Data & AI Lead

Hiring AI Talent at Start-up, Scale-up and Enterprise stage. 20 Jul, 2026 8 minutes * Share this At MCS, we work with employers across Technology, Banking & Financial Services, and Manufacturing & Engineering who are all chasing the same thing right now, genuine AI specialist talent. Global demand for AI talent now exceeds supply by roughly 3.2 to 1 across key roles, and Northern Ireland is feeling that pressure directly. Kainos alone is creating over 340 new jobs in Northern Ireland off the back of growing AI and digital transformation demand, a sign of how fast AI hiring is accelerating here, not just globally. What attracts an AI Engineer to a five-person startup is rarely what attracts an MLOps Lead to an enterprise team. The opportunity, and the risk, looks different at every stage, and treating them the same is one of the most common mistakes we see employers make. 7 tips for attracting AI talent at start-up stage. Working at startup level is a genuinely exciting opportunity for the majority of AI candidates we speak to. The chance to shape an AI function from scratch, with real ownership, is a strong draw, particularly for AI Engineers and Machine Learning Engineers who want visible, fast impact. But it also comes with risks that need to be acknowledged honestly, not glossed over. Critical thinking and problem-solving currently rank as the skill talent leaders say they need most, ahead of AI-specific skills, which matters here specifically, because startups rarely have a fully built-out AI function for a new hire to step into. That means more ambiguity, less support, and a genuine risk of the role being less defined than it first appears. The strongest candidates know this, so the pitch needs to be honest about both sides. * Lead with ownership, not just opportunity. Be specific about what an AI Engineer or Data Scientist would actually own. Vague language is one of the fastest ways to lose a strong candidate's interest. * Acknowledge the risk as well as the upside. Candidates evaluating startup roles are weighing genuine uncertainty against the appeal of ownership. Being upfront about what isn't built yet builds more trust than overselling the opportunity. * Show your AI strategy is real, not aspirational. Candidates want evidence you're thinking critically about how AI fits the business, not just that you've decided to "do AI." * Move fast. Startups can outpace larger competitors on speed alone. A slow process signals indecision, which works against the very thing that's meant to be attractive about a startup. * Be upfront about data and infrastructure maturity. Strong candidates will ask. Honesty here reduces the risk of a mismatch further down the line. * Highlight the calibre of who they'd be working with. AI specialists, particularly senior ones, care deeply about the strength of the team around them, given how much they're relying on that team in the absence of established process. * Make the interview process itself a signal of how you operate. Only 24% of candidates say they're happy with the interview process they go through. A sharp, well-run process for a startup AI Engineer role is one clear, evidenced way to offset the uncertainty that comes with the role itself. 7 tips for attracting AI talent at scale-up stage. Scale-up stage tends to appeal to candidates who want more stability than a startup offers, without losing the influence they had. That's a genuine opportunity, but it also carries its own risk, candidates can end up choosing a scale-up that talks like a startup but operates with enterprise-level bureaucracy, which creates a mismatch neither side wants. Jobs requiring specific AI skills, such as prompt engineering or machine learning, are growing roughly eight times faster than the wider jobs market, so an AI Solutions Architect or MLOps Engineer genuinely has multiple options right now, and will notice quickly if the reality doesn't match the pitch. * Prove the AI function has real investment behind it. Candidates at this stage want evidence, not promises, that headcount and budget are actually committed. * Show a track record of progression. If earlier AI hires have grown into senior roles such as Head of AI or Lead Data Scientist, say so directly. * Be clear on where the AI team is heading. With AI-specific roles growing this quickly, candidates have choices. A clear, honest direction reduces the risk of losing them to a competing offer later in the process. * Be specific about who they'd actually be working alongside. 47% of tech workers say their colleagues are a key factor in whether they stay in a role, notably higher than for the general workforce. At scale-up stage, candidates are often choosing between several offers at once, since 70% of technical workers report having multiple job offers when they took their most recent role. * Offer real autonomy alongside structure. Balance the two explicitly. Overpromising autonomy that doesn't materialise is one of the most common reasons scale-up hires don't stay. * Be upfront about the pace of change. Scale-ups evolve quickly. Candidates appreciate honesty about what the AI Solutions Architect role might look like in a year, not just today. * Move quickly once you've found the right person. More than half of candidates have experienced being ghosted by a recruiter or employer during the interview process. A scale-up that responds promptly and clearly stands out immediately against that backdrop. 