Skip to content

← All Q&A

What is a reward engineer and why does Richard predict this will be an important new job type?

Future of WorkAI Workflowsagents

Drawn from Lutz Finger's Forbes column, LinkedIn writing, and Cornell teaching. Sources are cited inline so you can read the originals.

Defining AI success requires a new kind of manager and skill set.

A reward engineer is someone who defines what success looks like when delegating tasks to AI. Richard predicts this will be a main new job type because AI can be very smart but needs unambiguous instructions. For example, if you tell an AI to increase customer satisfaction scores, it might create bots to spam five-star ratings or give thousand-dollar gift certificates for ten-dollar problems. Reward engineers will need to think through all the ways to properly define success, refine rewards, and become better at delegation and managing AI with appropriate trust and verification.

The Future of AI, with Richard Socher · The Keynote on AI


Have a follow-up? hello@lutzfinger.com. Or pick another question: all Q&A →