Research Scientist (AI Agent Economies)

ZipRecruiter; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking an Agent Economics Researcher to develop economic structures for AI agents. This role involves studying cooperation and competition within agent networks, utilizing strong analytical skills and a PhD in a relevant field. Successful candidates will enjoy a remote-first environment, competitive salary, and opportunities for research and development.

Benefits

Highly competitive salary

Significant equity stake

Full medical, dental, and vision coverage

Flexible PTO policy

Research conference budget

Publication support

Learning and development budget

Qualifications

• Strong background in mechanism design and game theory.
• Understanding of distributed systems economics.
• Interest in both theoretical and applied research.

Responsibilities

• Design and study economic mechanisms for agent networks.
• Research incentive structures for agent collaboration.
• Develop frameworks for resource allocation and optimization.

Skills

Mathematical skills

Analytical skills

Mechanism design

Game theory

Programming for simulations

Research experience

Education

PhD in Economics, Computer Science, or related field

Job description

Job DescriptionJob DescriptionResearch Scientist (AI Agent Economies) | naptha.ai

About this role

We are seeking an exceptional Agent Economics Researcher to study and design incentive structures and economic systems for large-scale AI agent networks. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of AI agent infrastructure at a massively ambitious scale, backed by industry veterans and technical leaders through NVIDIA Inception, Google for Startups, and Microsoft for Startups.

We're building the foundational infrastructure for the next wave of AI companies, enabling frontier AI developers (many leaving labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepMind) to build products powered by enormous networks of highly capable next- AI agents. As our Agent Economics Researcher, you'll develop the theoretical and practical frameworks for how agents cooperate, compete, and create value within complex networks.

Core Responsibilities

• Design and study economic mechanisms for agent networks

• Research incentive structures for agent collaboration

• Develop frameworks for resource allocation and optimization

• Study economic behavior patterns in agent systems

• Create models for agent value creation and exchange

• Research market dynamics in agent networks

• Design experiments to validate economic theories

Research Areas

• Mechanism design for agent systems

• Game theory in multi-agent networks

• Resource allocation optimization

• Market design for agent economies

• Incentive alignment in agent networks

• Economic efficiency in distributed systems

• Value creation and capture in agent networks

You're a good fit if you have:

• PhD or equivalent experience in Economics, Computer Science, or related field

• Strong background in mechanism design and game theory

• Experience with multi-agent systems or markets

• Understanding of distributed systems economics

• Strong mathematical and analytical skills

• Interest in both theoretical and applied research

• Ability to translate economic theory into practical systems

Required Experience:

• Research experience in economics or mechanism design

• Strong mathematical and modeling skills

• Programming ability for economic simulations

• Track record of novel research contributions

• Understanding of distributed systems

• Experience with experimental design

About the hiring process:

• Research presentation

• Economic design challenge

• Technical discussion

• Team collaboration interview

• Vision and strategy workshop

Compensation & Benefits:

• Highly competitive salary and significant equity stake

• Remote-first work environment

• Full medical, dental, and vision coverage

• Flexible PTO policy

• Research conference budget

• Publication support

• Learning and development budget

Additional Notes:

• Must be comfortable with ambiguity and rapid iteration typical of pre-seed startups

• Strong bias for practical implementation of research ideas

• Passion for advancing the field of multi-agent systems

• Interest in open source contribution and community engagement

This is a unique opportunity to shape the economic foundations of future AI systems, designing the mechanisms and incentives that will govern how agents interact and create value at scale.