Mercury
Large (~1,300)
Scale AI
Large (~1,200)
Best For
Mercury
Best for: Engineers who want product ownership and fast growth building startup banking infrastructure
Scale AI
Best for: Ambitious builders who want critical AI infrastructure work serving top-tier clients
Ratings
MercuryScale AI
4.3
3.5
Overall
3.8
2.7
Work-Life Balance
3.9
2.9
Culture & Values
4.0
3.5
Comp & Benefits
3.8
2.8
Senior Mgmt
3.9
3.6
Career Opps
👍 79% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Immad Akhund)
👍 56% Recommend
👤 60% CEO Approval (Alexandr Wang)
Culture Values
Mercury only
💎 Strong Comp & Equity🧩 Wears Many Hats
Scale AI only
No unique values
Shared
🎯 Direct Product Impact⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🌱 Learning & Growth
Pros & Cons
Mercury
- Strong talent density with smart, motivated teammates and genuine autonomy and ownership
- Great Place to Work certified — product-first mindset with meaningful scope for every engineer
- Still figuring out how to scale processes — expect some ambiguity and shifting priorities
- Work-life balance rated 3.8/5 — periods of higher intensity during rapid growth phases
Scale AI
- Building critical AI data infrastructure used by OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government
- Strong compensation for engineers — competitive base + equity
- Work-life balance rated 2.7/5 — long hours common during client deadlines
- Culture and values scored 2.9/5 — inconsistent management quality
Bottom Line
Mercury
Choose Mercury if you want product ownership, fast growth, and to build banking infrastructure for startups — but expect growing pains and occasionally intense workloads.
Scale AI
Choose Scale AI if you want to build data infrastructure for OpenAI and the US government — but expect long hours and inconsistent management.
Open Roles
Mercury — 70 jobs
💻 Engineering
15
💼 Sales / GTM
13
👤 HR / People
4
📋 Product
4
🎨 Design
3
⚖️ Legal
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
🎧 Support
1
Scale AI — 175 jobs
💻 Engineering
64
🧠 ML / AI
25
📋 Product
16
💼 Sales / GTM
14
⚙️ Operations
7
⚖️ Legal
5
📣 Marketing
4
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
👤 HR / People
2
🎨 Design
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Mercury scores 4.3/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.8 work-life balance rating. Scale AI scores 3.5/5.0 overall with a 2.7 WLB. That’s a 0.8-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Direct Product Impact, Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Learning & Growth. Mercury also emphasizes Strong Comp & Equity, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Mercury has 70 open roles and Scale AI has 175 open roles.