Archil

The Cloud File System Built for the AI Era

Archil is a San Francisco-based startup that transforms cloud storage like S3 into high-performance, unlimited local file systems. Founded in 2024 by Hunter Leath, a veteran of cloud storage teams at AWS and Netflix, the company solves a critical bottleneck for AI and data teams: the slow and costly process of moving massive datasets between cloud storage and compute instances. By providing instant access to data with 30x faster read speeds and up to 90% cost savings compared to traditional EBS volumes, Archil is becoming the foundational storage layer for AI training, model inference, and agentic workflows.

A Culture of High-Performance Engineering

At Archil, the engineering culture is deeply rooted in solving complex distributed systems problems. The team operates at the intersection of cloud infrastructure and high-performance computing, tackling challenges that have plagued the industry for decades. As a Y Combinator Fall 2024 alum, the company maintains a fast-paced, iteration-driven environment where engineers are expected to take ownership of significant architectural decisions. The focus is on building enterprise-grade, highly reliable systems (aiming for 99.999% durability) while maintaining the agility of a lean startup team.

What You'll Actually Do

As a Distributed Systems Engineer at Archil, you will be building the core infrastructure that makes their file system fast, reliable, and POSIX-compatible. Your day-to-day will involve working on complex concurrency issues, optimizing NVMe caching layers, and ensuring read-after-write consistency across distributed nodes. The engineering team is currently small (around 11 people), meaning your work will have an immediate and outsized impact on the product. You'll be writing code that directly interfaces with major cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) and supports cutting-edge AI workloads.

Compensation & Benefits

Archil offers competitive compensation packages typical of well-funded Series A startups in San Francisco. While comprehensive public data is limited, early engineering roles are advertised with a base salary range of $150K–$250K, alongside meaningful early-stage equity. As an on-site team in San Francisco, they likely provide standard startup benefits, though specific details on health coverage and perks are not publicly detailed at this stage.

The Interview Process

Given the deeply technical nature of their product, the interview process at Archil is rigorous and heavily focused on systems engineering. Candidates can expect 4-5 rounds, starting with an initial conversation with the founder. Subsequent rounds dive deep into distributed systems concepts, system design architecture, and complex coding challenges. The process is designed to test both theoretical knowledge of file systems and practical problem-solving skills in high-performance environments.

Why Join / Why Not

Why Join: Archil offers a rare opportunity to build foundational infrastructure that could redefine how AI applications interact with data. You'll be working alongside an experienced founder with a strong track record at AWS and Netflix, tackling genuinely hard engineering problems. The recent $11M Series A from Standard Capital provides solid runway to execute their vision.

Why Not: The company operates on an on-site model in San Francisco, which won't suit those looking for remote or highly flexible hybrid work. As an early-stage infrastructure startup, the pressure to deliver highly reliable, enterprise-grade software quickly is intense, and the product is mission-critical for their customers, meaning the stakes are high.