2026 PhD / Master's Residency - Future of Work and Smart Velocity

Summary

X, The Moonshot Factory is focused on making the world a radically better place through innovative technologies. They are seeking a PhD or Master's resident to engage in moonshot projects that explore the future of work and how AI can enhance organizational potential.

Responsibilities

• Act as a Capability Force Multiplier: Make new tools and approaches more accessible and useful to Xers. That might involve teaching non-engineering teams how to take their prompting to the next level, use low-code AI builders, and automate their own daily workflows
• Co-Build "Acceleration Experiments": You won't just make recommendations. You will partner directly with functional owners (Legal, Finance, People Ops) and/or project teams to explore the state-of-the-art. Where it makes sense you will try new off-the-shelf solutions, build custom workflows, or make lightweight apps
• Drive Real-world Trials: Run fast, high-risk, high-reward experiments with these tools on real X business data, pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable while ensuring appropriate adherence to Alphabet guardrails
• Guard Against the "AI Silo Nightmare": Ensure that the solutions we build aren't locked in individual accounts, resulting in a fragmented mess of individually owned, unshareable apps. You will strike the balance between scrappy experiments and working towards a cohesive ecosystem
• Instigate a Future-Forward Culture: Ignite factory-wide excitement about radical possibilities when it comes to the future of work, encouraging a growth-oriented mindset for tool adoption and securing Xers' front-row view on the next-gen velocity blueprint

Skills

• Currently pursuing (or recently completed) a PhD or Masters in a relevant field. This could include an MBA, Change Management, Computer Science, AI, or something else
• A scrappy, experimental mindset with a heavy focus on implementing, learning, and pivoting quickly
• Strong change management instincts. You understand that experimentation and adoption is about human behavior, reducing friction, and translating technical potential into tangible operational wins
• Familiarity with the modern AI landscape (LLMs, low-code/no-code builders, prompt engineering, recursive flux-tuning, agentic workflows)
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills—you can speak the language of a deeply technical engineer in one meeting and a skeptical legal or finance partner in the next
• A portfolio of scrappy projects where you hacked together an automation, agent, or app simply because you were annoyed by how slow a manual process was
• Scars (and lessons learned) from trying to drive a major behavioral or technological change within an established organization
• A healthy obsession with tinkering at the bleeding edge of the AI landscape

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Currently pursuing (or recently completed) a PhD or Masters in a relevant field. This could include an MBA, Change Management, Computer Science, AI, or something else
• A scrappy, experimental mindset with a heavy focus on implementing, learning, and pivoting quickly
• Strong change management instincts. You understand that experimentation and adoption is about human behavior, reducing friction, and translating technical potential into tangible operational wins
• Familiarity with the modern AI landscape (LLMs, low-code/no-code builders, prompt engineering, recursive flux-tuning, agentic workflows)
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills—you can speak the language of a deeply technical engineer in one meeting and a skeptical legal or finance partner in the next

Nice to Haves

• A portfolio of scrappy projects where you hacked together an automation, agent, or app simply because you were annoyed by how slow a manual process was
• Scars (and lessons learned) from trying to drive a major behavioral or technological change within an established organization
• A healthy obsession with tinkering at the bleeding edge of the AI landscape

Benefits

• To get paid competitively and receive benefits
• To attend tech-talks with AI leaders from across X
• To interact with a range of central functions and project teams
• To be part of a lively community of other Interns and Residents
• To attend colloquium and discussions with team leads from across Google, DeepMind and external organizations