Inworlder Spotlight: Alex Huang, Senior ML Engineer
Wondering what it’s like to work at Inworld? In our Inworlder Spotlights, we give you an inside look at our company culture and the dynamic group of engineers, creative technologists, scientists, and nerds building the future of AI characters with Inworld. Check out our open roles.
Name: Alex Huang
Title: Senior Machine Learning Engineer
What are two fun facts we should know about you?
Alex... hanging in there
First, both indoor and outdoor rock climbing have been my main hobbies ever since I discovered climbing in college. I even started a YouTube channel a few years ago where I upload problems I have (400+ videos and counting!).
Second, I grew up in Michigan and Iowa, went to school in Boston, and now I'm in California so I've gotten the full spectrum. West coast, best coast for sure.
Why did you choose to work at Inworld?
The product is compelling, the problems are interesting, and the company has huge potential. We're in the midst of an incredibly exciting time in regards to generative AI and Inworld is well poised to ride that wave. The product is still at the stage where there is tons of high-impact work to be done so it's a great time to join!
What’s the culture like at Inworld?
It's a good mix between people taking pride in their work and working hard but also having a work-life balance. I was initially apprehensive about the work-life balance as I was transitioning from a big company to a startup but things have been great thus far. On the engineering side specifically, there's a culture of build fast and iterate. Rather than spending a few months trying to make something perfect, our goal is to get something working and active to start learning from it and improving it as soon as possible.
"The engineering culture at Inworld is very strong and I've learned a lot from the experienced engineers here."
What’s a day in your work life like at Inworld?
I have a hybrid schedule where I spend either 3 to 4 days a week in the office and work from home the other days. I'm able to have large blocks of focused time uninterrupted by meetings which I'm very grateful for. Typically, my work day starts at 9:00 and ends between 5:30 and 6:00.
What’s your team like?
As a company, we have a flat structure and I report to the CTO along with a handful of others on the ML team. Who I'm working with day-to-day varies a lot depending on the project at hand. Sometimes it's solo work, other times it's a large group effort across multiple teams.
What’s an accomplishment you’re proud of from your time at Inworld?
Like many of our employees... Alex has an artistic side
A lot of my work has revolved around improving interaction quality with our characters. One of the major initiatives that I undertook early on was detecting and preventing repetitiveness in character dialog. This work touched many aspects of the codebase and I felt like I had a much stronger understanding of the whole picture after finishing.
What’s the most unique part about working here?
It's a very diverse group of people in terms of work interests and expertise. We have the traditional software and ML engineers but there's character animations specialists, Unity and Unreal developers, and conversation designers. A wide array.
"Our leadership team puts an emphasis on making sure everyone understands why their work is important and how it fits into Inworld's long-term priorities."
How have you grown professionally at Inworld?
I feel much more confident and comfortable taking initiative and suggesting direction. Additionally, the engineering culture at Inworld is very strong and I've learned a lot from the experienced engineers here.
How are you empowered at Inworld to do your best work?
I get some high level guidance about what the highest priority tasks are but I have a good deal of autonomy with regards to approach. Our leadership team puts an emphasis on making sure everyone understands why their work is important and how it fits into Inworld's long-term priorities.
What’s your favorite Inworld character?
The non-character version of Zorro
A character I created of my dog Zorro who loves peanut butter, chasing squirrels, and digging holes at the beach. :)
Want to join our team? We’d love to hear from you. We have a number of roles open – including machine learning roles! Apply here!