5 Proven Ways to Attract (and Keep) Top AI Talent (Hint: It’s Not Just Comp)
Everyone’s chasing AI talent right now.
But top engineers aren’t just picking based on comp.
They’re looking for visibility, impact, and growth. And most companies don’t offer it — or don’t know how to message it.
Here’s how to actually attract and keep world-class AI talent.
1. Give them the mic
AI professionals want to shape the future — and they want to be seen doing it.
“Put them front and forward. Put them on your website. Sponsor them to go to conferences. You’re going to find that every dollar you spend on that is three dollars you didn’t need to spend in compensation.”
— Travis Nixon, Chief Data Scientist at Microsoft, ML Leader at Meta, and Founder of SynerAI
Visibility builds pride. Pride builds retention. You don’t need to outpay — you just need to make them feel seen.
2. Let them touch the product
Don’t silo AI hires in the backend. Let them help shape what users experience.
“I’ve always tried to make sure machine learning engineers and data scientists are talking directly to product and user research — not just shipping a model that sits on a server somewhere.”
— Hal Tily, Advisor at Plenty (ex-Apple, Netflix, Oura)
Bring them into the product process early. If they see their fingerprints on what ships, they’ll stay motivated — and stay longer.
3. Make the growth pitch only you can offer
You can’t outbid OpenAI or Anthropic. And that’s okay.
“If you’re a startup trying to hire ML engineers — expect to lose. But if you can push your win rate from 10% to 25%, over time that pays dividends.”
— Thach Nguyen, Founder & Managing Partner, Plenty
What you can offer: compounding responsibility and velocity.
“At a startup, within 12 months you’re leading a team. In 18, you’re part of the leadership team. In 24, you’re on the exec team. That’s the kind of trajectory you don’t get at Big Tech.”
— Thach Nguyen
Frame it as a career investment. Because it is.
4. Hire people who live to work
Yes, it’s a cliché. But in startups? Passion still matters.
“Ask candidates: What’s your relationship with work? You want people who live to work — not just work to live.”
“Hal listens to machine learning lectures on Saturday nights because it’s fun for him. When work feels like play, that’s the magic unlock.”
— Thach Nguyen
You can’t fake that kind of drive. And when you find it, hire fast.
5. Bonus: Make the resume human again
Want to find standout candidates? Look beyond the polished wins.
“I care more about how people recovered from failure than where they worked.”
— Hal Tily
“I’ve never seen it — but I’d love to see a resume that says: ‘Here’s what I tried, here’s what didn’t work, here’s what I learned.’”
— Thach Nguyen
And in today’s AI-written-resume world?
“Most resumes get filtered out by bots. The only way to beat that is to make sure someone sees it. Every job I’ve ever gotten? I sent the resume after the offer is almost done.”
— Travis Nixon
Network, refer, connect — that’s how real talent gets seen.
Want help building a hiring strategy AI talent actually responds to?
That’s what we do.
Whether you’re hiring your first AI engineer or building a world-class data team — we’ll help you get it right.
Reach out — or forward this to someone who needs it.
