Cognition
Medium (~300)
Samsara
Large (~5,200)
Best For
Cognition
Best for: Elite engineers who want to build frontier AI coding agents and own a meaningful equity stake
Samsara
Best for: Sales and ops professionals who thrive in a high-growth public company selling real IoT hardware+software to physical industries
Ratings
CognitionSamsara
3.8
4.0
Overall
3.2
3.9
Work-Life Balance
3.9
4.1
Culture & Values
3.8
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.8
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Scott Wu)
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (Sanjit Biswas)
Culture Values
Cognition only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven
Samsara only
🌱 Learning & Growth
Shared
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate💎 Strong Comp & Equity🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
Cognition
- Elite engineering team with strong equity
- Cutting-edge AI agent work
- High-intensity startup pace
- In-person SF expectations
Samsara
- Clear career trajectory with frequent promotions in sales
- Real-world product impact building IoT for physical operations
- Engineers rate WLB at only 2.9/5 despite company average of 3.9
- Remote work used to justify overwork including weekends
Bottom Line
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.
Samsara
Strong sales culture and real-world product impact at massive scale, but engineers report significantly worse WLB than the company average suggests.
Open Roles
Cognition — 62 jobs
💻 Engineering
21
💼 Sales / GTM
10
📊 Data
3
⚖️ Legal
2
⚙️ Operations
2
💰 Finance
1
👤 HR / People
1
📣 Marketing
1
🧠 ML / AI
1
Samsara — 383 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
188
💻 Engineering
60
📋 Product
36
📣 Marketing
11
🧠 ML / AI
10
📊 Data
7
⚙️ Operations
7
🎧 Support
5
👤 HR / People
3
⚖️ Legal
2
🎨 Design
1
Summary
Cognition scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.2 work-life balance rating. Samsara scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Ship Fast & Iterate, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Cognition also emphasizes Engineering-Driven. Samsara also emphasizes Learning & Growth.
On the hiring front, Cognition has 62 open roles and Samsara has 383 open roles.