Adyen
Large (~4,770)
Cognition
Medium (~300)
Best For
Adyen
Best for: Payments and backend engineers who value a no-nonsense engineering-first culture with above-average WLB and the challenge of processing global financial transactions at massive scale
Cognition
Best for: Elite engineers who want to build frontier AI coding agents and own a meaningful equity stake
Ratings
AdyenCognition
3.8
3.8
Overall
4.1
3.2
Work-Life Balance
3.9
3.9
Culture & Values
3.8
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.6
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.6
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Ingo Uytdehaage)
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Scott Wu)
Culture Values
Adyen only
⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌱 Learning & Growth
Cognition only
💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
Adyen
- Smart, humble colleagues with high standards and a market-leading payments product
- Good work-life balance with trust-based culture, free lunch, and international team trips
- Below-market compensation (~20% less than peers) with poor stock options
- Middle management quality issues as company scaled — inexperienced managers and internal politics
Cognition
- Elite engineering team with strong equity
- Cutting-edge AI agent work
- High-intensity startup pace
- In-person SF expectations
Bottom Line
Adyen
Adyen's engineering culture is well-regarded in fintech — principled, WLB-conscious (4.1/5), and technically rigorous — but expect a methodical Amsterdam-centric culture rather than a high-growth startup vibe.
Cognition
Choose Cognition if you want world-class AI agent research (makers of Devin) with strong equity upside — but expect top-tier intensity and mandatory in-person in San Francisco.
Open Roles
Adyen — 279 jobs
💻 Engineering
80
💼 Sales / GTM
65
⚖️ Legal
19
💰 Finance
14
⚙️ Operations
12
📋 Product
12
👤 HR / People
11
📊 Data
10
🎨 Design
5
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
2
Cognition — 62 jobs
💻 Engineering
21
💼 Sales / GTM
10
📊 Data
3
⚖️ Legal
2
⚙️ Operations
2
💰 Finance
1
👤 HR / People
1
📣 Marketing
1
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Adyen scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.1 work-life balance rating. Cognition scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 3.2 WLB. They’re tied on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact. Adyen also emphasizes Work-Life Balance, Learning & Growth. Cognition also emphasizes Strong Comp & Equity.
On the hiring front, Adyen has 279 open roles and Cognition has 62 open roles.