The worldwide AI market is expected to be worth more than $800 million by 2030. Now, if you want to start programming with AI for your business, you need the right people, especially the right AI developers.
An AI developer is a software professional who builds smart AI systems and does programming with AI. Their work ranges from training machine learning models to integrating AI into business tools for tasks like automation, predictions, and personalization.
So, how do you find an AI developer for your business? Well, this guide will tell you exactly that.
At SynergyTop, we’ve worked with companies of all sizes to build and scale AI solutions. We’ve hired AI developers internally. And we’ve helped clients hire artificial intelligence developers, too.
The insights that we have gained from that experience are distilled in this blog. With this guide, we aim to help business owners, founders, or hiring managers who want to explore AI but aren’t sure how to start. We’ll go over:
- The need for hiring AI developers today
- The different ways to hire an AI developer in 2025
- Practical tips to hire the right AI engineer
Let’s dive right in.
Why Hiring the Right AI Developer Matters?
Not all developers know AI, and not all AI people can write solid production-ready code. AI is a niche skillset that involves understanding algorithms, data models, and real-world deployment challenges.
With the growing demand, AI skills are becoming more specialized. Whether you’re building a chatbot, recommendation engine, fraud detection model, or automating a process using machine learning, the person or team behind the project can make or break its success.
In short, don’t rush. Let’s explore your options first.
5 Ways to Hire an AI Developer in 2025
Here are five practical ways businesses are hiring AI professionals today:
1. Hire In-House AI Developers
If you’re building AI as a core part of your business (a tech product or SaaS), it may make sense to bring someone in full-time.
In-house developers can collaborate closely with other departments. And they can stay aligned with your long-term goals. They can also maintain and improve your AI systems over time.
Pros:
- Full-time commitment
- Better integration with your team
- Builds internal capability
- Custom development possible
Cons:
- High AI engineer salary expectations
- Time-consuming recruitment
- May require upskilling team
- Hard to retain top AI talent
- Not ideal for short-term needs
Hire In-House AI Developers if you plan to invest in AI long-term and want tighter control.
2. Hire Freelance AI Developers
Freelancers are a great fit when you have a short-term project or specific tasks to be completed. Platforms like Upwork, Toptal, and Freelancer have hundreds of AI experts available.
Pros:
- Cost-effective for small projects
- Global talent pool
Cons:
- Varying skill levels
- Less reliable for long-term needs
- Time zone coordination issues
- No long-term commitment
- No quality guarantees
Hire Freelancers if you have a small, one-off task and don’t need ongoing support.
3. Get Pre-Vetted AI Developers
This option combines the flexibility of outsourcing with the quality control of a trusted partner. At SynergyTop, we offer pre-vetted AI developers who are ready to work with your in-house team or take up complete projects.
These professionals already have proven AI skills. So, you don’t have to waste time training or testing.
Pros:
- Ready-to-go developers
- Proven experience and case studies
- Backed by a support team
- No recruitment headaches
- Saves time, delivers faster
Cons:
- Requires upfront planning
Go for Pre-Vetted AI Developers if you want speed, quality, and peace of mind without full-time hiring.
4. Use a Recruitment Agency
You can outsource the hiring process to recruitment firms that specialize in tech talent. These agencies have access to large candidate databases and can help you hire full-time or contract-based AI developers.
They’ll screen candidates, conduct interviews, and match profiles based on your needs.
Pros:
- Saves time on hiring
- Access to hidden talent
- Professional candidate screening
- Good for permanent roles
- Scalable for large hiring plans
Cons:
- Placement fees can be high
- Can take weeks to finalize
Use a Recruitment Agency if you want someone else to handle sourcing and screening.
5. Hire a Managed AI Team
This is the most stress-free and reliable option if you want to build AI projects without creating an internal team. Managed AI teams handle everything from development to testing to deployment.
At SynergyTop, we offer dedicated AI developers as a managed service. With that, clients can focus on business outcomes instead of managing individual coders.
Pros:
- Full-stack team support
- No training needed
- Faster delivery, fewer errors
- Lower long-term cost
Cons:
- Slightly less control over micro-decisions
Hire a Managed AI Team if you want fast execution, technical expertise, and lower risk.
Tips to Hire the Right AI Developer
Once you’ve picked a hiring model, the next step is selecting the right individual or team. Here are some tips:
- Look for real project experience (not just certificates)
- Test their ability to explain models and data approaches
- Ask them to walk you through past work
- Make sure they know how to take projects from model training to deployment
- Confirm their AI skills include frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or LangChain
Bonus tip: Pay attention to their problem-solving approach while programming with AI more than flashy buzzwords. AI is about logic, math, and real-world implementation.
Future Outlook: AI Talent Wars & Why It’s Best to Start Now
The demand for AI developers is only going to increase. AI skills, AI developers, and smart hiring decisions are going to separate the leaders from the rest in 2025. We hope this guide gave you a clear roadmap.
This is creating a global AI talent shortage. Salaries are rising fast, some AI engineer salary packages in the US have crossed $180,000. The best developers are being booked months in advance.
Ethical AI development is also becoming a key concern. When you build with AI, you want developers who are mindful of bias, fairness, and transparency.
So if you’re planning to hire artificial intelligence developers, now is the time. Delaying might leave you behind your competitors who are already training AI on their data.
To explore hiring options or speak with our AI team, schedule a no-cost consultation with us here.
