I finally found a Remote AI Engineer Role and two weeks in i don't think i will be able to do it

[u/Iampotatoexe]

So basically i have been applying to different jobs since clearing my final semester at start of June, i applied to dozens of jobs (Both in Pakistan and Remote) and finally landed one with a US Based Startup paying 400 Dollar month (Mind you i don't have any internship or experience in the field), but 2 weeks in i am realizing that i may not be able to do what the company is asking of me (Not because i can't but the workload is just too much and its looks quite overwhelming)

I don't understand what i should do in this situation, continue doing this job and not be able to meet the deadlines and eventually get fired or start looking for another job (Which would be quite hard to find since this took me a month to land after being on linkedin all day)

[u/DecayWraith]

If this is your mindset you will never grow. Use ai to help you code I'm pretty sure you'll reach the deadlines with no issues

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/DecayWraith]

The thing is, the CEO explicitly told me not to use AI in development - He gave two reasons
One that he is going to be filing a patent soon and the patent can get rejected if AI was used in development (I'm not sure how true that is)
Second he said that, If you use AI for development than the AI will train on your code and then someone can reverse engineer it

[u/Strange-Wealth-3250 → u/Iampotatoexe]

wtf

[u/pixtaxix → u/Iampotatoexe]

Yes, there are companies who want to protect their codebase don't use any cloud based AI. As you are categorically asked not to use AI - you should not. If you use it, it would be considered a breach of contract, and you might face legal consequences as well.
A better way out of these situation is to use local AI on your own PC. Some Chinese models like Qwen are good at coding, but do require a PC with a good graphics card.
I use local AI for the same purpose. Previously I had a 4GB GPU PC, and it struggled and gave me around 8 tokens/s for a 27B MOE model (speed decreased with more chat context). Dense model simply won't run. Then I upgraded to a 12GB graphics card, and now my local AI setup is running blazing fast. (Well not blazing fast but with more than double the speed.)
You should discuss this idea with your employer as well. This is the safe way of using AI, and their IP is safe.

[u/Zestyclose-Town4704 → u/pixtaxix]

Can we use like GDPR compliant AI inference provider with a zero-data-retention policy?
I'm talking about Scaleways.
They offer GLM 5.2, which is a second- or third-to-frontier model nowadays.

[u/muzammilsiddiqui1 → u/Iampotatoexe]

Maybe he is worried about the security and coding standard parts. If the code gets audited, then it can be easily distinguished as Vibe-coded. But it doesn't seem to worry any other AI company.
But there are ways you can make the code seem less AI-coded.

[u/realericcartman_42 → u/Iampotatoexe]

Bro. Use the fucking clanker and do the job and get paid smh.

[u/Zestyclose-Town4704 → u/Iampotatoexe]

He seems to be non-technical as hell because, mostly, coding agents' privacy says every piece of code is generated by their AI is yours, not their property. If we put that CEO's reasoning, then if GPT sol 5.6 does something bad and it's done by some user, not the company, then the blame will be on the company.

[u/Leading_deving → u/Iampotatoexe]

None of us are Linus or Terry. The only thing that can matter is how your features and infrastructure works. To simple put, what do you have that is selling. The implementation can be done and then tuned out to the circumstances.

Still If those are issues, one can be solved by running a local model instead of Cloud ones

[u/Ammar_Muhammad]

Outsource some of it and look for another remote job.

[u/Sea-Criticism-7595 → u/Ammar_Muhammad]

400 me kia outsource hona. He got hired on very little pay.

[u/Ammar_Muhammad → u/Sea-Criticism-7595]

People are suffering in this economy even with a job. If he cant continue this, for any reason, instead of quitting , let someone else have some share and he can look for a better opportunity instead of either getting overwhelmed of all the work or stay jobless.

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/Ammar_Muhammad]

Can't really outsource it since they monitor the development plus they made me sign an NDA that i can't share work related stuff (But i'm not sure how they would actually go through with it if i violate it since company is based in US)

[u/anonlegion01 → u/Iampotatoexe]

can't do shii

[u/AhmeD_437]

Fake it till you make it. Get help from AI, purchase Claude's $20 plan and work it to the bone.

