Founding Engineer - Robotics, IoT & Hardware Research

Pluto AI Labs · India

Pluto AI Labs is an applied AI Lab that builds autonomous systems for businesses of any size. We design and ship agentic and multi-agent solutions that run real business operations in production.

But a large part of how those businesses actually run is physical. Warehouses, plants, fleets, stores. Software can only reach so far into that. So we are starting a robotics and hardware research wing to close the gap between the systems we build and the physical work they are meant to run.

The role

The work spans three connected areas:

• IoT and sensing. Instrumenting physical operations so they produce data. Sensors on machines, vehicles, stock, and spaces, connected reliably enough to be trusted.
• Edge AI. Running perception and decision-making on the device itself, where latency, connectivity, and cost make cloud round-trips impractical.
• Robotics and automation. Motion, actuation, and machines that do physical work, where a problem genuinely calls for one.

The thread through all three is the same: physical systems that talk to our agent layer, so an AI system can see what is happening on the ground and act on it.

You will work directly with the founders, with real latitude to pick problems and set technical direction.

What you will do

• Prototype IoT devices end to end: sensors, microcontrollers, power, connectivity, and the backend they report into.
• Build edge AI into hardware. Run models on-device for vision, detection, counting, and anomaly spotting.
• Design and build electronics and mechanical assemblies where a project needs them. Schematics, PCBs, CAD, printing, assembly.
• Write embedded firmware and the control software above it.
• Connect all of it to our agent systems, so physical signals drive automated decisions and actions.
• Test in real operating environments and rebuild based on what actually breaks.
• Evaluate what is worth building versus buying, and write up what you learn so the wing compounds knowledge.

What makes you a match?

• You have built physical things that worked outside a lab. Devices, robots, sensor deployments, or automation rigs. This matters more than credentials.
• Strong embedded background: microcontrollers, C or C++, and the patience to debug hardware that misbehaves.
• IoT fundamentals: wireless connectivity, MQTT or equivalent protocols, power budgeting, and deploying devices that stay up unattended.
• Hands-on with sensors and perception: cameras, IMUs, depth, encoders, and making noisy real-world data usable.
• Comfort running AI at the edge, or the clear ability to get there. Model optimization, quantization, and inference on constrained hardware.
• Enough Python and backend sense to prototype the software side yourself.
• Fabrication ability. CAD, 3D printing, and willingness to build and solder things yourself.
• The judgment to know when a problem needs a robot, when it needs a five-dollar sensor, and when it needs neither.
• High tolerance for ambiguity. Nobody will hand you a spec.

Strong plus

• ROS or ROS2, motion planning, control theory.
• Jetson, Coral, or similar edge AI hardware in production.
• Computer vision deployed on real cameras in real conditions.
• Experience with warehouse, logistics, retail, or industrial automation.
• Simulation work in Isaac Sim, Gazebo, or MuJoCo.
• Experience taking hardware from prototype toward manufacturing.
• A background in mechatronics, robotics, electronics, or embedded systems, formal or self-taught.

Engagement

• Full-time and remote.
• You will need your own workspace and basic bench setup. We fund components, boards, sensors, prototyping costs, and the AI tooling you need.
• Occasional travel to client sites for field testing, when a project calls for it.
• Compensation is discussed once we understand the scope and your availability.
• Direct line to the founders, with no layers in between.

We hire on evidence of building. A working prototype with ugly wiring beats a polished resume.