9 Ai Engineer jobs in Irvine

About Codazen

Codazen is a technology consultancy that helps organizations move faster without losing control.

We design and engineer the platforms, data systems, and digital products that enable leaders to make better decisions and turn strategic intent into measurable outcomes. Our work spans enterprise architecture, data and AI, product development, and customer experience—often within complex environments where clarity, judgment, and execution matter most.

We believe technology should make complex systems more coherent, useful, and human. That requires more than technical fluency. It requires intellectual curiosity, disciplined engineering, honest communication, and a deep respect for the people who depend on what we build.

Our clients trust us to solve consequential problems, challenge assumptions, and remain accountable beyond delivery. We are ambitious about the impact of our work, thoughtful about how we achieve it, and committed to continually improving our craft.

If you are motivated by meaningful technical challenges, close collaboration with clients, and the opportunity to shape both strategy and execution, we would like to meet you.

Reports to: President
Location: [Southern California / Remote]
Type: Full-time
Travel: 25%

About the Role

Codazen is hiring a CTO to set our technology direction, stay close enough to the work to actually build it, and be the kind of technical advisor clients genuinely want in the room. It's a player-coach role — roughly 80% vision, client advisory, and product ownership, and up to 20% hands-on building inside Harmonica, our multi-agent service delivery platform. You'll also lead how AI shows up across our service offerings and client work.

What You'll Own

Technology Vision
Set the technology strategy across our service offerings, the Harmonica platform, and our partner ecosystem. Keep Codazen ahead of the curve on AI and emerging tech, and turn that into a roadmap the business can actually use.

Client & Team Advisor
Serve as a trusted technical advisor to client-facing teams and our top clients. You should be comfortable in a room with executives, quick to diagnose what a client actually needs, and credible enough to help shape their technical strategy alongside ours.

Harmonica Product Owner
Own the Harmonica roadmap — prioritization, scope, quality, all of it. Stay hands-on (~20% of your time) building inside the product, both to keep your skills sharp and to keep the roadmap honest.

What Success Looks Like

Technology Vision

• A documented roadmap (Harmonica, service offerings, ecosystem partners) that's actually driving prioritization decisions, not sitting in a drawer.
• A clear Codazen point of view on AI that shows up in how we pitch and deliver work — not just internal tooling.
• One or two ecosystem partnerships established or strengthened in year one.

Client & Team Advisor

• Strategic clients ask for you by name, or credit you in renewal and expansion conversations.
• Client-facing teams trust bringing you into a deal and trust what happens after.
• Movement on advisory-linked revenue — renewal rate, expansion revenue, or win rate on deals you're involved in.

What You'll Bring

• Experience in consulting or client services, with a real client-first instinct.
• A track record with mid-market and enterprise companies — bonus if you've sat on both sides of that relationship (in-house and as an outside advisor).
• Deep expertise in data architecture, data strategy, and applied AI.
• Hands-on fluency with modern AI tools — you use them, not just read about them.
• Experience leading a small team and building real relationships with clients and colleagues.
• Intellectual curiosity — you treat your own skills as a work in progress.
• The ability to translate technical tradeoffs into terms a non-technical exec will actually act on.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 25% for client and team engagements.

What Codazen Offers

• Competitive salary
• Hybrid schedule with on-site electric vehicle charging
• On-site catered meals
• Generous paid time off and sick leave
• Paid holidays
• Health, dental, vision
• 401k (with company contribution)
• Income protection plans (life, accidental death and dismemberment, short- and long-term disability)
• Free meals, drinks and snacks
• An incredible leadership team that cares about your development
• Fun, smart, diverse colleagues

Some benefits listed apply to full time and/or on-site employees only.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.