Waabi reviews · checked 28 Oct 2026
Is Waabi a good place to work?
Mostly. Waabi, freshly funded, hires its truck operators directly as hourly employees with equity and benefits, but it aims to run trucks with no one aboard in Texas by early 2027, and no operator has reviewed it publicly. The job is meant to shrink: Waabi says its driverless trucks start in Texas by early 2027, taking the operator out of the cab, and what the work is like day to day is known only from Waabi's own postings.
, RobotTraining.jobs shows 6 Waabi jobs open, of which 1 posts an hourly rate.
- Glassdoor4.6/518 reviews
- Blind (engineers and researchers)4.9/510 reviews
- Scores as of 28 Oct 2026
Waabi, reviewed
Researched October 2026 · 15 sourcesIt pays $31 to $43/hr in checked postings (stated by the employer).
Actively listing 6 open roles todayWaabi Innovation Inc. is a private self-driving firm in Toronto, founded in 2021 by CEO Raquel Urtasun, a University of Toronto professor and ex-chief scientist of Uber's self-driving unit. In January 2026 it raised a $750 million Series C led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners plus about $250 million from Uber tied to robotaxis, for about $1.28 billion raised to date. Its Texas trucks run from a terminal in Lancaster near Dallas.
Operators are full-time, on-site, hourly employees of Waabi (US) Inc. at its Lancaster, Texas terminal. Each posting states its rate; the day posting adds equity and an annual performance bonus. Benefits: medical, dental, vision, paid parental leave, PTO, a 401(k) and an HSA option. Base shifts: 7 AM to 5 PM or 11 PM to 7:30 AM Central.
Glassdoor 4.6/5 (18 reviews) · Blind (engineers and researchers) 4.9/5 (10 reviews). Read October 2026.
6 open roles on Waabi, independently checked 28 Oct 2026.
On-site: Dallas, TX, with test roles also in Phoenix, AZ and Pittsburgh, PA.
What people praise
- Glassdoor shows Waabi at 4.6/5 from 18 reviews, with 72% of reviewers saying they would recommend it to a friend (figures as shown in web search results).
- A research scientist on Blind (September 2026, 5 stars) praised talented coworkers, interesting work, good benefits and competitive pay; a senior developer (April 2026) cited a flat organization and room to grow.
- Waabi's operator postings say disengagement counts are not individual performance metrics; only failing to take over when required is, so taking control is not held against you.
What people complain about
- We found no review or pay report by a Waabi operator, driver or fleet specialist: all 10 Blind reviews are by engineers, researchers or analysts, and we found no Waabi rating on Indeed or Comparably.
- Shifts are long and move: postings ask for extended, possibly back-to-back shifts of up to about 14 hours under DOT rules, plus weekends, holidays and overnight travel, with start times set by when loads move.
- Two Blind reviewers (a research scientist in September 2026, a senior developer in April 2026) said work-life balance suffers around major deadlines and customer deals.
- Equity is part of operator pay, yet two engineers on Blind (October 2023, April 2024) said management was not open about the valuation, shares, funding or the company's future.
What has gone wrong
- June 2024. Waabi raised a $200 million Series B in June 2024 saying it would launch fully driverless trucks in Texas in 2025. That slipped: in January 2026 TechCrunch reported its Texas trucks still had a human in the driver's seat and the driverless launch had moved out a few quarters.
- August 2026. Waabi reported two August 2026 crashes to NHTSA, both its Texas trucks with crews aboard. Near Fairfield, a passing truck's oversized trailer struck the Waabi trailer just after the operator had taken control; the operator and test engineer had minor injuries. In Hutchins a weaving pickup's mirror brushed a trailer. In both, Waabi says the other vehicle came into its lane.
- September 2026. COO Lior Ron said in September 2026 the system is ready and Waabi waits only on Volvo's final truck validation, due by the end of 2026, with driverless trucks in Texas by early 2027 and across the Sun Belt by the end of 2027. Volvo said in October that its Waabi runs still carry an observer in the driver's seat.
