Skip to content
Kodiak AI logo

Kodiak AI

About Kodiak AI

Kodiak AI builds autonomous trucking technology. It hires Safety Drivers and AV Test Specialists, in-vehicle worker roles that supervise autonomous trucks and generate driving data.

$35–$39/hr

Typical pay, live

, RobotTraining.jobs shows 6 Kodiak AI jobs open, typically paying $35 to $39 an hour (median $35).

Join Kodiak AI (opens the job details)Working at Kodiak AI

Live Kodiak AI roles

Updated 1 Nov 2026, 06:01 UTC

Roles like these you can apply to today

Similar work at other employers.

Joining through these links can earn us a referral fee. Your pay stays exactly the same.

All 4 Kodiak AI job postings, in full

More robot jobs in the cities where Kodiak AI is hiring

Lancaster, TX

Some links here are referral links: when you join an employer through one, RobotTraining.jobs may receive a commission. It costs you nothing, and the employer pays you exactly the same.

Kodiak AI jobs by country

Its open roles that accept applicants in each country.

USA · 6

Get new Kodiak AI roles by email

We read Kodiak AI's job board every day and send you its new openings once a week, with comparable paid jobs at other employers. No cost, and you can stop any time.

Is Kodiak AI a good place to work?

Researched October 2026 · 21 sources

Mostly. Kodiak AI hires CDL drivers directly as hourly employees with good benefits, but it loses money, warns it may not last without new funding, and aims to take drivers out of its trucks. The job may not last: Kodiak reports substantial doubt it can keep going a year without new money, its shares closed under $2 on October 9, 2026, and in September 2026 it set a target of driverless Dallas to Houston runs by the end of 2026. It pays $35–$39/hr in most of its live listings (median $35/hr).

Actively hiring, pay independently measured from its live feed
Who is behind it

Kodiak AI (formerly Kodiak Robotics) was founded in 2018 by CEO Don Burnette and is based in Mountain View, California, with its Texas hub in Lancaster. It went public on Nasdaq (KDK) in September 2025 by merging with a SPAC, Ares Acquisition Corporation II, and raised $100 million more in May 2026. It had 342 staff at the end of 2025 and Q2 2026 revenue of $3.5 million.

Getting paid

Drivers are Kodiak employees with a 401(k) and health plans. Each driving post states its hourly rate, set by site and job and higher on over-the-road runs. Schedules run 5 days on, 2 off for Lancaster, TX safety drivers and 4 on, 4 off in Kermit, TX. All need a Class A CDL and 3 years of experience; pay frequency is not stated.

Worker ratings

Glassdoor 3.1/5 (68 reviews) · Indeed 3.7/5 (3 reviews). Read October 2026.

Verified active

6 open roles on Kodiak AI, independently checked 1 Nov 2026.

Who can join

On-site (trucking corridors, TX and others).

Fake Kodiak AI recruiters

We found no documented scams using Kodiak's name, and its careers page has no fraud warning. Real openings are on kodiak.ai/careers and job-boards.greenhouse.io/kodiak; questions go to careers@kodiak.ai. Glassdoor's plain 'Kodiak' page is Kodiak Sciences, a biotech. The FTC says job offers sent by text or WhatsApp, or that ask you to pay, are scams.

What people praise

  • Benefits beat most driving jobs: Kodiak pays 90% of a worker's health premium (75% for dependents), double time on holidays, and two weeks of vacation plus a week of sick time in year one.
  • The Kermit, TX safety driver job is 100% local driving on a 4 days on, 4 days off rotation, with double time on holidays.
  • Operators on Indeed were upbeat in 2022 and 2023: a Lancaster, TX autonomous vehicle operator felt like a pioneer, and a Dallas freight operations specialist called it the best company they had worked for.

What people complain about

  • A Lancaster, TX fleet specialist (Glassdoor, October 2026) reports 12-hour ops center shifts that include a weekend day, salary with no overtime, shifts moved between day and night, and very high turnover.
  • An operations lead (September 2026) and a fleet specialist (August 2025), both in Lancaster, describe favoritism, bullying by supervisors and trainers, and firings they call unfair (Glassdoor).
  • A vehicle software operator in Dallas (Indeed, October 2023) reported no overtime, a poor PTO policy, no raises or bonuses for drivers, and toxic management.
  • On Glassdoor only 56% would recommend Kodiak, and career opportunities score 2.6/5. None of the reviews we could read came from a safety driver; 35 of 68 are from Mountain View.

What has gone wrong

  • August 2026. Kodiak's August 2026 quarterly report, like its 2025 annual report, says there is substantial doubt it can keep operating for a year without new funding. It held $151.1 million on June 30, 2026, after free cash flow of minus $38.1 million that quarter. The stock closed at $1.67 on October 9, 2026, against a 52-week high of $11.35.
  • September 2026. In September 2026 Kodiak set a target of hauling IKEA freight between Dallas and Houston with no one in the cab by the end of 2026, as it has done for Atlas in the Permian since December 2024. Safety observers rode those I-45 runs then; CEO Don Burnette wrote that the drivers who remain can focus on local jobs.
  • March 2025. NHTSA crash reports list six minor crashes involving Kodiak trucks in Texas and Oklahoma from August 2022 to March 2025, none with injuries. In most, another vehicle hit or brushed the Kodiak truck, and police blamed the other driver in two. NHTSA's newer file (June 2025 to August 2026) lists none.
  • September 2026. A federal employment civil rights suit, Fortune v. Kodiak Robotics (Northern District of Texas, 3:26-cv-03125), was filed on September 14, 2026 and is flagged as a class action. The claims are not public in the docket summary we read, and nothing has been decided.
Who it suits

Best for: Class A CDL drivers with 3 or more clean years who want local hourly work with strong benefits, and who are fine watching over a self-driving truck on nights and weekends. Not for: Anyone who needs a job that will last years (Kodiak is unprofitable and building trucks that need no driver), or who lacks 3 years of verifiable Class A experience and a clean record.

