OpenAI vs Cognition

The same job in two risk profiles: OpenAI's FDE seats print $185K–$550K bands and a frontier-lab brand, while Cognition's Deployed Engineers — a dozen-plus seats around Devin — list almost no cash figures, with the one federal seat at $95K–$132K base.

	OpenAI	Cognition
Open roles	8	2
Comp on board	$350K–$550K TC · $185K–$300K base + equity · $302K–$385K + equity	$95K–$132K (base)
FDE type	True forward-deployed	True forward-deployed
Travel	High	High
Comp	Top of market	Equity-heavy
Stage	Frontier lab	Late-stage
Our take	The highest-ceiling FDE seat in the industry — and one of the newest.	The clearest proof that even the autonomous-coding leader still needs humans for the last mile — and it pays mostly in equity.

Bottom line

OpenAI is the cash-and-credential play: visible bands, vertical seats (legal, healthcare) and a management ladder. Cognition is the ground-floor equity bet: broader global footprint, more scope per head, far less certainty on the number. Take OpenAI if you need comp you can plan around; take Cognition if you'd trade base for upside and a role still being defined, and make them show you the equity math first.