The Scramble To Hire AI Talent

Over the past few years, the awareness and use of AI has surged in popularity following the breakout success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. For businesses, AI technology promises transformative improvements to business operations, including increased productivity, reduced costs and improved customer service. Staying competitive in the present day means that businesses are integrating AI into their operations and workflows, and thus, are increasing the demand to hire AI talent to facilitate the implementation of this technology.

However, the AI talent market is significantly stretched, and organisations are struggling to fill their skills gap. Understanding why the AI skills gap has widened and the factors affecting hiring AI talent, will help businesses improve their AI recruitment.

The state of AI

Whilst the groundwork for AI technology was laid in the 1950s and experienced an investment boom in the 1980s, it wasn’t until the 21^st century when the technology really started developing further. Then, it wasn’t until the 2010s/20s when common-use AI tools that we know now, such as virtual assistants and search engines, were created and rolled out to the general public. This created a perfect atmosphere for the AI revolution we have seen since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.

With multiple technologies launching since then, including DeepSeek, by 2028, the AI market share is expected to exceed $1 trillion. Growth is forecast at 36.6% CAGR yearly until 2030.

AI has revolutionised the tech sector with tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft all investing significant amounts of money and resources into AI development. The success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its competitors Gemini by Google and Copilot by Windows, have pushed the boundaries of AI and created a heightened atmosphere in which businesses are increasingly competing for AI talent.

AI’s impact on businesses

AI has transformed the relationship companies have with tech. With 90% of businesses already undergoing some kind of digital transformation, many are considering how AI can further push them ahead of their competitors. Currently, around 40% of businesses are actively using AI within their operations. Many businesses are exploring the use of AI to reduce human error, create efficiencies, streamline operations, support better business decisions and improve services for customers.

Studies exploring the link between AI and productivity, such as PWC’s AI Job Barometer report, have found that sectors with the highest AI penetration have seen a 4.8x increase in labour productivity. These statistics illustrate just how vital AI is proving to be for  organisations and the workplace, and only increases the demand to hire AI skills even more.

The most common areas of AI integration in organisations are currently:

• Data entry
• Predictive analytics
• Customer service chatbots
• System monitoring
• Real-time reporting

AI is consistently developing with a vast array of uses for companies, making it increasingly attractive to business leaders. Over the next 3 years, 92% of companies are planning on increasing their AI investments and almost 90% of businesses leaders report AI as fundamental to their business strategy over the next two years.

In-demand AI roles

The growing popularity for greater AI integration into business operations has increased the pressure on businesses to hire AI talent, particularly for certain roles in the sector.

Some of the most in-demand roles in 2025 will include:

• Machine Learning Engineers – engineers who develop intelligent algorithms and models
• AI Solutions Architects – professionals who assess which AI tool/ product/ service would be best for an organisation to build or use
• AI Product Managers – specialist product managers who support the launch of new AI products
• AI Ethics Officers – specialists who develop frameworks to ensure that AI systems and applications are adhering to ethical standards and monitor for bias, data privacy and misinformation

As the uses for AI technology spread, finding workers that have AI experience is not just limited to tech professionals. Organisations are also looking to hire AI skills as a priority across operations, with marketing, HR, finance and admin professionals in some cases expected to have experience with AI technology.

The AI skills gap

As AI develops, it has become more accessible to businesses and organisations of all sizes, not just tech giants. This coupled with the fact that more and more technologies are being developed and rolled out, means that an increasing number of companies are looking to hire AI talent, and this higher demand for skills is causing the AI skills gap to become even wider. In fact, in a 2025 report, 55% of businesses leaders expressed concerns that they will not fill their AI vacancies this year.

This increasing skills gap only further heightens the scramble to recruit AI talent. But why is there a skills gap?

Some of the notable reasons behind the AI skills gap the UK is facing include:

New technology

AI is a developing technology and tech professionals need specific training and expertise in order to specialise in AI. As AI’s rapid rise has increased the demand for AI professionals by 323%, this has outstripped the amount of qualified and experienced AI professionals available.

Lack of higher educational programmes

In the UK alone, there is a lack of higher educational AI programmes. The UK currently ranks 45^th globally for AI course enrolment, below countries such as Japan, UAE, Singapore who are seeing more significant pushes to invest in AI skills. Whilst some universities, such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London are offering Master’s courses in Artificial Intelligence, on the whole, universities and colleges are still not providing enough AI focused degrees to reflect demand.

Increasing AI focused degrees, apprenticeships and skills development programmes will help to improve the UK AI talent pool and could help attract international talent too.

Significant gender gap

With only 22% of AI professionals being women, lower than the average across the tech sector (29%), the AI sector needs to attract more women. Without equal numbers of men and women entering the workforce as AI specialists, the sector will continue to struggle to cater to the demand.

AI training gap

One of the major alternatives to recruiting AI talent is organisations upskilling their current workforce to have the AI skills they need to integrate AI into their operations and workflows. However, statistics from CIO have found that 74% of workers undergoing internal AI training programs say their program is “average to poor”. Barriers to upskilling will mean that businesses will continue to struggle to fill their AI skills gap.

AI talent retainment

Retaining AI talent is proving very difficult for organisations. AI experts in general tend to move around roles quicker, at approximately 80% higher rate than other highly skilled workers. This has created a scramble to hire AI talent before they are poached by other companies. Then, businesses need to find ways to either retain them or need to replace them if they exit. This has led to AI specialist salaries being 40% higher on average than other similar non-AI tech jobs.

Without being able to recruit AI talent and retain them effectively, businesses run the risk of delaying or even dropping AI projects they may have already invested in and losing a key competitive edge.

Top tips to hire artificial intelligence talent

As the market is so competitive, understanding how to hire AI talent effectively is crucial to businesses who want to invest in AI.

Embrace innovation

Companies that offer access to cutting-edge projects and actively seek to work with new tools and platforms will have the easiest time in recruiting AI talent. As AI is evolving constantly, giving AI talent access to work on the latest technologies will be significantly more attractive to top professionals, compared with working on outdated projects and technologies. 44% of AI professionals cite ‘working on cutting-edge projects’ as a top need when applying for new work. AI professionals often enjoy the continuous learning that comes with this changing field.

Consider partnering with universities

A number of universities are starting to offer degrees in AI or modules in the subject. Offering internships to students on AI programmes can be an effective way to develop basic AI capabilities without having a big budget or long-term investment.

Offer career development

Committing to continuous career development and training opportunities is a great way to attract and hire artificial intelligence talent. Statistics show that 80% of AI talent leave their companies because they don’t see opportunities for career advancement. Making a commitment to draw up career progression plans or allowing professionals to take on extra training so that they can hone their skills, will help businesses recruit AI talent.

Utilise an AI recruitment agency

Engaging a recruitment agency that specialises in securing AI talent will help to increase an organisation’s chances of hiring the best. AI specialist recruitment agencies have access to candidate pools of great AI talent and have a deep understanding of what they are looking for in their next organisation and their pain points for why they left/ want to leave their last company.

An AI specialist recruitment agency can also undertake market mapping so that they understand what a competitive compensation package would include in order to increase an organisation’s chances of securing the AI talent they need for their projects and organisation.

If you are looking to hire AI talent for your organisation, VIQU is an award-winning IT recruitment agency, that understands how to effectively hire the best AI talent. Please get in touch with our team here to learn more.