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Blank Metal

Production-ready AI solutions in 90 days

AI Engineer

Full-Time
No salary listed
Junior, Mid
Minneapolis, MN, USA
HybridHybrid work in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Software EngineeringAI Application Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • Proven ability to ship production AI features end-to-end.
  • Deep hands-on experience with LLM APIs such as OpenAI and Anthropic, and frameworks such as LangChain.
  • Strong development skills across frontend technologies including React and modern frameworks, backend technologies including Python, Node.js, and .NET, and infrastructure.
  • Ability to architect AI integrations that scale, handle errors gracefully, and provide good user experiences.
  • Comfort with vector databases, prompt engineering, embedding models, and emerging AI tools.
  • Commitment to code quality, testing, and building reliable systems.
  • Two to five years of professional software engineering experience.
  • Demonstrated production AI experience, including LLM integrations and AI-powered features.
  • Advanced full-stack development skills.
  • Experience with modern cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
  • Strong backend and infrastructure development skills applied to real production systems.
  • Proven ability to ship complex features independently.
Responsibilities
  • Design and implement end-to-end AI integrations from LLM API selection through production deployment.
  • Architect AI-powered features that work reliably at scale.
  • Work independently on complex projects with minimal oversight.
  • Use LLM frameworks, vector databases, and prompt engineering to solve real problems.
  • Integrate cloud AI services and build custom AI tooling when needed.
  • Ship production-grade code that balances quality and velocity.
  • Collaborate with designers, product managers, and other engineers.
  • Contribute to technical decisions and architectural discussions.
  • Mentor junior engineers when needed.
  • Ship production AI features with minimal guidance.
  • Own the technical direction of AI integrations on projects.
  • Become the go-to expert on AI architecture and tooling.
  • Help raise the bar for the team's approach to AI engineering.
  • Build a track record of high-impact, reliable AI systems.
  • Mentor other engineers.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems.
  • Familiarity with vector databases such as Pinecone, Weaviate, and Chroma.
  • Experience contributing to frontend features using modern frameworks when needed.
  • Background with API design and system integration.
  • Understanding of prompt engineering best practices.
  • Experience with deployment and DevOps practices.
  • Exposure to agentic AI systems.

About the company

Blank Metal is an AI-native engineering firm that helps large companies move AI projects from pilot to production. It uses small, senior engineering teams to implement production-ready AI solutions on a fixed-price, KPI-linked model with rapid delivery—shipping production-ready solutions weekly within 90 days or less. Unlike traditional consultants, it avoids prolonged strategy phases and focuses on fast, hands-on development and measurable client value. By tying compensation to client success, Blank Metal aligns incentives with real outcomes. The goal is to eliminate stalled AI initiatives by delivering practical, scalable AI applications and automation quickly, enabling enterprises to realize tangible business value from their AI investments.

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Seed

Total Funding

$3M

Headquarters

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Founded

2025

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Anthropic featured Blank Metal in October 2026, validating its own Claude-powered operations.
  • Blank Metal opened North Loop hiring in 2026, signaling headcount and office expansion.
  • Vercel’s 2026 partner page showcases Shippy, Vertical Insure, and Parallax delivery results.

What critics are saying

  • Blank Metal depends on Vercel, OpenAI, Anthropic, and LangGraph; vendor changes can crush margins quickly.
  • Fixed-price production guarantees expose the firm to scope creep and deadline misses on deal.
  • Consulting firms and cloud platforms can copy its delivery playbook, commoditizing Blank Metal by 2027.

What makes Blank Metal unique

  • Blank Metal sells 90-day production deployments, not advisory decks.
  • Its 2026 Vercel partnership gives clients enterprise AI infrastructure plus implementation muscle.
  • Case studies with Vertical Insure and Parallax show shipped workflows and measurable outcomes.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Unlimited Paid Time Off
  • Flexible Work Hours
  • Hybrid Work Options
  • Professional Development Budget

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

-5%

1 year growth

-5%

2 year growth

-5%
Eastern Progress
Sep 18th, 2025
Blank Metal Joins Vercel's Exclusive Partner Program to Accelerate Enterprise AI Deployment

The partnership combines Vercel's comprehensive AI Cloud platform - including its AI SDK, AI Gateway, and enterprise security infrastructure - with Blank Metal's specialized implementation expertise.

FinSMEs
Jun 24th, 2025
Blank Metal Raises $3M in Funding

Blank Metal, a Minneapolis, MN-based provider of an AI-native engineering company, raised $3M in funding