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Taya
AI-powered necklace that captures your thoughts, not the room, intentional voice recording as jewelry
Last verified August 17, 2026 · Updated daily
What Taya is building
Taya is an AI necklace, jewelry-grade hardware that you tap to capture a voice note, then tap to stop. The mic is off by default. It records only your voice (directional mics + onboarding voice sample for voice fingerprinting), never the room. The companion iOS app organises your notes, lets you search them, and has an AI chat layer so you can query your own archive: "What did I have planned this weekend?" or "What was the name of that restaurant Sarah mentioned?" The pitch is simple: your thoughts disappear faster than you can capture them. Taya makes capture effortless without turning your life into a surveillance tape. It's designed to pass what Elena calls the "dead battery test", you'd wear it even if it were off.
Why this matters
The AI wearable category is emerging fast but has a problem: everything looks like a gadget. The Humane Pin flopped. The Rabbit R1 flopped. The Frame glasses looked cool but required too much intentional use. Every product designed for always-on ambient recording ran into a social contract problem, people don't want to be recorded by someone else's device. Taya is betting that the answer isn't a bigger, smarter ambient recorder. It's a smaller, smarter intentional one. The key insight: most of the value of a voice-recording wearable is personal, not conversational. You don't need to record meetings. You need to capture the idea you have in the shower. That reframe also eliminates the consent problem entirely. MaC Venture Capital's lead investor explicitly placed Taya "outside the notetaker bucket", they're betting on a new hardware category, not a me-too product. And the market signal is real: 3 million organic views, sold-out pre-orders, all before a single paid ad.
Open roles at Taya
3 positions we're tracking. Roles are re-checked daily and removed when filled.
Know when Taya is hiring before anyone else
A role stays uncontested for about four days. Here's the window — and where we put you in it.
From $9/month, cancel any time.
Watching Taya
0 applicantsRole spotted & verified
1You get the alert
1You've applied
~8Hits the job boards
250+Hiring outlook
Small team. Pre-orders open. First fulfillment batch imminent. Zero job listings anywhere. Hardware and software both in active development. This team is about to get busy.
Working at Taya
Taya: AI-powered necklace that captures your thoughts, not the room, intentional voice recording as jewelry. Founded , currently employees. At this stage, expect opportunity to shape your role based on the company stage.
Most Taya jobs are based in San Francisco.
How to actually get hired at Taya
Why applying the normal way doesn't work
Taya uses an ATS, but referrals still come first. Cold applications aren't ignored — they're just behind referrals, sourced candidates, and recruiter picks.
Who to contact at Taya
What to show them
The Taya app is the intelligence layer. Right now it handles voice capture, transcription, and a basic AI chat interface. The roadmap is clearly deeper: richer memory retrieval, contextual surfacing (show me my grocery list when I'm near the store), and improved voice fingerprinting. This is the most urgent software hire. Core skills: Swift / SwiftUI, iOS development, on-device ML (Core ML, Vision framework), audio processing APIs, local data storage / encryption, API integration (OpenAI/Anthropic/Whisper), consumer app UX instincts. For proof of work, pre-order a Taya or use the existing app in beta. Identify one AI feature that doesn't exist yet but logically follows from the product, for example, proactive memory surfacing based on location or time of day. Write a short spec (2 pages max): what the feature does, how you'd build it on iOS, what the privacy considerations are, and what you'd ship in v1 vs v2. Lead your email with this.
A cold email that works at Taya
What Taya screens for
The press release stated the funding will support "product development and expansion of the company's AI-powered voice capture platform." That's a carefully worded sentence. Product development means engineering and design hires. Platform expansion means the AI layer, better voice fingerprinting, richer memory retrieval, Android support, eventually an API. Hardware refinement is ongoing ("experimenting with different mechanisms to make it easier for users to take notes"). None of this gets done with less than 5 people and a few contractors. a16z speedrun alumni companies are pattern-matched hard: they push portfolio companies toward product velocity, market positioning, and fundraising readiness. MaC Venture Capital has deep consumer brand DNA (they've backed cultural consumer products that reach underserved audiences). Female Founders Fund focuses specifically on consumer and tech companies with female leadership and underserved markets, their portfolio companies typically hire for brand, community, and go-to-market aggressively post-seed.
