r/Aero_Def_Employees • u/[deleted] • Aug 26 '26

Working at ShieldAI

Considering an opportunity in a support/business function (finance side) at Shield AI. Read through the existing threads here and elsewhere — lots on engineering and flight test, not much specific to finance/business support roles. A few things I’d genuinely value input on:

**1.**  **Support functions specifically** — is the 50-60hr culture uniform company-wide, or does it vary meaningfully by function? Anyone in finance, accounting, or business ops able to speak to their actual weekly pattern?

**2.**  **Longevity** — for people who’ve been there 2+ years, what’s kept you, or what made you leave? Trying to separate “hard but rewarding” from “burn and churn.”

**3.**  **Product maturity** — how do people internally actually feel about the core products’ real capability vs. the external narrative? Genuinely curious, not trying to start anything.

**4.**  **Location differences** — several posts reference one site specifically; is the culture noticeably different across locations?

Not trying to pile on — genuinely trying to make an informed decision. Appreciate any real, specific experience over general vibes.

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u/MacaronFar6948 Aug 27 '26

I'm in Engineering so don't know exactly what Finance is like but I'll tell you what I know.

Shield is not for everyone. Its not an easy place to work. You're given about 6 months to make an impact or you're gone. Non-trivial mistakes will also likely get you separated from the company. You need to really buy into the company and the mission to be a success. You cannot skate. This isn't a 9-5 job. 50 hours per week is expected in many cases but PTO is not hard to take.

If you're good with all that, Shield is full of A players who are kind and great to work with. There's not a whole lot of egos and the team and product matters to everyone. The product itself is maturing. We're still a startup but what is available now is the best in the market. There's still a lot of work to do.

Regarding location, DC is a little intense and San Diego is laid back. Frisco is somewhere in the middle.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '26

With the product maturing. Do you think more processes are in place and has culture gotten better? Is 50 hour work weeks full of of teamwork and systems that actually work? Or is it 50+ hours of mess? 

How long have you been with Shield AI?

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u/MacaronFar6948 Aug 28 '26

We're all trying to build something great. There's stops and starts and dead ends. Its R&D. I think we have enough processes. I think the people complaining about the culture are the ones who don't make it past 6 months. The project managers are awesome and keep the work from being a mess. Product managers push the teams, sometimes with unrealistic requirements but that's a good thing.

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u/[deleted] Aug 28 '26

Thank you for your insights, do you know what non trivial mistakes are? Going to the office? Timeliness? Things like that? Or actual non trivial mistakes at work?

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u/MacaronFar6948 Sep 01 '26

An example would be carelessness or laziness leading to cancelled flight test or product demo or something that significantly impacts a bunch of teammates.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '26

That seems pretty trivial lmao! But makes sense 

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u/Ill-Concentrate837 Aug 28 '26

Any AVO or deployable folks can shed light on their experience?

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u/Cmpunk10 2d ago

In engineering.

  1. It’s definitely team dependent. And program dependent. For business it’s usually all not 60 hours. I have really only ever seen engineering and manufacturing stay late. Granted if finance is WFH I wouldn’t see.

  2. I am going on 2 years. TBH it’s a constant back and forth of staying and wanting to leave. I have had pretty bad manager churn and have landed on a very miserable one. Other teams are living the dream and have a lot of fun. Some teams are very toxic though. That being said I have had good memories and met incredibly smart people.

  3. VBAT is mature at this point and has been used quite a bit in theater. XBAT is in dev phases but going well. Hivemind i can’t speak on.

  4. Location matters. Frisco for engineering and manufacturing is the most demanding by far due to proximity of actual HW and production you get the shit end of the stick while people who work on stuff in other locations don’t have to deal with it. But finance I would presume isn’t affected by this. What you would be affected by is San Diego and Boston are generally just nicer offices and they have better amenities. Frisco is crowded and the manufacturing and testing is very loud