A Founding Research Engineer at the intersection of world models and robotics
A Series A data research lab in New York, backed by a16z, hired its first research engineer through Digitalent while still in stealth.
United States · United Kingdom · Australia
AI/ML Executive Search for VC-Backed Startups
Digitalent is a specialist AI/ML executive search firm. We place senior AI, machine learning and research leaders and individual contributors into VC-backed startups from seed to Series C and into established companies building AI capability, across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. 500+ AI/ML placements since January 2021.
Key facts
Key facts
500+
AI/ML placements since January 2021
300+
of them in the United States
90%+
of the people we place are still there a year later
- By market
- 300+ US, 100+ UK, 100+ Australia
- By seniority
- 200+ executive and leadership hires, 300+ senior individual contributors
- Brief to shortlist
- approx. one week
- Brief to offer
- approx. three weeks for a permanent (full-time) hire, approx. one week for a contract hire
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Australia
- Exclusively AI/ML since
- 2021
Figures updated August 2026.
What we do
Four ways to run a search
We will tell you which one suits the role before you commit to any of them.
Retained searchA committed search with the fee split in thirds. A third on engagement, a third on shortlist, a third on placement.Contingent searchNo fee until you hire someone. Payable when the candidate signs their employment contract, or on their start date.Contract and interimFor work that cannot wait. Brief to offer is approx. one week.SynergyWe run and record the first-stage interviews so you shortlist on your own schedule. For permanent (full-time) roles, retained or contingent, rather than contract.
The person who takes your brief runs the search through to offer, so nothing is lost in a handover and the judgement you buy is the judgement you get.
Where we work
Three markets
500+ AI/ML placements between them since January 2021.
300+placements in the USthe San Francisco Bay Area, New York and Los AngelesUS-wide, including Boston, Seattle, Austin and Chicago100+placements in the UKManchester and LondonUK-wide, including Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol100+placements in AustraliaSydney and MelbourneAustralia-wide, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Perth and Canberra
What we place
Where most of our work sits
200+ executive and leadership hires, and 300+ senior individual contributors.
- AI/ML Engineering
- Data Science
- Forward Deployed Engineering
- Agentic AI
- Software Engineering (AI)
- Research
- Robotics
Not an exhaustive list. If your role sits next to one of these rather than inside it, it is still worth a conversation.
Case studies
Recent placements
Some of these are anonymised, because several of our clients are in stealth or have not announced a round.
A part-time research residency at a data research lab
Having placed the founding research engineer, the same New York lab needed a research bench. We built it as a part-time residency for people who would not have moved otherwise.
A Principal Agentic AI Lead to set the AI strategy at FleetGuru.ai
FleetGuru.ai, a B2B software scale-up on the Gold Coast, hired a Principal Agentic AI Lead through Digitalent, brought in to set the enterprise AI strategy and design the core agentic framework.
An AI Engineer to build against the architecture at FleetGuru.ai
Five months later, FleetGuru.ai came back to Digitalent for the engineer who would build against that architecture, a Python-native AI engineer able to work across a C#/.NET codebase.
Founding Forward Deployed Engineer at an agentic AI lab
An AI lab in Los Angeles working on computer use and autonomous agents hired its founding Forward Deployed Engineer through Digitalent, a role sitting between research and customer-facing delivery that draws from a very small pool.
Full AI team build, from the leader down, at PE Limited (Petex)
PE Limited, also known as Petex, a software company in Guildford, built its AI function from scratch through Digitalent: the AI Lead first, then the four people who would report to them.
AI-native software engineers across PA Media Group
PA Media Group, the 150-year-old news and media group, hired software engineers who work AI-natively across its StreamAMG, Podium and Alamy brands, as part of moving an engineering organisation of more than 100 people to AI-accelerated ways of working.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- What is Digitalent?
- Digitalent is a specialist AI/ML executive search firm. We place senior AI, machine learning and research leaders and individual contributors into VC-backed startups from seed to Series C, and into established companies building AI capability, across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. 500+ AI/ML placements since January 2021.
- What kind of companies do you work with?
- Two kinds, in all three markets. VC-backed startups from seed to Series C, usually hiring a founding or early senior technical person. And established companies building AI capability, from a first AI Lead through to moving an existing engineering organisation to AI-native ways of working. We have made 500+ AI/ML placements since January 2021.
- What roles do you place?
- Three kinds of hire. Executive and leadership appointments such as Head of AI, VP of Machine Learning and Director of AI Engineering. Founding-level hires: founding research engineers, founding forward deployed engineers and founding AI engineers, the first technical hire a company makes in a new area. And senior individual contributors across applied ML, research, ML infrastructure, agentic AI, computer vision and robotics.
- How quickly can you deliver a shortlist?
- Brief to shortlist is approx. one week. Brief to offer is approx. three weeks for a permanent (full-time) hire and approx. one week for a contract hire.
- Do you work retained or contingent?
- Both, and they buy different things. Retained buys a full market map, direct approaches to people who are not looking, and sustained work on your brief alone, with the fee split in thirds: a third on engagement, a third on shortlist, a third on placement. Contingent works the reachable market quickly, with no fee until you hire someone. Payable when the candidate signs their employment contract, or on their start date. Retained suits scarce and senior hires; contingent suits most permanent (full-time) roles.
- Can you work with a stealth startup?
- Yes, and a good share of our clients are. We run the search confidentially and do not name you until either the candidate is a long way through your process, or you tell us we can. You decide when that happens, not us. Several case studies on this site stay anonymous for the same reason.
Talk to us about a search
A short call is usually enough to tell you whether we are the right firm for the role, and what the market looks like for it right now.
Hiring in the US, the UK or Australia? You will reach the person who runs searches in that market.