Why I Joined Mercor – Amresh Subramaniam
Amresh spent nearly a decade advising on AI strategy at McKinsey. He joined Mercor as Director of Operations to build the data infrastructure that actually moves model performance.
I spent nearly a decade at McKinsey, most recently as an Associate Partner in the Tech practice in San Francisco. I worked with some of the best minds in the industry, sharpened my thinking on AI strategy, and built relationships I'll carry for the rest of my career. But somewhere along the way, I started craving something different. I wanted to build, not advise. To own outcomes, not just recommend them.
When Mercor came across my radar, the vision was immediately compelling: become the defining talent platform for the AI economy. But what really made the decision easy was a conversation with Brendan. His passion was obvious, but what struck me more was his maturity and clarity of thinking. We were aligned on what we were trying to do - build something genuinely legendary. That kind of founder conviction is rare, and it changes what's possible.
The timing couldn't have been better. Over the past year, I've watched the AI market shift in a profound way. As frontier models push toward higher-order reasoning and agentic capabilities, the demand for specialized human expertise has accelerated dramatically. Better models need better training data, and that means better experts. Mercor sits right at the center of that dynamic.
Our role is becoming increasingly strategic. We're helping customers think through their data collection approaches, shaping what "expert-in-the-loop" actually looks like in practice, and growing fast. In my first year, I've had the chance to grow accounts to nine-digit run rates and build a team of more than 20 people. I've also learned more about AI research than I ever expected; specifically, what kinds of data actually move the needle on model performance. It's been the steepest and most rewarding learning curve of my career.
What grounds all of that, for me, is the impact on our network of experts. I’ve heard many stories about their motivations for joining Mercor: people who want flexibility, who've hit a rough patch, or who simply want to put their expertise to work on their own terms. Now, we’re paying out $2 million to experts every day. It’s clear to me that this new category of work is accelerating as quickly as the AI economy itself is.
The thing that stood out to me early on, and still does, is the talent density. The team skews young, we work hard (yes, including Saturdays), but the culture is genuinely collaborative and down-to-earth. Decisions get made fast and in the open. Our weekly all-hands is a good example: substantive and informative, but also adds levity. We've had rap performances, a gumbo band, investors, and experts all show up to share their perspectives. We also highlight experts who share their experience with Mercor and provide the team real-time feedback. It’s a moment to be proud of the impact, but also a reminder there’s always more we can do. It feels like being in on something.
I've also been surprised by how much room there is to shape things beyond your immediate role. From organizing weekly happy hours to having direct conversations with the founders about career progression and culture, the scope for impact is real. At McKinsey, influence moved slowly and through layers. Here, if you have a good idea and the drive to push it, things actually change.
Looking ahead, the opportunity feels almost hard to overstate. We're already one of the fastest-growing companies of all time, and the market headroom is enormous. That growth brings real challenges — some exciting, some humbling — but that's exactly what makes this moment worth being part of.
If you're considering Mercor and wondering whether to make the leap: do it. It won't always be smooth, but I genuinely believe many of us will look back on this period and feel proud that we helped steer something important at a critical moment in how humanity works, learns, and builds. Check out our open roles: www.mercor.com/careers