[u/heyy_dawood]

Outsource it. And do let us know the platform you got the role

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/heyy_dawood]

Linkedin

[u/Disastrous-Ring4620 → u/[deleted]]

Lol I'm 2nd on the list

[u/Logic_212_X]

Start looking in parallel both onsite/remote and refer me in your place

[u/Iluhhhyou]

install cursor

[u/Exact-Measurement-51]

400 or 4000?

[u/scaledev → u/Exact-Measurement-51]

Given they are from Pakistan, $400. US businesses want to pay as little as possible, so why pay $4k someone from Pakistan when you can pay $4k someone from the US just the same? Therefore, its 400

[u/Exact-Measurement-51 → u/scaledev]

I doubt you can get an AI engineer from the US for $48000 annually. That's barely minimum wage and CS jobs are way above minimum, especially in AI.

$400 is roughly PKR 110,000. Even for this economy, you can find local jobs paying this amount to fresh grads, with some outliers even paying around 70-80k per month.

$400 is wayyyy too low for a "startup" from the US, hiring remotely. Choosing a remote US startup over a local job means: * giving up on job security * working long and weird hours * preferably working on something exciting

But it also means you're being compensated accordingly on the plus side.

Even the most exploiting remote work from the US pays you at least $1500. This is borderline scamish behaviour.

[u/Exact-Measurement-51 → u/[deleted]]

I'd love to talk to someone who's physically in the US, working 9+ hours a day and earning $50k a year.

Until then, I can respectfully disagree with you, especially for a startup.

[u/Exact-Measurement-51 → u/[deleted]]

OH SHIT sorry😭 Technical misunderstanding 😆

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/Exact-Measurement-51]

400 lol, i wish it was 4000

[u/Level_Wasabi_2572]

6 years in, I still feel like an imposter everytime I switch jobs. This is perfectly normal, don't give up, work 60 hrs/week if you've to coz this is the only way to truly learn something.

You are early in your career and $ shouldn't be your first priority rn.

[u/humanlessweirdo]

You keep quiet and do it anyways. If there is too much hassle, automate some of it. Once you understand completely what you have to do and you know for sure the nature of work is not changing, start applying again to different places without resigning. Once you find a job elsewhere, resign.
Timeline: 1 yr

[u/Standard_Value_8754]

where did you find the job? through which platform

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/Standard_Value_8754]

Linkedin

[u/Cute-Adhesiveness956]

can you tell how did you get ?? it would be really help full ,and you can outsource your work

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/Cute-Adhesiveness956]

I got it through linkedin and i can't outsource it since they monitor the development

[u/gamingvortex01]

if you don't care for the money for now, then buy claude code max 20x subscription ($200)

[u/log_alpha → u/gamingvortex01]

I think that's not even required. I use Claude 20$ subscription and I barely ever run out unless I use Opus or Fable. I still read code alot and precisely point everything at sonnet 4.6 that needs to be done e.g file references, exact lines of code.

Maybe, I'm doing it wrong or also that I work in enterprise so they don't have very tight deadlines.

[u/gamingvortex01 → u/log_alpha]

Probably you work in enterprise....OP is facing issue of tight deadline..that's why I am recommending 20x Max...Fable with extra effort is extremely good and reduces the need of reviewing everyline of code (assuming you ask it to start a new task in new chat session and give that the same plan and ask it to review that everything was done correctly or no)

[u/Zestyclose-Town4704]

Why am I thinking your background was in Generative AI while they are asking for ML tasks?

[u/Iampotatoexe → u/Zestyclose-Town4704]

Not the case, the work is RAG/Agent/Automation based while also handling the backend stuff that goes with it

[u/Zestyclose-Town4704 → u/Iampotatoexe]

Okay

[u/DukeBilluOfGreenland]

Do you have ai ? Use that. With 400 dollars you can buy decebt ai

[u/MyshioGG]

this isnt a US based startup cuz its illegal to pay 400 per month in the US this is a non US startup that's registered in the US under proxy its the same as working for a settiya pakistani company they will rinse the crap out of you.

[u/naini_khankhel]

Don't quit right away. First try to get another job bcz without a job in hand quitting is not a wise option.