Helsing
Mid (~660)
Poolside
Small (~150)
Best For
Helsing
Best for: AI/ML engineers motivated by national security and defense who want to apply frontier AI to high-stakes real-world problems in a mission-driven team
Poolside
Best for: AI researchers who want frontier code generation work with genuine remote flexibility and Paris offsites
Ratings
HelsingPoolside
4.0
3.8
Overall
3.6
3.5
Work-Life Balance
4.1
3.9
Culture & Values
4.0
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.8
3.6
Senior Mgmt
3.8
3.6
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (Gundbert Scherf)
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Jason Warner)
Culture Values
Helsing only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Poolside only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🌱 Learning & Growth
Pros & Cons
Helsing
- Highest talent density of any tech company — world-class AI and engineering leadership
- Extremely important mission with rewarding impact and competitive salary
- Ridiculous expectations of work hours — high salaries do not mean constant overtime
- Some management not experienced enough to lead; lacking in performance feedback
Poolside
- Remote-first with monthly Paris gatherings
- Cutting-edge code generation research
- Early-stage with limited structure
- Comp may trail larger AI labs
Bottom Line
Helsing
Strong engineering culture with a clear mission — but that mission (AI for defense) is not for everyone. Research the ethics carefully before applying; those aligned will find unusually meaningful work.
Poolside
Choose Poolside if you want cutting-edge code AI research on a remote-first flat team (ex-GitHub CTO leadership) — but expect early-stage ambiguity and comp that trails the larger AI labs.
Open Roles
Helsing — 103 jobs
💻 Engineering
53
🧠 ML / AI
8
💰 Finance
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📋 Product
3
👤 HR / People
2
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
⚖️ Legal
1
💼 Sales / GTM
1
🎧 Support
1
Poolside — 12 jobs
💻 Engineering
9
📊 Data
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Helsing scores 4.0/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.6 work-life balance rating. Poolside scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 3.5 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Learning & Growth. Helsing also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact, Strong Comp & Equity. Poolside also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Helsing has 103 open roles and Poolside has 12 open roles.