What does an AI recruitment agency do?
An AI recruitment agency finds and hires the people who build and govern AI systems. That includes ML engineers, research scientists, MLOps and platform engineers, AI product leaders and AI governance leads. Engaged Headhunters runs confidential retained and engaged searches for these roles, led by James Pemberton, who has been recruiting since 2009. This is talent search, not recruiting software.
Roles we search for
- Machine learning engineers and applied AI leads
- AI and ML research scientists
- MLOps, AI infrastructure and platform engineers
- Forward-deployed engineers
- Data engineers (see how to hire data engineers)
- AI governance leads (see the AI governance careers guide)
- Heads of AI and chief AI officers
Why demand is rising
BLS projects 22% employment growth for computer and information research scientists from 2025 to 2035 and names AI as a driver (Occupational Outlook Handbook, accessed Oct 16, 2026).
How a search runs
- Scope the work: research, applied or platform, and the team’s stage.
- Map the market and run confidential outreach.
- Run a technical and leadership assessment.
- Manage the shortlist, offer and close.
Retained search · Engaged search · AI executive search insights
How we use AI in our own search
We use AI tools for market mapping and research. People do the assessment, the judgment calls and every conversation with candidates.
Resources
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI recruitment agency do?
An AI recruitment agency finds and hires people who build and govern AI systems, such as ML engineers, applied scientists, MLOps and platform engineers, AI product leaders and AI governance leads. It is different from AI-powered recruiting software.
Which AI roles does Engaged Headhunters recruit?
ML engineers, AI/ML research scientists, forward-deployed engineers, data engineers, heads of AI, chief AI officers and AI governance leads.
Is this the same as using AI in recruiting?
No. This page is about hiring AI talent. The “How we use AI in our own search” section on this page covers how we use AI tools in our own work.
Do you post AI job listings?
No. We run confidential retained and engaged searches. We don’t operate a job board.
What do AI engineers earn?
See our AI Engineer Salary guide for sourced, dated BLS benchmarks.
Start an AI search
Tell us about the role and the team.
Start a confidential search