Ethos
Ethos (AskEthos) is an AI expert network that matches experienced professionals, including lawyers, clinicians, finance analysts, engineers and researchers, with paid AI model training and evaluation work, expert calls and advisory projects. Instead of an application form, every expert is onboarded by an AI voice agent that interviews them about their real experience. Tracked listings pay roughly $35 to $225 an hour depending on the domain.
Quick facts
- Company
- Ethos
- Service type
- Data annotation / AI training data
- Specialties
- text, legal, healthcare, finance, software eng. (code / dev tasks), stem
- Headquarters
- Worldwide
- Hiring status
- Check the company application page for availability
- Website
- Website
- Careers
- Careers page
- Application guide source checked
- 2026-09-24
Application process overview
Ethos is not a classic annotation marketplace. It is an expert network: companies, AI labs and investment firms come to Ethos looking for people with specific professional experience, and Ethos matches them from its pool. The work ranges from AI model training and evaluation, such as writing realistic workplace scenarios and grading model outputs against professional standards, to paid expert calls and advisory projects. There is **no application form and no CV upload**. You sign up, then take a conversational voice interview with Ethos's AI agent, which asks about your career history, the specific work you have done, the tools and regulations you know and how many hours you can realistically give. That transcript becomes the profile Ethos's matching engine searches. From there you wait to be matched to an opportunity, and some projects add their own screening step before you start.
Key findings
* **Voice interview instead of a form.** Plan for about 20 to 30 minutes with the AI agent. Be specific: clients search for precise experience such as "IP litigation", not "legal work", so vague answers produce weak matches. * **Signing up is not a job.** Ethos's own terms make clear that joining does not guarantee work, minimum hours or income. Reviewers report waits of one week to a month between the interview and any next step, and some never receive a match. * **Pay is high but varies widely by domain.** Tracked listings run from about $35 to $225 an hour, with a median near $80. Healthcare, compliance and research roles often sit around $100 an hour, and selective legal roles reach $225. Treat an advertised rate and weekly hour cap as a ceiling, not a promise. * **Payment terms are set for each project.** Ethos confirms the rate and payment method in writing before work starts. Most projects pay on a stated weekly or monthly cycle or at completion, after required invoices and reports are accepted. Wise and Revolut are listed payment processors. * **Experienced professionals get the best matches.** Many listings ask for four or more years of experience, and specialist legal, clinical and management projects often want five to nine. Prior AI training experience is not required. * **Open internationally, with checks.** You must be 18 or over and may need identity verification, tax information and sanctions screening. Ethos decides case by case which jurisdictions and currencies it can pay. * **AI matching is reviewable.** Ethos can use profile history, interview responses, availability, billing rate and prior project feedback to screen and rank experts. Its current terms give experts the right to request human review of an AI determination that materially affects their participation. * **Strict confidentiality applies.** You work as an independent contractor, and sharing client confidential information or material non-public information is grounds for removal.
Conclusion
Ethos is a well-funded, London-based company. It was founded in 2024 by James Lo, formerly of McKinsey and SoftBank, and Daniel Mankowitz, a former DeepMind researcher. It raised a $3.25M seed round led by General Catalyst and a $22.75M Series A led by a16z in May 2026. Its Trustpilot score of 4.2 comes with many reports of payments arriving on time, and the team is visibly active on its own subreddit. The main risk is time rather than money. Ethos was reported to be onboarding around 35,000 people a week in 2026, so matching is competitive and task queues can be full or empty. A recurring complaint is that the long AI interview feels like unpaid work when no project follows. It is worth the interview if you have deep, specific professional experience, but treat Ethos as one source of well-paid project work rather than a steady income.