Research Analyst - AI Tokenomics

Employment Type: Full-Time
Work Setting: In-office/Hybrid
Work Location: San Francisco
Work Hours: Office hours
Find out more here: https://semianalysis.com
About SemiAnalysis

SemiAnalysis is an independent research and analysis firm specializing in the Semiconductor and AI industries. Our in-depth coverage spans the entire supply chain, from semiconductor fabrication processes to cutting-edge AI Models, software, and infrastructure. We are recognized as the leading authority on the semiconductor supply chain, with the highest concentration of industry experts within one team, and a deep-rooted passion for delving into the intricacies.

We are a global team of analysts, each with extensive networks across the semiconductor supply chain and AI ecosystem, publishing industry shaping articles while participating in numerous conferences annually.

Our newsletters reach more than 200,000 subscribers worldwide, including senior management and c-suite leaders at the leading semiconductor and AI companies.

We also offer three core products:

• Industry Models – we develop and publish industry models on accelerator shipments, datacentre demand and supply, GPU total cost of ownership, and more. We work with hyperscalers, neoclouds, many of the world’s largest hedge funds, and government agencies.

• Core Research – our public equity markets product, geared towards financial investors, distils our deep technical research and knowledge into key insights on technology and product trends.

• Consulting and Technical Due Diligence – We conduct custom research and project work to guide key strategic and investment decisions for the largest private equity funds, leading venture capital firms, companies across the AI ecosystem, and government agencies.

Position Overview

We are hiring an AI Tokenomics Analyst to deepen our research into the economics of artificial intelligence.

This role is suited for someone passionate about understanding how cutting-edge model architectures interact with the advanced hardware systems used to train and serve AI models. The analyst will help develop economic and investment frameworks for investors, corporate capital allocators, sovereign entities, and policymakers seeking to understand:

• The economic value created by AI

• The cost of producing and serving AI tokens

• The future cost curves of AI models and software

• The financial impact of deploying AI systems across industries

The successful candidate will contribute directly to the development of SemiAnalysis’s Tokenomics model, a comprehensive AI demand-forecasting model used to evaluate the economic potential of AI deployment, product development, and automation across the global intelligence economy.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate developments in AI model architectures from leading AI research laboratories and the academic community.

• Identify architectural innovations that may materially affect the economics, performance, and deployment of AI training and inference systems.

• Develop and maintain an internal model that simulates training and inference efficiency across different combinations of:

  • Model architectures

  • Hardware systems

  • Training and inference workloads

  • Throughput requirements

  • Time-to-first-token targets

  • Service-level agreements and objectives

  • Context-window requirements

  • Coding, chat, document, image, and other AI workloads

• Analyze the relationship between model architecture, hardware performance, infrastructure requirements, and the cost of producing AI tokens.

• Conduct diligence on established and emerging companies incorporating AI model tokens into their products and services.

• Evaluate AI adoption across startups, hyperscalers, software companies, and businesses operating across different industries and workload types.

• Forecast how changes in model architecture, hardware systems, infrastructure efficiency, and workload demand may affect the future economics of AI.

• Combine technical, economic, hardware, and market research to produce clear and actionable insights.

• Contribute to AI demand forecasts used by corporates, sovereigns, investors, and policymakers.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree, master’s degree, or PhD in:

  • Machine Learning

  • Artificial Intelligence

  • Computer Science

  • A related technical field with a focus on ML or AI

• Strong understanding of AI model training and inference.

• Ability to analyze model architecture, hardware performance, and infrastructure efficiency.

• Strong quantitative, analytical, and economic reasoning skills.

• Ability to develop structured models, simulations, and forecasting frameworks.

• Genuine interest in AI economics, model deployment, and the cost of serving AI workloads.

• Ability to independently research complex and rapidly evolving technical topics.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical and economic concepts clearly.

Preferred Skills

• Experience analyzing inference economics, token costs, or AI infrastructure efficiency.

• Knowledge of modern AI model architectures and inference optimization techniques.

• Familiarity with GPUs, AI accelerators, memory systems, networking, and data-center infrastructure.

• Understanding of inference performance metrics, including:

  • Tokens per second

  • Throughput

  • Latency

  • Time to first token

  • Context length

  • Service-level agreements

  • Service-level objectives

• Experience building financial, technical, operational, or demand-forecasting models.

• Familiarity with AI workloads such as coding assistants, conversational AI, document processing, image generation, and multimodal applications.

• Experience conducting technical or commercial diligence on AI companies, startups, hyperscalers, or software platforms.

• Programming or data-analysis experience using tools such as Python, SQL, spreadsheets, or modelling software.

• Strong interest in the commercial adoption and monetization of AI products.

• Self-taught candidates with strong technical knowledge of inference economics are also encouraged to apply.
  

Growth Areas

The successful candidate will have opportunities to deepen their expertise in:

• AI token economics and demand forecasting

• Model architecture and inference optimization

• AI hardware and infrastructure economics

• Training and inference cost modelling

• AI product monetization and commercial adoption

• Technical and commercial diligence

• Investment research and capital-allocation analysis

• Forecasting the impact of AI across industries and economies

• Developing new research methodologies for an emerging field with limited established frameworks

• Communicating technical AI developments to investors, corporate leaders, sovereign entities, and policymakers

SemiAnalysis LLC participates in the E-Verify program to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. For more information, visit e-verify.gov.

• E-Verify Poster: https://www.everify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/EVerifyParticipationPoster.pdf

• Right to Work Poster: https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1133936/dl?inline=