Should You Hire AI Engineers or Outsource Your AI Development Work?

To answer this question, you need to reflect upon your need for an AI solution and how you aim to support it in the short or long run. Here are a few thoughts to take into consideration.

Does your organization have the capacity or skills to manage an AI system?

Look at your list of personnel and see if anyone can be trained to immerse themselves in AI. Can you spare anyone for AI purposes? If no, consider outsourcing.

Is it a one-time off project?

Do you imagine you or your team building on top of any AI solutions that you have? For instance, do you see your team adding more datasets that require constant tweaking? If so, perhaps it’s best to hire your own AI talents.

Is it within your organization’s mission to go big on AI?

Do you want to be known as an AI-centric company? Are you building an AI solution that will disrupt the status quo? Build your own AI team.

Do you have the budget to hire long-term AI developers?

Are you starting an AI startup with your own savings? Do you have the means to pay salaries for a year? It usually takes a year or so to see results from a tech startup – sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. If you have a year’s budget to hire, then you may want to hire in-house.

Are you concerned over confidentiality and copyright?

If so, hire. But you may also consider drafting a solid contract with the AI outsourcing team that ensures all work produced shall vested in you and supplement the contract with an NDA.

Do you have a tech lead or CTO who is familiar with AI?

No? Then, outsource. You may choose to maintain the outsourcing team as your development team for the long run. Some companies even absorb their freelancer developers into full-time employees.

How fast do you need to develop your AI app?

Hiring takes time, especially when looking for the best talents. If you need something to be built fast, like within weeks, you can start by hiring external developers and eventually move the development work in-house once you’ve recruited your AI talents.