21 Apr 2026
Native Instruments Reviews
2.8
35% would recommend to a friend
Nick Williams
65% approve of CEO
27% positive business outlook
Reviews by job title
10 reviews
1.0
18 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
People and culture are still there but slowly dying
Cons
Management is out of control
3.0
28 Feb 2025
Good people, chaotic structure and many head winds
Former employee, more than 3 years
Berlin
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
Many of your colleagues will be music heads, producers, DJs, and people doing interesting things outside of the office. This was more the case in the past, but still stands. If you love music, it's a good environment to be in. There's a lot of mutual respect among peers, and some openness from upper management. (Not perfect, but better that big tech for example). People generally want to do well for their peers and the business, despite some very difficult (and needless) bureaucracy and a bloated middle management structure. Remote work culture is a plus for many.
Cons
NI has the resources, attitude, and headcount of a start up but the structure and management style of a much larger company. The result is a lot of process, bloated management structures, wasted time in meetings, and fewer resources to do tangible work. There's a strange culture of positive confirmation and back-slapping that distracts from the actual challenges faced in the company. I am not sure this will change. Top-down strategy changes on an annual basis and has done for years. The market is changing, but senior leaders should be able to make 5-year calls with confidence. (This has improved with the current senior team in-post much longer than their predecessors) Career progression is almost non-existent, and pay is lagging. Initiatives to map this out are taking YEARS. Lots of residual resentment from previous years of instability. Slowly ebbing but remains. NI previously had a start-up culture paired with German job security. It has shifted (for better or worse) to a US-style company, backed by PE, and with the pressures that come with that. This is important to understand when working there.
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