Lack of Vision, Toxic, NOT a product company. Freshers avoid falling for high base pay - AI Platform Engineer Couture AI Employee Review

1. Lack of Vision: The company’s vision is constantly shifting, changing roughly every six months. This lack of clear direction can create confusion and frustration. 2. Incompetent Leadership: CXOs don’t show up often as they have other engagements. The guy effectively running the show (designated as DP) lacks technological expertise and often imposes unrealistic deadlines, leading to frequent and unproductive shifts in priorities. Favouritism happens based on college. 3. Toxic Workplace: Questioning or challenging decisions made by senior leadership (DP in particular) often results in ego clashes, creating a toxic work environment. DP doesn’t own any failure resulting from his own decisions. The CXOs however are much much better here. 4. No Product Ownership: Despite claims from the CTO, the company does not own any product. It essentially functions as a consultancy rather than an innovative tech company. 5. Limited Long-Term Growth: While the pay is attractive for freshers, it declines to below market rates after about two years. This, combined with the company’s reluctance to hire experienced professionals, results in a workforce predominantly composed of less experienced and inadequately trained individuals. 6. Delayed Appraisals and Bonuses: The appraisal cycle and bonus payments are often postponed until later in the year despite timelines mentioned in the offer letter. 7. Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) Misuse: Employees may be placed on PIPs when there is no available work for them, or they challenge DP which can be used as a pretext for layoffs. Many freshers who are promised PPO are dropped at the internship stage. 8. Strategic Overpricing of Freshers: The high entry-level salaries seem to be a strategy to make employees expensive and less likely to switch jobs within the first two years, despite the deteriorating work conditions. They make up for the extra pay they give by hiring less than required people and overloading them with work. 9. Misrepresentation of Startup Culture: The CTO often gives a misleading portrayal of how the startup world operates, which can scare freshers from ever trying to go to a startup again.