Principal Applied Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Appian; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Appian is seeking a Principal Applied AI Engineer to serve as the technical linchpin for applied AI across the team. You will design and operate production LLM systems, influence engineering direction, and lead across AI-powered platforms.

You will mentor engineers, drive platform modernization, and help set standards and documentation for enterprise-grade orchestration. You will work in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment delivering AI capabilities that reshape automation for global

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software development experience, BS required or MS with experience.
• Deep hands-on experience designing and operating production LLM systems.
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, APIs, security, and reliability.
• Experience evaluating and guiding AI-generated code in production.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical linchpin for applied AI across the team and influence engineering direction.
• Design, build and operate high‑complexity AI systems including AI tooling and code generation.
• Lead architecture and delivery across multi‑tier AI‑powered applications.
• Mentor engineers and accelerate technical growth within the team.
• Drive platform modernization and establish engineering standards and docs.

Skills

Production LLM systems

AI tooling fluency

Distributed systems

API design

Code reviews

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Salesforce

ServiceNow

Job description

• Appian Engineering spans the full depth of our platform: from the foundational layers that power enterprise scale, to the AI capabilities redefining what automation can do
• We operate in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment focused on technical precision, continuous learning, and high code quality. By joining our team, you will solve real-world problems that directly shape how Appian delivers our AI-Powered Process Automation platform to enterprises around the world
• As a Principal Applied AI Engineer, you will serve as the technical linchpin for applied AI on the team, bringing deep hands-on expertise in designing and operating production LLM systems and a track record of influencing engineering direction beyond your immediate scope
• Equipped with cutting-edge AI tooling, you will drive the design and delivery of high-complexity AI systems — spanning code generation, agents, retrieval, structured generation, tool use, model routing, evaluation, and observability — set the technical bar for the team, and lead other engineers towards solutions of real complexity to ensure flawless Enterprise-Grade Orchestration
• Develop Clean Software: Architect, build, and optimize high-performance production LLM systems while maintaining a strong personal technical presence on the team
• Lead Platform Modernization: Spearhead strategic technological changes and champion code refactoring efforts to keep the core Appian codebase — and the AI systems built on it — cutting-edge, modern, and performant
• Engineer with AI: Use AI coding tools fluently as a force multiplier: generating, reviewing, and critically evaluating AI-assisted code to ship faster without compromising quality or correctness
• Lead Architecture & Delivery: Drive technical story breakdowns, acceptance criteria, and architectural design across complex, multi-tier and AI-powered application layers — from feature scoping through implementation. Build prototypes to de-risk novel AI approaches and establish the standards others build on
• Optimize Performance & Scale: Manage product availability, latency, scalability, and efficiency by engineering deep reliability into our core software systems and performing advanced system tuning
• Drive Engineering Excellence: Radiate development best practices across the department, perform meticulous code reviews on design and implementation, and build automation frameworks to prevent problem recurrence
• Lead & Grow Engineers: Actively coach and mentor engineers at multiple levels, identify and close skill gaps on the team, and take ownership of accelerating the technical growth of those around you
• Influence Technical Documentation: Share your expert domain knowledge regularly across the department, building a reputation as a vital resource and publishing high-quality content to Engineering’s permanent documentation site

Cross-Team Influence: Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions and shape engineering practices beyond a single team or project scopeAI Systems Expertise: Demonstrated expertise across code generation, agents, retrieval, structured generation, tool use, model routing, evaluation, and observabilityCommunication & Alignment: Exceptional ability to communicate highly technical architectures verbally, visually, and in writing to diverse engineering audiencesProduction Mastery: Proven experience developing, optimizing, and maintaining a high-volume, mission-critical production service environmentEducation: Minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science or a related technical/analytical discipline. (Equivalent experience is not accepted in lieu of a degree)Experience: 10+ years of relevant software development experience with a BS (or 8+ years of experience paired with a Master of Science in Computer Science or related field)Production LLM Systems: Deep hands-on experience designing and operating production LLM systemsAI-Augmented Development: Demonstrated experience using AI coding assistants and a strong ability to evaluate, coach others on, and selectively apply AI-generated code in a production engineering contextDomain Expertise: Strong distributed-systems, API, security, and reliability foundations, with the ability to contribute meaningfully at a senior individual contributor level within that spaceCompilers & Program Analysis: Experience with compilers, program analysis, formal or executable specifications, or legacy modernization is strongly preferredWe value experience with enterprise platforms such as Salesforce or ServiceNow, as these skills translate well into our Enterprise-Grade Orchestration environment