Shield AI

Sr. Staff Engineer Interview Experience - Frisco, Texas

June 30, 2025

Positive ExperienceGot Offer

Process

I applied online. The process took 4 weeks.

This was your standard engineering interview of 3 rounds, with a presentation on a problem you've solved for the final round. It wasn't easy, but was also not extremely difficult so long as you prepare. How it went for me:

1st Round: Standard HR phone screen
2nd Round: Video interview with hiring manager, who will ask you to go into your background in more detail
3rd Round: They fly you out to your home site (in my case, Frisco/Dallas) and you're there for a 4 hour interview with several people. 1 person will ask you technical questions, 1 on teamwork, and 1 on values. You'll also have to do a 20-30 min presentation on a technical problem you solved in front of a panel.

Overall, I actually enjoyed the process, especially the on-site because I was able to get to know Shield and see if it was the right fit for me. The whole process for me took a month, but it would have been shorter if it wasn't due to interview availability. HR was super responsive. Found out I got the job in about a week after I interviewed.

Questions

On the presentation, if you could solve this problem again, what would you have changed to compress the time it took you to complete it?

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Shield AI Sr. Staff Engineer role in Frisco, Texas.

Success Rate

100%

Pass Rate

Shield AI's interview process for their Sr. Staff Engineer roles in Frisco, Texas is incredibly easy as the vast majority of engineers get an offer after going through it.

Experience Rating

Positive100%

Neutral0%

Negative0%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Shield AI's Sr. Staff Engineer interview process in Frisco, Texas.

Shield AI Work Experiences

Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.

Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.

Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

Best Job Ever (for me); great location; great, friendly company!

Staff Engineer • Current Employee

August 31, 2022

Pros: Working in a very interesting area (AI/robotics), making something important and useful. Super friendly/helpful coworkers. Great location (downtown SD). Great flexibility (can work at home or in the office, and for some in completely different states). Team lunch 1 day a week, catered lunch twice a week, free snacks, soda, cereal (I love cereal!), milk, etc...

Cons: In my office location (downtown SD) I was initially turned off by the offices having 5 or 6 desks per office, as I was used to an open floor plan. But now I really like it.

Best Job Ever (for me); great location; great, friendly company!

Staff Engineer • Current Employee

August 31, 2022

Pros: Working in a very interesting area (AI/robotics), making something important and useful. Super friendly/helpful coworkers. Great location (downtown SD). Great flexibility (can work at home or in the office, and for some in completely different states). Team lunch 1 day a week, catered lunch twice a week, free snacks, soda, cereal (I love cereal!), milk, etc...

Cons: In my office location (downtown SD) I was initially turned off by the offices having 5 or 6 desks per office, as I was used to an open floor plan. But now I really like it.

Interview Process

Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: Very thorough Refreshingly candid Very honest and thorough

Cons: Long .... really long Expect to spend at least a full day in prep for this

Interview Process

Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: Very thorough Refreshingly candid Very honest and thorough

Cons: Long .... really long Expect to spend at least a full day in prep for this

Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.

Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

1.0
Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.
Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee
Frisco, TX
June 21, 2023
Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.
Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

Best Job Ever (for me); great location; great, friendly company!

Staff Engineer • Current Employee

August 31, 2022

Pros: Working in a very interesting area (AI/robotics), making something important and useful. Super friendly/helpful coworkers. Great location (downtown SD). Great flexibility (can work at home or in the office, and for some in completely different states). Team lunch 1 day a week, catered lunch twice a week, free snacks, soda, cereal (I love cereal!), milk, etc...

Cons: In my office location (downtown SD) I was initially turned off by the offices having 5 or 6 desks per office, as I was used to an open floor plan. But now I really like it.

5.0
Best Job Ever (for me); great location; great, friendly company!
Staff Engineer • Current Employee
San Diego, CA
August 31, 2022
Pros: Working in a very interesting area (AI/robotics), making something important and useful. Super friendly/helpful coworkers. Great location (downtown SD). Great flexibility (can work at home or in the office, and for some in completely different states). Team lunch 1 day a week, catered lunch twice a week, free snacks, soda, cereal (I love cereal!), milk, etc...
Cons: In my office location (downtown SD) I was initially turned off by the offices having 5 or 6 desks per office, as I was used to an open floor plan. But now I really like it.

Interview Process

Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: Very thorough Refreshingly candid Very honest and thorough

Cons: Long .... really long Expect to spend at least a full day in prep for this

5.0
Interview Process
Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee
Frisco, TX
July 23, 2025
Pros: Very thorough Refreshingly candid Very honest and thorough
Cons: Long .... really long Expect to spend at least a full day in prep for this

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