As a specialist AI recruitment agency, we help businesses hire AI engineers, applied AI specialists and generative AI professionals who build, deploy and scale intelligent systems. From LLM applications and NLP to computer vision and production AI, we'll help you find people who can move ideas from experimentation into reliable, real-world products.
Overview
Hiring the right AI professional isn't just about technical knowledge. Businesses increasingly need people who can work across large language models (LLMs), generative AI, NLP, computer vision, data pipelines and scalable infrastructure, then move models from experimentation into production.
As an AI recruitment agency, we support hiring across AI engineering, generative AI and LLM development, NLP and computer vision. Whether you're building an AI team, introducing AI into a product or scaling existing capability, we'll help you secure talent with the technical depth and delivery experience to create measurable outcomes in real-world applications.
Our disciplines
Alongside our artificial intelligence recruitment expertise, we also support hiring across closely related data disciplines that underpin AI development, from machine learning models and data pipelines through to analytics and business intelligence.
The problem
The distinction between AI roles is often unclear. Some roles focus on model development in Python environments, while others centre on deployment, data pipelines or applied use cases such as NLP and computer vision. Without a clear role definition, it becomes difficult to hire the right capability.
AI delivery spans data preparation, model development, deployment and infrastructure. This can include feature engineering, training data, model serving and production systems. Trying to combine all of this into a single role, or hiring too senior without the supporting environment, reduces the available talent pool.
AI systems rely on clean data, structured data pipelines and stable infrastructure. In many organisations, data quality, ownership and platform maturity are still evolving. This makes it difficult to attract candidates used to working with production-ready data pipelines and AI environments.
Many candidates have experience with model development, but fewer have worked on deployment, inference pipelines and monitoring in production systems. Businesses often struggle to find AI engineers who can move models into scalable systems used in real-world applications.
How we can help
We help define the scope of your role before the search begins, whether that sits within AI engineering, machine learning, data science or applied AI. This includes clarifying responsibilities across model development, deployment and data pipelines, ensuring the candidates you meet match your requirements.
We work with you to align expectations around what one hire can realistically deliver across modelling, data and deployment. Whether you're hiring your first AI engineer or building a wider team, this ensures the role reflects your current stage and avoids over-scoping.
We take time to understand your data pipelines, data quality and platform maturity before approaching the market. This includes your technical environment, from SQL-based platforms through to Python and Linux systems, ensuring candidates have relevant experience.
We introduce AI professionals experienced in model deployment, inference pipelines and production systems. This includes scaling models, monitoring performance and ensuring AI systems operate reliably within real-world applications.
Case studies
"We were hiring a Lead AI/NLP Engineer to strengthen the core of our product, which is the kind of hire we couldn't afford to get wrong. The quality of candidates Digital Waffle put in front of us stood out, and they understood exactly what we needed from both a technical and team-fit perspective. They had us hiring inside 3 weeks, and the process was smooth from start to finish."
"The team at Digital Waffle were really good to work with. They took the time to understand the role and the kind of person we were looking for. Communication with Harry and the team was clear throughout, and they made the whole process feel straightforward. Happy to recommend them."
"We needed to grow headcount by 50% in 6 months, including hard-to-fill tech roles, which wasn't something we were going to do on our own. Digital Waffle filled the gap properly. They got us the people we needed at the pace we needed them, and at significantly less cost than building out our own recruitment function. We hit the target on schedule."
"Hitting 40 hires in 18 months across infrastructure and engineering was an ambitious target, and we needed an agency that could deliver against it without us having to manage the process closely. Digital Waffle did exactly that. The shortlists were focused and we didn't waste time on candidates who weren't right. Every role landed on schedule, and the people they brought in are already contributing to the programmes they're supporting."
"Digital Waffle were a real help when we were building out our engineering team. It was a fast-moving period, with a lot happening across our website and apps, and they quickly understood the kind of people we needed. They supported us with both perm and contract hires, kept things moving and made the whole process feel straightforward. Really easy team to work with."
"We brought Digital Waffle in to run our hiring through the development hub launch, and they've placed over 50 specialists for us across product, development, design and QA in the two years since. The quality has been consistent throughout, which matters across a stretch that long. They've become the team we go to when we need to hire."
"Zak has been a real help in building out our talent pool at Commify. His ability to source candidates across diverse roles has been genuinely impressive. His professionalism and commitment to our recruitment needs have made a real difference to the quality of people we've been able to hire."
Our services
Businesses hire AI professionals in different ways depending on their AI strategy, data maturity and hiring priorities. Whether you're building a long-term AI team, bringing in support for a specific initiative or hiring a senior leader to shape your AI capability, we’ll help you find the right person.
Meet the team
Our AI recruiters understand the technical environments, deployment challenges and specialist expertise that shape modern AI teams. They work closely with employers to understand the role, AI environment and delivery goals, making sure every shortlist is relevant from the start.
Salary guides
As artificial intelligence continues to transform industries, demand for experienced professionals is soaring, and the most in-demand talent knows their worth.
Without clear salary insights, it’s easy to lose them to competitors. Our 2027 UK artificial intelligence salary guide provides the benchmarks you need to make competitive offers and retain top AI talent.
With comparisons to 2026, projections for 2028 and a market overview, it is an essential resource for any business building advanced AI capability.
LATEST INSIGHTS
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FAQs
As an AI recruitment agency, we help businesses hire AI professionals who build, deploy and scale AI systems. This includes AI engineers, machine learning engineers and applied AI specialists working across model development, data pipelines and production environments. We manage sourcing, qualification and shortlisting, ensuring you meet candidates aligned with your technical requirements and business objectives.
We support hiring across the full hierarchy, from hands-on engineers through to leadership roles. This includes:
We also support hiring for applied AI roles focused on automation, analytics and real-world AI applications.
AI Engineers typically focus on building and integrating AI systems into applications, including APIs, automation and real-time systems. Machine Learning Engineers are more focused on developing, training and optimising models. We help define this distinction clearly, ensuring your role aligns with system delivery, model development or a combination of both.
When hiring AI engineers, we focus on real-world experience rather than theory. This includes model development, model deployment, working with data pipelines and building AI systems that perform in production environments. Strong candidates typically have experience with Python, machine learning frameworks and scalable infrastructure, along with delivering AI solutions used in real applications.
We look for experience across the full AI stack rather than specific tools alone. This can include Python, machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow, cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, and production workflows around APIs, model serving and MLOps. For generative AI and LLM roles, we also assess experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector search, evaluation, AI agents and deploying large language model applications in real environments.
AI talent is difficult to hire because experienced professionals are usually working on complex systems and are not actively applying for roles. Many businesses are also still developing their data infrastructure and AI capability, which can limit their ability to attract candidates who want to work on production-ready AI systems and scalable environments.
Yes. We support businesses at every stage of AI maturity, from first hires through to scaling established teams. This includes advising on role definition, team structure and hiring priorities across engineering, data and leadership roles, ensuring your AI capability is built to support long-term delivery and growth.
Yes. We support businesses hiring LLM Engineers, Generative AI Engineers and Applied AI Engineers working on large language model applications, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI agents, NLP and production deployment. We focus on the delivery context behind the role, including model integration, data pipelines, evaluation, inference and MLOps, so the candidates you meet match what you are actually building.
Get in touch
If you're growing your AI team or hiring for a key AI role, our recruitment team can help. Share a few details about the position and we’ll be in touch to discuss your hiring requirements.
Prefer to talk? Call us on 0121 517 0357.
