Jacob Johnson

Background

About Jacob Johnson

I’m currently a Red Team Operations Strategist at Scale AI, where I work on the frontlines of AI safety — intentionally breaking generative models to help make them safer, smarter, and more aligned with human values. From probing pre-release systems for vulnerabilities to simulating everything from phishing scams to biohazards, I spend my days exploring how language models respond when pushed to their limits. Before stepping into operations, I served as a Red Team Generalist, building a strong foundation across prompt engineering, adversarial testing, and content risk analysis. I hold a Master’s in Communication Studies, with a focus on rhetorical theory and linguistic phenomenology — or, put simply, I’ve spent years thinking about how language shapes thought (and vice versa). That lens guides how I approach model behavior, failure modes, and the subtle ways AI can misfire when handling real-world complexity. Before diving into AI, I taught communication at the university level and general science in K–12 classrooms — experiences that sharpened my instincts around clarity, context, and how people (and now machines) learn. I’m also a national champion in public speaking and co-ran a successful YouTube channel, so storytelling and presentation are part of my professional DNA. At the heart of everything I do is curiosity - about language, about cognition, and about how we build systems that reflect the best (and sometimes strangest) parts of being human.