Don't send a generic CV to Taya. Mirror the job posting's language to get past automated screening.
Don't make these mistakes
The fastest way to lose Elena's attention is to pitch yourself as someone who "loves wearables" or finds the category exciting. She's heard that. She spent years at Apple shipping hardware in one of the most demanding engineering environments in the world; she respects specificity and demonstrated competence above everything else. If you're reaching out for an engineering role, have a point of view on a specific technical challenge, voice capture, firmware constraints at this form factor, on-device ML audio processing, and show you've thought about it at the level she operates. If you're reaching out for a brand or growth role, show you understand who the Taya customer actually is and what it would take to build a brand that reaches her. Don't compare Taya favourably to Humane or Rabbit without explaining precisely why the differentiation matters, vague competitive awareness signals you haven't done the work. Elena is reachable on LinkedIn and responds to messages that demonstrate genuine engagement with the product and the problem she's solving.
Mistakes that kill Taya applications
At people, a copy-paste CV is immediately obvious. It's an instant no.
Nobody cares what you want. Start with The AI wearable category is emerging fast but has a problem: everything looks like a gadget and how you'd help.
Don't apply and wait. The median AI application gets no response ever. One follow-up at day five roughly doubles reply rates.
Applying to Taya? Get the contact, not the form.
The Taya interview process
4 stages · 14 days typical · take-home: yes · modelled from similar companies
We don't yet have verified candidate reports for Taya. What follows is the typical process for a -person AI company — treat it as a model, not confirmed detail.
Interview stages
Recruiter Screen
Phone or video · 30 min
Basic qualification and logistics
Recruiter or HR
Hiring Manager Interview
Video call · 45 min
Role fit and experience deep-dive
Hiring manager
Technical/Functional Round
Video call · 60 min
Skills assessment and problem-solving
Team members
Final Round
In-person or video · 60 min
Culture fit and cross-functional alignment
Senior leadership
Taya take-home assignment
Taya includes a take-home exercise in their interview process. For AI roles, this typically involves a practical problem that takes 2-4 hours. Focus on clean, working code over premature optimization. They're evaluating how you think and communicate, not just the solution.
Taya interview timeline
At days, Taya's process is about average than typical for AI (14 days at this size).
Interviewed at Taya?
Tell us how it went — stages, questions, timeline. Takes 90 seconds and it's how this page stays accurate for the next person.
Submit your Taya interview experience →Taya jobs, frequently asked questions
How many jobs does Taya have open?
Taya currently has 3 open roles, last verified March 2025.
Does Taya hire remotely?
All current Taya roles are based in San Francisco.
What roles is Taya hiring for?
Taya is hiring across Engineering, Design. The most recent opening is iOS Engineer (Consumer App / AI Features).
How do I apply for a job at Taya?
Apply directly through the links above, or read our guide on how to actually get hired at Taya.
Does Taya respond to cold emails?
We're still collecting cold email data for Taya.
Who is the hiring manager at Taya?
At this size, hiring is usually run by the hiring manager.
How competitive is it to get hired at Taya?
-person AI companies see ~100-250 applicants per role in two weeks. The 72-hour window is your advantage.
How many rounds is the Taya interview?
4 stages: Recruiter Screen, Hiring Manager Interview, Technical/Functional Round, Final Round.
Is the Taya interview hard?
It concentrates on technical depth and system design rather than abstract puzzles. The stage candidates find hardest is Technical Interview.
Does Taya give a take-home task?
Yes, Taya includes a take-home assignment.
How long does Taya take to get back to you?
Around 14 days across the full process.
What should I prepare for the Taya interview?
Study technical depth and system design. At this size (), they care about self-sufficiency over textbook knowledge.
Where is Taya based?
Taya is headquartered in San Francisco.
Get Taya roles before they're posted
A role stays uncontested for about four days. Here's the window — and where we put you in it.
From $9/month, cancel any time.
Watching Taya
0 applicantsRole spotted & verified
1You get the alert
1You've applied
~8Hits the job boards
250+