Why one AI-driven company is hiring more Waterloo talent, not less

Stories about artificial intelligence and work often focus on what's being automated, reduced or removed such as junior roles and entry-level positions. The narrative is that fewer early-career employees will be needed because machines can now do more of the work.

At Atoms, an AI-driven robotics company with roots in food tech and advanced manufacturing, the response has been the opposite. The company is hiring more early-career talent, not less, with University of Waterloo co-op students central to that strategy.

Brian Attwell (BSE '13), a Waterloo alum and Atoms's chief technology officer, credits his own co-op experience for shaping how he thinks about talent, adaptability and building teams for constant change.

"Early in my career, watching peers take on global challenges, master new technologies quickly and deliver impact beyond their comfort zones made it clear to me what smart people can achieve when given ambitious goals and high expectations," Attwell says. "When you hire the right people and trust them with meaningful challenges, they will consistently exceed what you thought possible."

That belief underpins his view of success in the AI age that those who will thrive are not simply the most technically skilled, but the most adaptable. People who can learn quickly, navigate constant change and rise to challenges that didn't exist before.

According to Attwell, Atoms intentionally gives people work that stretches what they believe they are capable of while providing the mentoring and resources required to "rise to the moment."

With thousands of employees across California, Washington and the globe, Atoms works at the intersection of hardware, software and machine learning, a space where change and complexity are constants.

That complexity is why Atoms has doubled down on hiring co-op students and new graduates.

Rather than viewing AI as a substitute for junior developers, the company sees it as an opportunity to accelerate learning and expand impact.

"We are not looking to replace early career talent with automation," Attwell says. "We are looking to give talented people better tools so they can solve harder problems earlier in their careers."

Waterloo co-op students are doing exactly that.

Waterloo's Future Ready Talent Framework ensures students develop four future-proof abilities: adaptability, relationship-building, technological literacy and lifelong learning.

Waterloo Software Engineering student Aaron Olsen is working on state synchronization for a mesh network used in restaurant environments. His work ensures that devices can continue communicating with one another even when internet connectivity is interrupted, an issue that can stop operations entirely in high-volume food service settings. The system is deployed in live environments, and Olsen's code directly affects the reliability of Atoms' robotics platforms.

Lexie Zhang, another Waterloo Software Engineering student, is contributing to a new product line that uses AI to detect mistakes in food manufacturing processes as they happen in real time. Early testing shows it can reduce mistakes by nearly half, improving both efficiency and consistency.

The approach challenges a growing narrative in tech that junior roles will disappear as AI becomes more capable. At Atoms, the opposite has been true. As AI tools handle more repetitive tasks, teams need people who can learn quickly, ask good questions and adapt systems in ways that are ethical, practical and grounded in real-world use.

"AI changes how we work, but it does not remove the need for people with strong judgment," Attwell says. "Our co-op students help bridge that gap. They are thinking about edge cases, user experience and failure modes from day one."

The company has hosted ten co-op work terms with Waterloo to date and expects that number to grow. Engineering and software engineering interns remain key roles, with students contributing across systems design, product development and applied machine learning.

For Waterloo, the story reflects a broader truth about the future of work. As AI accelerates change, the ability to never stop learning may matter more than any single technical skill.

"Waterloo's co-op program builds a rare level of comfort with disruption and constant change," Attwell says. "It is exactly the mindset needed to thrive in the future of work."

At a moment when anxiety about AI-dominated job loss is widespread, Atoms offers a different perspective. One where AI amplifies human contributions rather than replacing them. And one where Waterloo students are helping shape the systems that define what comes next.

For students like Olsen and Zhang, the experience is a chance to work on technology that matters, alongside teams that trust them to make an impact. For Atoms, it is an investment in people who are ready to grow as fast as the technology itself.