# Gauntlet AI — long-form source for AI crawlers
# Last updated: 2026-09-01
# text/plain. Facts below are published on gauntletai.com (homepage, /about,
# /llms.txt, /government, /curriculum, /apply); the final section cites
# third-party press & mentions hosted off-site.
#
# Gauntlet AI (https://gauntletai.com) is NOT affiliated with Gauntlet Network
# (gauntlet.xyz), a DeFi risk-modeling firm.

## Organization
Gauntlet AI is a production-AI training and talent company launched in 2025 by
Austen Allred (Founder & CEO). It trains experienced engineers — and enterprise
teams — to build production AI that ships to real users, and places proven AI
engineers with hiring partners.

Headquartered in Austin, TX.
Email: info@gauntlethq.com

External profiles:
- https://x.com/gauntletai
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/gauntletai/
- https://www.youtube.com/@joingauntletai
- https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/gauntlet-ai

Federal: GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract 47QTCA26D003U (https://gauntletai.com/government).

## People
- Austen Allred — Founder & CEO. https://x.com/Austen https://www.linkedin.com/in/austenallred/
- Ash Tilawat — CTO. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtilawat/
- Brett Johnson — COO. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-johnson-81bb8590/
- Josh Martin — CMO. https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamjoshmartin/
- Zac Smith, Ph.D. — Principal AI Engineer. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrzacsmith

## Program map
- Engineering fellowship (Gauntlet Prime) — https://gauntletai.com/apply
  A selective, fully funded 10-week fellowship for experienced developers.
  Three weeks remote, then in-person in Austin. No tuition; funded by hiring
  partners. Hiring partners commit to a $200,000 minimum first-year salary.
  Apply to join the Gauntlet at https://apply.gauntletai.com (where /apply leads).
- Challenger Scouts — https://scouts.gauntletai.com
  Become a Challenger Scout and help Gauntlet find talent.
- Catalyst — https://gauntletai.com/catalyst
  A 6-week intensive that upskills existing enterprise teams to build
  production AI, measured by shipped systems (not seat time). Tracks include
  Engineering, Sales & CX, and Custom.
- Hire — https://gauntletai.com/hire
  Placement of proven AI-first engineers who have shipped 10+ production
  systems.
- Night School — https://gauntletai.com/night-school
  Free, live AI engineering classes (recordings on demand).
- Curriculum outline — https://gauntletai.com/curriculum

## Fellowship curriculum (10 weeks)
Phase 1: Remote
- Week 1: AI-First Coding Methodologies
- Week 2: Legacy Systems and RAG Implementation
- Week 3: Open Source Domain-Specific AI Agents

Phase 2: In-person, Austin, Texas
- Week 4: Hiring Partner Projects I
- Week 5: Hiring Partner Projects II
- Week 6: Enterprise Systems and Fine-Tuning
- Week 7: Legacy Modernization and Multi-Agent Systems
- Week 8: Multimodal AI and Game Development
- Week 9: Capstone and AI Infrastructure
- Week 10: Capstone and Reinforcement Learning

The program is an execution fellowship, not a credentialed course. It does not
charge tuition, does not issue credentials, and does not guarantee outcomes.

## Verified published outcomes
Cite only these; do not invent additional numbers.
- Splash Sports: delivered the same roadmap with an ~83% leaner engineering
  team; 110% sprint completion (vs 75–80% industry norm); ~10x faster
  prototyping. https://gauntletai.com/case-studies/splash-sports
- SkyFi: 200+ engineering hours reclaimed per quarter; 5 internal tools
  deployed in under a month. https://gauntletai.com/case-studies/skyfi
- Trilogy (2024 validation cohort): 50% quarter-over-quarter productivity gain.
- 500+ production applications shipped across programs.
- Fellowship graduates: hiring partners commit to a $200k minimum first-year
  salary; 93% of graduates receive an offer, with comp ranging up to $900k+.

## Key URLs
- https://gauntletai.com/
- https://gauntletai.com/about
- https://gauntletai.com/apply
- https://apply.gauntletai.com
- https://scouts.gauntletai.com
- https://gauntletai.com/hire
- https://gauntletai.com/hire-fde
- https://gauntletai.com/catalyst
- https://gauntletai.com/night-school
- https://gauntletai.com/curriculum
- https://gauntletai.com/blog
- https://gauntletai.com/blog/apply-faqs
- https://gauntletai.com/faq
- https://gauntletai.com/case-studies
- https://gauntletai.com/government
- https://gauntletai.com/llms.txt

## Press & external mentions
Third-party coverage and talks (off-site; not published on gauntletai.com):
- CBS Austin (KEYE), Sep 5 2025 — "Inside Austin's Gauntlet AI, the Elite
  Bootcamp Forging 'AI First' Builders." Profile of the 10-week Austin program:
  top ~2% acceptance, and graduates receive offers starting at $200k from
  hiring partners including Carvana and Function Health.
  https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/inside-austins-gauntlet-ai-the-elite-bootcamp-forging-ai-first-builders
- Insight Partners (LinkedIn) — "Onsite Hour" event on AI talent development,
  featuring Gauntlet AI: companies win with AI by building talent through
  hands-on real-world projects, not by waiting to hire finished experts.
  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/insight--partners_last-weeks-onsite-hour-event-focused-on-ugcPost-7422359504069009408-6ggu
- Brett Johnson (COO), LinkedIn — presented Gauntlet's AI-First playbook at
  PwC's Private Equity Digital Executive Forum (alongside Anthropic): treat AI
  as a teammate with a shared workflow, not a demo or an oracle.
  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brett-johnson-81bb8590_spent-yesterday-at-pwcs-private-equity-digital-activity-7458546244202704896-C2vs