Who’s Actually Building in AI Right Now?
And why that matters if you’re hiring or trying to stay ahead
There are two kinds of people in AI: those building it, and those talking about it.
We’ve been working with a fast-growing legal tech client to help them find top-tier AI talent…not the flashy influencers, but the quiet killers. The ones too busy solving real problems to post about their 996 workweek or their 12th take on ChatGPT prompts.
As part of the search, we’ve spoken with candidates from OpenAI, Google, X, Microsoft, and other frontier AI teams. What’s clear?
There aren’t that many builders. There are plenty of talkers, a growing group of order-takers, and way too many people saying “AI expert” in their LinkedIn bios. The real builders are hard to reach and even harder to hire.
But the ones pushing the edge, writing the code, scaling the infra, launching new products aren’t the ones you see on stage.
They’re often behind the scenes, and honestly, they prefer it that way.
That’s what makes hiring in AI tricky. You can’t just look at who’s trending.
You have to know where to look.
Below Are 10 People Actually Building in AI Right Now
Not a hype list. Not a leaderboard. Just 10 legit builders I think are worth watching and learning from.
1. Andrej
Former OpenAI, Tesla. I have wrote about Andrej before and he gets attention because of the open fight between Elon and Sam trying to hire him. He makes complex AI feel like magic. His Zero to Hero course is a must.
Why he’s legit: He doesn’t just research. He ships. And he explains better than 99% of people in AI.
2. Soumith Chintala
Co-creator of PyTorch. Deep learning’s favorite builder. Low ego, high impact.
What to learn: Focus on fundamentals and open-source contribution over vanity metrics.
3. Harrison Chase
Founder of LangChain. Built one of the most used frameworks for AI agents.
What stands out: Moved fast, shipped early, and built community as he built product.
4. Shreya Shankar
Stanford PhD, ML systems thinker, and voice of reason on “real-world AI”.
Favorite quote: “There’s a huge gap between research and production.” She’s building the bridge.
5. Swyx (Shawn Wang)
Developer, writer, builder of AI infra and media. Latent Space podcast is 🔥.
Why follow: He’s the town crier for the AI frontier. Tracks the trends, lives in the code
6. Chip Huyen
Founder of Claypot AI. Great writer, practical thinker, and deep on real-time ML.
Pro move: Her blog is a masterclass in turning complex ML into usable ideas.
7. Jesse Zhang
CTO at Together AI. Building infrastructure for the open-source LLM ecosystem.
Why watch: He’s helping make AI infra cheap, fast, and open.
8. Riley Goodside
Prompt engineer at Scale AI. Shares hacks, fails, and tricks in public.
Respect: No fake guru vibes — just clever work and messy screenshots that teach.
9. Linus Ekenstam
AI designer, solo builder, and creative force. Makes tools people actually use.
Takeaway: UX still matters. Especially with AI. He’s showing the way.
10. Lilian Weng
Head of Safety at OpenAI. I spoke with one of her direct reports earlier this week from OpenAI. Her blog posts on agents, alignment, and evals are 🔥.
Deep but digestible: She writes like a scientist and a teacher. Bookmark her stuff.
Why This Matters for Hiring
Most companies say they want “AI talent,” but they don’t know what that means.
You don’t need another prompt jockey.
You don’t need someone who only reads about LLMs on Reddit.
You need builders. Thinkers. People with reps under the bar.
At Ramp Talent, we help companies find those people.
We know the difference between someone who’s built a custom embedding pipeline and someone who’s just renamed an OpenAI API call.
ps - if you know any solid Senior Product Leaders in the AI/ML space, my DM’s are open!