Best for: Class A CDL drivers near Dallas with 3+ years of recent combination-vehicle driving and a clean record, or detail-minded techs at ease on a command line, who want a direct, benefited job in self-driving trucks. Not for: Anyone who needs fixed hours or a job sure to last, cannot pass a motor vehicle record check or DOT drug and alcohol screens, or would rather not help train a system built to replace the driver.
Honest catches
- Pay here is stated by the employer, not measured live from a job feed, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a guaranteed rate.
Sources for this review
- Lever API: Waabi's open postings with full text, read Oct 28, 2026
- Waabi: Vehicle Operator (CDL), Day Shift, Lancaster terminal, Dallas (employment, rate, equity, bonus, benefits, 14-hour shifts), read Oct 28, 2026
- Waabi: Vehicle Operator (CDL), Night Shift, Dallas (overnight base shift, requirements), read Oct 28, 2026
- Waabi: Fleet Specialist, Day Shift, Dallas (right-seat software operator duties), read Oct 28, 2026
- Waabi: Test & Evaluation Operator, Pittsburgh (8+ years, tanker endorsement), read Oct 28, 2026
- Glassdoor: Waabi reviews (figures as shown in web search results; Glassdoor blocks direct reads), read Oct 28, 2026
- Blind: Waabi company reviews, read Oct 28, 2026
- Wikipedia: Waabi (founding, founder, funding, partnerships), read Oct 28, 2026
- TechCrunch: Waabi raises $1B and expands into robotaxis with Uber (Jan 28, 2026)
- TechCrunch: Waabi and Volvo team up to build self-driving trucks at scale (Feb 4, 2025)
- Trucking Dive: Waabi leases autonomous trucking terminal in Lancaster, Texas (May 13, 2024)
- Trucking Dive: Waabi plans to launch driverless trucks in 2025, $200M Series B (Jun 18, 2024)
- Volvo Group: Volvo and Waabi kick off customer operations in Texas, starting with Warp (Oct 5, 2026)
- BetaKit: Waabi COO says company's autonomous trucks are ready for deployment (Sep 25, 2026)
- NHTSA: Standing General Order crash reports for automated driving systems (data file; Waabi reports 33504-16549 and 33504-16695), read Oct 28, 2026
Got a message from Waabi?
Its real sites: waabi.ai. Paste the message to check the links, the sender and the pay.
Waabi's job board, measured
We read this board daily and set it beside every other employer we follow: how many jobs it posts, how many of them name a rate, who can apply and how quickly listings disappear.
On 27 Oct 2026, Waabi had 6 open roles: 0.5% of the 1,124 open at the 84 employers RobotTraining.jobs tracks, the joint 20th highest count.
Taking each week's closing count, Waabi moved from 8 open roles on 20 Sep 2026 to 6 by 25 Oct 2026.
Between 30 Sep 2026 and 27 Oct 2026, Waabi put up 0 new listings and took down 2; its open count moved from 8 to 6.
None of its 6 open roles are open to people applying from anywhere (0.3% at other employers); all are restricted to certain countries, the United States chief among them (named by all 6).
Waabi next to the rest of the market
Next to every other robot training employer, how big is Waabi, what does it pay, who can apply and how fast do its listings turn over?
| Measure | Waabi | Other employers | Rank (1st = top) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs live on 27 Oct 2026 | 6 | 1,118 | joint 20th of 84 |
| Share of the whole market | 0.5% | 99.5% | joint 20th of 84 |
| Newly posted in this period | 0 | 147 | joint 32nd of 84 |
| Kinds of work listed | 2 | 7 | joint 9th of 84 |
| Open roles with a posted hourly rate | 16.7% | 28.7% | 44th of 84 |
| Median advertised paySmall sample | n/a | $25/hr | n/a |
| Open roles accepting any country | 0.0% | 0.3% | joint 2nd of 40 |
| Median days up before removalSmall sample | n/a | 56.9 days | n/a |
Weekly count of open roles at Waabi
Are Waabi's robot training listings growing or shrinking from week to week?
| Week | Open at week's end | New listings |
|---|---|---|
| 14 to 20 Sep | 0 | |
| 21 to 27 Sep | 0 | |
| 28 Sep to 4 Oct | 0 | |
| 5 to 11 Oct | 0 | |
| 12 to 18 Oct | 0 | |
| 19 to 25 Oct | 0 |
Common questions about Waabi
Is Waabi a good place to work?