Sources for this review

What Kodiak AI pays

Measured live on its open roles · updated 1 Nov 2026
$35–$39/hrusual band, measured live

Today's median on Kodiak AI: $35/hr, taken from the 5 open roles that list a rate. Posted rates go from $34/hr to $39/hr.

Based on 5 different posted rates, at this employer. 1 of these 6 openings gives no hourly figure. Advertised USD hourly sample only, not a representative wage survey. Missing rates may bias the result in either direction.

Kind of workOpen rolesTypical pay
AV & Drone6$35–$40/hr

Kodiak AI's best-paid openings right now

All 6, highest pay first

Typical pay here means the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each advertised range) to the 90th-percentile advertised ceiling, measured the same way as every list on the job board. Wondering where a number comes from? Read how each pay figure is sourced and graded.

Kinds of work at Kodiak AI

Open any of them for the day-to-day tasks, every employer hiring for it and market-wide pay.

AV & Drone Operators6 open here

First time doing this kind of work? Read the beginner guides or line up pay at every employer.

What our research records about Kodiak AI

41 dated facts from public sources (the company itself, filings, regulators, courts and the press), each kept with the publication it comes from in one of our research reports. Newest first; the newest is from 28 Oct 2026. Its own hiring, counted every day from its job board, is in Kodiak AI hiring data.

All 41 facts about Kodiak AI

Kodiak AI (Nasdaq: KDK) is a listed company. Every robot-training role it posts, with its pay, place and the days it went up and came down, is kept role by role in the Robot hiring radar, for investors and strategy teams.

From the forum

Ask the people doing Kodiak AI work what only they can tell you.

Ask about Kodiak AI

Frequently asked questions

Is Kodiak AI a good place to work?

Mostly. Kodiak AI hires CDL drivers directly as hourly employees with good benefits, but it loses money, warns it may not last without new funding, and aims to take drivers out of its trucks. The job may not last: Kodiak reports substantial doubt it can keep going a year without new money, its shares closed under $2 on October 9, 2026, and in September 2026 it set a target of driverless Dallas to Houston runs by the end of 2026.

Is Kodiak AI legit?

Yes. Kodiak AI (formerly Kodiak Robotics) was founded in 2018 by CEO Don Burnette and is based in Mountain View, California, with its Texas hub in Lancaster. It went public on Nasdaq (KDK) in September 2025 by merging with a SPAC, Ares Acquisition Corporation II, and raised $100 million more in May 2026. It had 342 staff at the end of 2025 and Q2 2026 revenue of $3.5 million.

Is Kodiak AI a scam?

No. Kodiak AI is a real company. We found no documented scams using Kodiak's name, and its careers page has no fraud warning. Real openings are on kodiak.ai/careers and job-boards.greenhouse.io/kodiak; questions go to careers@kodiak.ai. Glassdoor's plain 'Kodiak' page is Kodiak Sciences, a biotech. The FTC says job offers sent by text or WhatsApp, or that ask you to pay, are scams.

Does Kodiak AI pay?

Yes. Public autonomous-trucking company. Payouts: Hourly, regular payroll.

How much does Kodiak AI pay?

Today most of Kodiak AI's listings pay $35–$39/hr, and the median sits at $35/hr, measured on the 5 open roles that list a rate. Posted rates go from $34/hr to $39/hr.

Is Kodiak AI worth it?

Kodiak AI pays $35–$39/hr in most of its live listings (median $35/hr). It suits people in its operating cities who can work scheduled shifts and hold any license or certificate the role asks for. Worth knowing: Glassdoor 3.1/5 (68 reviews) · Indeed 3.7/5 (3 reviews).

How does Kodiak AI pay out?

Hourly, regular payroll.

Where is Kodiak AI open to workers?

On-site (trucking corridors, TX and others).

How Kodiak AI stacks up against similar employers

Saildrone logoSaildrone

USV pilots who remotely supervise and steer autonomous uncrewed surface vessels at sea.

See individual openingsStated by the employer
Saronic logoSaronic

Worker roles include ASV Operator, collected from the employer's live hiring board.

See individual openingsStated by the employer
Stack AV logoStack AV

Worker roles include CDL | Hourly Pay with OT | FREE benefits (Operations Specialist) and CDL | Hourly Pay with OT | FREE Benefits (Operations Specialist), collected from the employer's live hiring board.

See individual openingsStated by the employer
Aurora Innovation logoAurora Innovation

Truck operations specialists operating autonomous Class-8 trucks and collecting driving data.

$30–$38/hrTypical pay, live

Sorted by what an application there is likely worth to you, with a referral lift for employers that pay us a referral fee; your pay is never affected.

Open the pay table for every employer

Hiring for Kodiak AI? We find the people (you contract them yourself) or we run the project (we deliver the robot data).

Or feature Kodiak AI's roles for 30 days ($99 for one role, $299 for every open role): a labelled Featured block above the lists and the first roles in the weekly job email.