Pulse’s AI document intelligence system tackles where traditional OCR fails

Pulse is pioneering a breakthrough approach to document intelligence by combining specialized vision and language models that extract structured information where traditional OCR tools fail. The San Francisco-based startup, founded in 2024 by Sid Manchkanti and Ritvik Pandey, is rapidly growing with backing from tier 1 investors and already serves Fortune 100 enterprises, YC startups, and investment firms with its multi-stage document processing architecture.

The big picture: Pulse tackles one of data infrastructure’s most persistent challenges—accurately extracting structured information from complex documents at scale.

• Their technology employs a sophisticated multi-stage architecture for document intelligence that outperforms legacy OCR and parsing tools.
• The company’s approach combines intelligent schema mapping with fine-tuned extraction models to handle documents where traditional methods consistently fail.

Key technology differentiators: Pulse’s document intelligence platform uses several specialized AI components working in concert.

• Their system includes layout understanding with specialized component detection models and low-latency OCR models for targeted extraction.
• Advanced reading order algorithms handle complex document structures, while proprietary table structure recognition systems parse tabular data.
• Fine-tuned vision-language models specifically process charts, tables, and figures—elements that typically challenge conventional document processing systems.

What they’re looking for: The Machine Learning Engineer role offers significant research autonomy to create specialized vision and language models.

• Candidates will be responsible for training and fine-tuning the AI models that form the backbone of Pulse’s document understanding capabilities.
• The position requires working 5 days in-office at their San Francisco location, with prior startup or founding experience considered a plus.

Compensation details: The package includes both financial and lifestyle benefits for team members.

• Employees receive a competitive base salary plus equity and performance-based bonuses.
• Additional perks include relocation assistance for Bay Area moves, daily meal stipends, and comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage.