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People can do a whole lot better

Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at C3.ai for 2 years
April 13, 2024
2.0
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

Compensation is good overall, somewhere between the country's average and top companies.

Talented coworkers.

Perks (insurance, food, and supermarket vouchers) are above market average.

Stocks (RSUs) are above average. Many are staying longer than they want because of this.

Please note that overly optimistic reviews are from people doing their onboarding tasks.

Cons

Overall, I agree with other recent reviews. My personal takes:

Management, culture, and product:

  • Micromanagement from top to bottom.
  • Boomer management culture.
  • Unrealistic expectations of product capabilities and deadlines. I have to give in that they are good sellers, but nothing else.
  • Collaboration among product areas is tedious.
  • Upper and middle management are not open to feedback. They make sure to listen but do nothing about it. When there are important deadlines, they tend to push with a rather disrespectful and rude tone. "If you don't like it, go elsewhere."
  • Upper management likes to think they are a startup, with constant priority changes (frequently nonsense), to justify impactful last-minute decisions.
  • Communication of any kind (product, releases, management decisions, engineering) is painfully broken.

Engineering:

  • Knowledge sharing bottleneck. Documentation is transmitted mouth-to-mouth (wish this was a joke).
  • Buggy proprietary tools and a terrible development experience. Developing is a workaround of a previous workaround.
  • Weak engineering culture.

Coworkers and growth:

  • You burn out quickly. 'Top performers' and key engineers actually overwork significantly. The rest of the people doesn't seem to care enough.
  • California people, overall, don't know how to work with their offsite teammates.
  • Lack of technical growth, mentorship, or any sort of IC career path development.
  • People are always busy, sometimes unwilling to help, and focusing on their own metrics.

I wouldn't recommend anyone to stay here longer than they need.

Advice to Management

Care about people and communication.

Kill your UI product in favor of open source technologies.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
1.0
Culture and Values
1.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
3.0
Career Opportunities
2.0
Compensation and Benefits
4.0
Senior Management
1.0

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