Mostly. Waabi, freshly funded, hires its truck operators directly as hourly employees with equity and benefits, but it aims to run trucks with no one aboard in Texas by early 2027, and no operator has reviewed it publicly. The job is meant to shrink: Waabi says its driverless trucks start in Texas by early 2027, taking the operator out of the cab, and what the work is like day to day is known only from Waabi's own postings.
Is Waabi legit?
Yes. Waabi Innovation Inc. is a private self-driving firm in Toronto, founded in 2021 by CEO Raquel Urtasun, a University of Toronto professor and ex-chief scientist of Uber's self-driving unit. In January 2026 it raised a $750 million Series C led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners plus about $250 million from Uber tied to robotaxis, for about $1.28 billion raised to date. Its Texas trucks run from a terminal in Lancaster near Dallas.
Does Waabi pay?
Yes. Autonomous-trucking company founded by Raquel Urtasun (ex-Uber ATG chief scientist). Payouts: Hourly, regular payroll. Operators are full-time, on-site, hourly employees of Waabi (US) Inc. at its Lancaster, Texas terminal. Each posting states its rate; the day posting adds equity and an annual performance bonus. Benefits: medical, dental, vision, paid parental leave, PTO, a 401(k) and an HSA option. Base shifts: 7 AM to 5 PM or 11 PM to 7:30 AM Central.
How do employees rate Waabi?
Glassdoor 4.6/5 (18 reviews) · Blind (engineers and researchers) 4.9/5 (10 reviews), as read in October 2026. Praised: Glassdoor shows Waabi at 4.6/5 from 18 reviews, with 72% of reviewers saying they would recommend it to a friend (figures as shown in web search results). Criticised: We found no review or pay report by a Waabi operator, driver or fleet specialist: all 10 Blind reviews are by engineers, researchers or analysts, and we found no Waabi rating on Indeed or Comparably.
Has Waabi had any problems or incidents?
June 2024: Waabi raised a $200 million Series B in June 2024 saying it would launch fully driverless trucks in Texas in 2025. That slipped: in January 2026 TechCrunch reported its Texas trucks still had a human in the driver's seat and the driverless launch had moved out a few quarters. August 2026: Waabi reported two August 2026 crashes to NHTSA, both its Texas trucks with crews aboard. Near Fairfield, a passing truck's oversized trailer struck the Waabi trailer just after the operator had taken control; the operator and test engineer had minor injuries. In Hutchins a weaving pickup's mirror brushed a trailer. In both, Waabi says the other vehicle came into its lane. September 2026: COO Lior Ron said in September 2026 the system is ready and Waabi waits only on Volvo's final truck validation, due by the end of 2026, with driverless trucks in Texas by early 2027 and across the Sun Belt by the end of 2027. Volvo said in October that its Waabi runs still carry an observer in the driver's seat.
Does Waabi have jobs open now?
Yes. Its public job board has 6 Waabi jobs open (checked 28 Oct 2026). Taking each week's closing count, Waabi moved from 8 open roles on 20 Sep 2026 to 6 by 25 Oct 2026.
Who is Waabi a good fit for?
A good fit: Class A CDL drivers near Dallas with 3+ years of recent combination-vehicle driving and a clean record, or detail-minded techs at ease on a command line, who want a direct, benefited job in self-driving trucks. A poor fit: Anyone who needs fixed hours or a job sure to last, cannot pass a motor vehicle record check or DOT drug and alcohol screens, or would rather not help train a system built to replace the driver.