle code generation at scale, how to evaluate AI-written code for correctness, and how to build reliable systems in a domain with inherent uncertainty. For non-engineering roles such as QA, marketing, and operations, interviews focus on creative thinking, resourcefulness, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with minimal structure. QA candidates work through scenarios involving testing AI-generated code, which requires a fundamentally different approach than traditional software testing. Marketing candidates discuss how to communicate Devin's capabilities to technical audiences without overpromising. Culturally, Cognition values intellectual honesty, raw talent, and relentless drive. The company operates with the urgency of a team that believes it is building something genuinely transformative. Interviewers look for people who are energized by hard problems, who learn quickly, and who can maintain high output without extensive management. There is no room for coasting at Cognition — every team member is expected to punch above their weight. Despite the intensity, Cognition treats candidates with respect and transparency. The small team means decisions happen quickly — candidates typically hear back within days of each interview stage, and the overall process is efficient. The company understands that the best candidates have options and aims to make the experience reflect Cognition's values of excellence and directness.

What Cognition Looks For

  • Exceptional technical ability, particularly in algorithms, systems design, and code quality — Cognition's bar is among the highest in the industry
  • Experience with or deep interest in AI agents, code generation, program synthesis, or large language models applied to software engineering tasks
  • Demonstrated ability to have outsized impact in small teams or early-stage environments where individual contribution matters enormously
  • Strong problem-solving instincts with the ability to tackle novel, ambiguous challenges without clear precedent or playbooks
  • Intellectual curiosity and passion for the future of AI in software development and beyond
  • Speed of execution without sacrificing quality — Cognition ships fast but expects engineering excellence
  • Self-direction and initiative, with the ability to identify important work and execute without waiting for detailed instructions
  • Resilience and comfort with the intensity of building at the frontier of AI research and product development

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the hiring process like at Cognition?
Cognition's hiring process typically includes an initial screen (which may be directly with a hiring manager given the small team), a rigorous technical assessment, team interviews with multiple engineers and cross-functional partners, and often a final conversation with founder Scott Wu. The process is efficient — with approximately 50 employees, decisions are made quickly, and candidates typically hear back within days of each stage. The entire process usually takes 2-4 weeks from application to offer.
What ATS does Cognition use for job applications?
Cognition uses Ashby as its applicant tracking system. Ashby is a modern ATS favored by high-growth AI startups. To optimize your application, submit a clean, single-column PDF resume with standard section headers. Complete all screening questions with specific, thoughtful answers — at a company of Cognition's size, your responses receive close personal attention from the hiring team.
What is Devin and what does Cognition do?
Devin is the world's first fully autonomous AI software engineer, built by Cognition. Unlike code completion tools or AI copilots that assist human developers, Devin can independently plan software projects, write code, debug issues, learn unfamiliar codebases, and deploy applications from a single natural language prompt. Cognition's mission extends beyond developer tools toward building AI agents capable of handling increasingly complex cognitive work.
How technically rigorous are Cognition's interviews?
Cognition's interviews are among the most technically demanding in the industry. The company was founded by competitive programming champions, and the engineering team includes exceptionally strong algorithmic problem-solvers. Expect coding challenges that test correctness, efficiency, and elegance, along with system design discussions focused on AI agent architecture. Strong competitive programming backgrounds, while not required, are valued. The key is demonstrating that you can solve hard problems and write excellent code under pressure.
Do I need competitive programming experience to work at Cognition?
Competitive programming experience is valued at Cognition but is not a strict requirement for all roles. The company's founder Scott Wu is a competitive programming champion, and the engineering culture reflects that heritage. However, Cognition also hires QA engineers, marketers, operations staff, and other non-engineering roles where different skills matter. For engineering roles, you should be able to demonstrate strong algorithmic thinking and problem-solving ability, whether through competitions, professional work, or personal projects.
What is the company culture like at Cognition?
Cognition's culture is defined by intensity, intellectual honesty, and ambition. With approximately 50 employees building one of the most transformative AI products in the world, every person has outsized impact and responsibility. The team operates with startup urgency and high expectations for quality. Cognition values raw talent and drive over credentials or years of experience. The environment is collaborative but demanding — team members are expected to be self-directed, learn quickly, and maintain high output.
What compensation does Cognition offer?
Cognition offers competitive compensation packages including base salary, significant equity grants, and comprehensive benefits. As a company valued at $2 billion with only approximately 50 employees, equity grants can represent meaningful ownership stakes. The company's strong funding and ambitious trajectory make the equity component particularly compelling for candidates who believe in the future of autonomous AI agents.
How can I make my application to Cognition stand out?
To stand out at Cognition, lead with your most technically impressive work rather than a comprehensive career history. Include competitive programming ratings or algorithmic achievements if you have them. Link to notable GitHub projects, open-source contributions, or technical writing. Keep your resume concise — 1-2 pages focused on depth rather than breadth. In screening questions, demonstrate genuine understanding of Devin and articulate your vision for AI in software development. Cognition is looking for exceptional talent who think big.
Is Cognition remote-friendly?
Cognition is headquartered in San Francisco and the company's small team size makes in-person collaboration important. Most roles are expected to be based in the San Francisco area. Check individual job listings for specific location requirements, as some roles may have different arrangements. The company values the tight collaboration that comes from a co-located team working on challenging problems together.

Open Positions

Cognition currently has 48 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 48 open positions at Cognition

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  1. Cognition Careers — Cognition
  2. Cognition About — Cognition