About the role
We are building the AI CAD tool for architects and engineers, starting with common MEP/data center workflows
About Us
- William and Brian met at Carnegie Mellon
- William worked at Meta and built homes in Texas
- Brian ran Rent the Backyard (YC S19), a housing factory in Oakland, CA
- William and Brian worked on their own CAD tools independently
- William and Brian met back up and started working together
- William and Brian took a small detour building AI on top of other CAD tools to go to market faster
- William and Brian realized with Claude Code it is now possible to build a better CAD engine and get to market
- William and Brian took their learnings and market demand and set out to build a better CAD engine from scratch to aid the whole market, starting with MEP/data center use cases.
Our CAD Tool
Our CAD tool differentiates with a few core feature sets:
- Web-first: heavy computation happens server-side
- Code-first: every component is defined via code. The biggest benefit to code-first is that AI is really good at reasoning over code. If you turn CAD into code, LLMs can do amazing things.
- Parallelization: cloud-first enables us to spin up agents to test stuff and return completed work back to the main plan
The end state for a user: tell the AI what you want, the AI encodes all your business rules & logic down to the component level in deterministic logic, sends a swarm of agents off to test work, then returns a finished, tested plan back to the user.
Why Join the ArchiLabs Team
- You are excited about the physical world and where software and the real world meet
- You are excited about unlocking productivity gains across homebuilding, industrials, and more
- FUN! The work is fun and the people are (hopefully in your eyes) fun!
The Role
We are looking for a founding MEP software engineer.
The founding MEP software engineer role will evolve, but there are a few core areas the person will contribute:
- Content: As part of building a CAD tool, we need content on top of the core engine (electrical systems, hvac systems, single-line diagrams, pipes, cooling systems, cabling, and more). AI has done heavy-lifting with scoping the breadth of content needed, but we will need a MEP/data center engineer to help translate this into acceptance criteria and QA/QC the work AI outputs.
- Forward Deployed Engineering: We expect many engagements to be white glove onboardings. We expect this founding MEP software engineer role to help with these onboardings and to be customer-facing.
- PM: We expect this MEP software engineer to be thoughtful about the future of CAD and where our tool needs improvements to meet market needs.
Skillsets/Experience we are looking for: - Experience in MEP
- Experience in data center design
- Experience in software engineering
About ArchiLabs
ArchiLabs is building the AI-native CAD engine for architects and engineers, starting with MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) workflows. The company is helping neoclouds, hyperscalers, IT tenants, and data center builders deliver data center projects faster and with less risk.
Founded in 2024 by Brian Bakerman and William Meng — who met at Carnegie Mellon — ArchiLabs is rethinking how building design works from the ground up. Rather than bolting AI onto legacy tools like Revit and AutoCAD (which were designed in the 90s for human ergonomics), ArchiLabs is building a code-first, web-first CAD platform where every component is defined via code, enabling AI agents to reason over building systems at scale.
Why ArchiLabs exists: Traditional CAD tools were built for humans clicking through menus — not for AI agents that can write code faster than anyone but can't draw shapes intuitively. ArchiLabs redesigns the architectural representation layer from first principles, making it native to how LLMs think and operate.
Culture: ArchiLabs is a flat, best-idea-wins organization where team members think and act like co-founders. The team values initiative, contrarian thinking, and genuine problem-solving over hierarchy or task delegation. The founders describe the vibe as "three friends taking on a big interesting technical problem" and want every new hire to bring that same energy and ownership.
Backed by Y Combinator, ArchiLabs is at the ground floor of transforming how the $13T AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry designs and delivers projects.
Other roles at ArchiLabs
Job details
Salary
$100,000 - $200,000
Equity
0.25% - 1%
Location
San Francisco, CA
Experience
0+ years
Funding
Total raised
$24M
Last stage
Seed
Investors
What happens next.
No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.
Confirm the fit
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I pitch you to the company
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
A meeting lands on your calendar
If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.