The data engine behind Physical AI
The unified data engine for Physical AI and frontier models—fusing sensors, labels, and feedback into traceable ground truth.
Turning the physical world into computable data, to enable a future of economic abundance for humanity.
Our Founder
After six years as the third engineer on Tesla's Autopilot AI team—reporting directly to Elon Musk—founder Emal Alwis saw what was missing.
Tesla consumes more computer vision training data than almost any organization on Earth. The lesson was clear: existing annotation vendors couldn't meet the demands of safety-critical AI. Models were trained on inconsistent labels, context was lost between vendors, and there was no way to trace a mistake back to its source.
Emal started Avala to build the data infrastructure he wished he had: a glass-box engine that replaces fragmented vendors with traceable ground truth. No more black-box labeling. No more context islands. One unified pipeline from sensor to deployment.
Emal Alwis
Founder & CEO
Former third engineer on Tesla's Autopilot AI team, reporting directly to Elon Musk for six years. Founded Avala to build the data infrastructure he wished existed—a glass-box engine that replaces fragmented vendors with traceable ground truth.
What We Believe
Quality First
Our Human+AI hybrid model achieves consistent accuracy on complex annotations where full automation fails. Specialized coworkers build deep context over time.
Radical Transparency
Every annotation includes audit trails and verification checkpoints. You see what we see—no hidden processes, no surprise failures.
Ethical Operations
Fair wages, benefits, and career growth for every coworker. People-first operations drive quality at scale.
Built for Production
Everything we build is designed for safety-critical, real-world deployment. We handle over 1 billion annotations per day with built-in quality gates.
Equitable AI
Dignified digital work, from anywhere, via the Avala app—connecting people around the world to the data engine that powers AI, with above-market pay and long-term career pathways.
People-First AI
High-retention teams build deep context on every project, delivering higher-accuracy data that drives better customer outcomes and reinvestment in the communities where our impact matters most.
Backed by partners who share our mission
AI alignment
We reduce bias and hallucinations by pairing workers’ expertise with transparent tooling, so every model we help launch remains grounded in human intent.
Open access for all
Mission Control is built for the full AI Ops lifecycle, letting teams collect, curate, monitor, and calibrate models in a platform that stays open and auditable.
Economic opportunity
Dignified digital work—available from a smartphone—connects people everywhere to the economy powering AI, with training and career pathways along the way.
People-first feedback loops
High-accuracy data drives better customer outcomes, which reinvests into the communities where Avala's impact matters most. It's a virtuous cycle we work to expand every day.
Global Impact
How Avala empowers our global workforce of 15,000+ specialized annotators across three continents.
Annotating with Avala covered my semester tuition and let me practice computer vision skills between classes.
I moved from part-time tagging to leading a crew. Consistent missions paid for my daughter’s school and a new laptop.
Fair pay and weekly payouts meant I could support my parents without leaving home. QA feedback made me faster.
The LiDAR missions helped me pivot from hospitality into tech. A team lead coached me through my first promotion.
I bought a motorbike with Avala earnings and started a savings plan. The work keeps arriving and feels meaningful.
RLHF projects paid for my final semester and kept my language skills sharp. The training modules were actually useful.
Annotating with Avala covered my semester tuition and let me practice computer vision skills between classes.
I moved from part-time tagging to leading a crew. Consistent missions paid for my daughter’s school and a new laptop.
Fair pay and weekly payouts meant I could support my parents without leaving home. QA feedback made me faster.
The LiDAR missions helped me pivot from hospitality into tech. A team lead coached me through my first promotion.
I bought a motorbike with Avala earnings and started a savings plan. The work keeps arriving and feels meaningful.
RLHF projects paid for my final semester and kept my language skills sharp. The training modules were actually useful.
Annotating with Avala covered my semester tuition and let me practice computer vision skills between classes.
I moved from part-time tagging to leading a crew. Consistent missions paid for my daughter’s school and a new laptop.
Fair pay and weekly payouts meant I could support my parents without leaving home. QA feedback made me faster.
The LiDAR missions helped me pivot from hospitality into tech. A team lead coached me through my first promotion.
I bought a motorbike with Avala earnings and started a savings plan. The work keeps arriving and feels meaningful.
RLHF projects paid for my final semester and kept my language skills sharp. The training modules were actually useful.
Annotating with Avala covered my semester tuition and let me practice computer vision skills between classes.
I moved from part-time tagging to leading a crew. Consistent missions paid for my daughter’s school and a new laptop.
Fair pay and weekly payouts meant I could support my parents without leaving home. QA feedback made me faster.
The LiDAR missions helped me pivot from hospitality into tech. A team lead coached me through my first promotion.
I bought a motorbike with Avala earnings and started a savings plan. The work keeps arriving and feels meaningful.
RLHF projects paid for my final semester and kept my language skills sharp. The training modules were actually useful.
Weekend missions helped me cover hostel rent. The steady queues let me plan my budget and keep building my portfolio.
Moving into QA meant higher rates and mentoring new annotators. Savings from Avala are funding my software diploma.
Flexible shifts around my day job made it possible to add a second income stream. Prompt payouts keep it stress-free.
Transparent pricing and weekly payouts let me help my family while I build a reel of AI ops experience.
Flexible shifts meant I could work around power outages. Steady income helped me cover school fees for my nieces.
Weekend missions helped me cover hostel rent. The steady queues let me plan my budget and keep building my portfolio.
Moving into QA meant higher rates and mentoring new annotators. Savings from Avala are funding my software diploma.
Flexible shifts around my day job made it possible to add a second income stream. Prompt payouts keep it stress-free.
Transparent pricing and weekly payouts let me help my family while I build a reel of AI ops experience.
Flexible shifts meant I could work around power outages. Steady income helped me cover school fees for my nieces.
Weekend missions helped me cover hostel rent. The steady queues let me plan my budget and keep building my portfolio.
Moving into QA meant higher rates and mentoring new annotators. Savings from Avala are funding my software diploma.
Flexible shifts around my day job made it possible to add a second income stream. Prompt payouts keep it stress-free.
Transparent pricing and weekly payouts let me help my family while I build a reel of AI ops experience.
Flexible shifts meant I could work around power outages. Steady income helped me cover school fees for my nieces.
Weekend missions helped me cover hostel rent. The steady queues let me plan my budget and keep building my portfolio.
Moving into QA meant higher rates and mentoring new annotators. Savings from Avala are funding my software diploma.
Flexible shifts around my day job made it possible to add a second income stream. Prompt payouts keep it stress-free.
Transparent pricing and weekly payouts let me help my family while I build a reel of AI ops experience.
Flexible shifts meant I could work around power outages. Steady income helped me cover school fees for my nieces.
Our Community Partners
We partner with workforce and community organizations around the world to build ethical, people-first AI operations.
Join Our Team
We're building the data infrastructure for Physical AI and frontier models. Join us across engineering, operations, and go-to-market.
Health & Wellness
- Health insurance
- Dental and vision insurance
- Flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent care
Life & Family
- 401(k) plan
- 6-week paid parental leave
- Unlimited paid time off
Culture & Development
- Incredibly mission-driven company
- Regular team outings
- Clear path for career growth
See how Avala powers the world's most demanding AI systems.