Founding Engineering Intern

About PotionLabs

PotionLabs is an AI solutions company building AI-native systems that form the operational core of a business.

Role Snapshot

• Location: Park Street, Kolkata (in person)
• Duration: 3 months
• Start Date: Immediate
• Stipend: ₹12,000–15,000 per month (paid internship)
• Hours: Mon–Fri 10 AM–6 PM, Sat 10 AM–2 PM
• Openings: Multiple

What You'll Do

You will find manual work within real businesses and automate it, working on production systems from week one.

• Find and automate manual work:
• Sit with operations, sales, and factory teams to observe workflows.
• Identify manual, repeated, or slow steps.
• Build AI-driven tools to automate these steps.
• Turn real businesses into working software:
• Convert company registers, spreadsheets, and paper forms into clear, structured data.
• Verify new systems match old ones, row by row.
• Handle messy real data, including blank rows, zero quantities, backdated entries, and numbers formatted like 1,00,000.
• Build and ship:
• Develop internal tools, scripts, and backend systems.
• Work with APIs, databases, and background jobs.
• Write most code using AI coding tools and verify all AI-generated output.
• Work with the team:
• Translate business problems into understandable technical solutions.
• Explain built systems to non-engineers in simple terms.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• AI Coding Tool: Hands-on and frequent use of a tool like Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, or Codex, with demonstrable projects.
• Real Project: At least one verifiable project (code, live link, or system).
• Programming: Working knowledge of Python.
• Databases: Basic SQL (e.g., ability to write a query to total sales per customer for last month).
• Skills: Curiosity, ownership, and honesty in reporting work contributions.
• Nice to have:
• Backend experience: APIs, databases, server-side logic.
• Background jobs: Experience with queues, retries, and idempotent jobs.
• An AI agent capable of real actions (calling tools, acting on data).
• Systems driven by config or rules files.

What Doesn't Matter

• Degree, college, or CGPA.
• Number of certificates.

What We're Not Looking For

• Chatbot-only projects without backend components.
• Simple websites with minimal technical depth.
• Tutorial projects presented as products.
• Unexplained numbers on a CV.

What You'll Get

• A paid internship with real work from day one.
• Exposure to real industrial problems in manufacturing, automation, and AI.
• Freedom to use the newest AI tools.
• Direct work with the founder.
• Potential for a full-time offer (pre-placement offer) for successful interns.

How to Apply

• Submit your work: a project, code, or system you built.
• Complete the pre-interview form.
• Apply at https://potionlabs.ai/careers/ai-coding-intern/

Employment and payroll are through JD Jones & Co. (P) Ltd. Day-to-day work is with the PotionLabs team.