7 tips for attracting AI talent at enterprise stage. Enterprise stage offers scale, structure, and influence that startups and scale-ups simply can't match, a genuine draw for senior AI candidates. But the risk on this side is just as real: insufficient worker skills remains the biggest barrier organisations face when integrating AI into existing workflows, so an AI Governance Lead or Principal Data Scientist joining an enterprise can walk into a genuine, organisation-wide skills gap rather than a clear mandate. More than 90% of organisations now use AI in some part of their hiring or operations, yet fewer than 5% describe the impact as transformational, which tells us most enterprises are still working this out in practice, regardless of how confident the pitch sounds. * Lead with growth and balance, not just scale. 84% of technologists say an organisation's mission matters when choosing where to work, yet only 40% feel adequately supported with work-life balance, even as 53% report rising workloads. For an AI Solutions Architect weighing up an enterprise role, that's a genuine point of difference, so be specific about what flexibility and growth actually look like in practice, not just the scale of the strategy on offer. * Be transparent about process length. Highly regulated industries face notably longer recruitment cycles for AI talent, often due to security clearance and compliance requirements. Strong candidates expect this, provided it's communicated clearly from the outset. * Demonstrate genuine AI maturity, not just AI ambition. Given fewer than 5% of organisations describe their AI impact as transformational, it's worth showing candidates for senior roles like Head of AI Governance specific evidence of where this employer actually sits against that benchmark, not just where it intends to be. * Show how human judgement still leads. PwC's research shows professionalised roles, where AI automates routine tasks and places more weight on human judgement, are growing twice as fast as roles being made easier by AI. Senior AI candidates want reassurance their judgement, not just their technical skill, will be valued. * Offer a structured, fair process. Only around 26% of applicants currently trust AI to evaluate them fairly, so enterprise employers using AI in their own hiring process need to be visibly transparent about where a human is making the final call. * Be specific about cross-team impact. Enterprise AI specialists, particularly at Principal or Lead level, are drawn to roles where they can influence AI adoption company-wide, but only if that influence is genuinely structured into the role rather than implied. * Don't underestimate Northern Ireland as a serious enterprise AI hub. With major employers actively expanding AI teams in Belfast and across NI, enterprise employers can no longer assume scale alone will win the best AI Governance Leads and Principal Engineers. What we see at MCS. Across the roles we recruit for, from AI Engineer through to AI Solutions Architect and MLOps Lead, what consistently wins out isn't budget alone, it's an honest account of both the opportunity and the risk at each specific stage. We work across Technology, Banking & Financial Services, Finance & Accounting, and Manufacturing & Engineering to help employers at every stage build AI capability that genuinely lasts. Partner with MCS Group. Whether you're a startup hiring your first AI Engineer or an enterprise team scaling AI Governance and Solutions Architecture across the business, MCS Group can help. Get in touch with our Technology team to discuss your specific hiring stage and challenge. * Share this

Kainos to create hundreds of jobs with expansion of AI capabilities. 11 Jun 2026, 15:45 Belfast-headquartered technology company Kainos is set to create more than 300 jobs over the next three years. Established in 1986, Kainos provides IT services, consultancy and software. The new roles will support the listed company's plans to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in response to growing customer demand. Thirty-two of the positions will be based in Kainos' Derry-Londonderry office, with the remaining roles located in Belfast. First Minister Michelle O'Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and economy minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald attended the Kainos offices to welcome the news. "Kainos is a real local success story, growing from its Belfast roots into a global tech leader powered by local talent," said Michelle O'Neill. "Over 340 new jobs, including further career opportunities, is a significant commitment and one that will make a real difference to young people building their futures here at home. "I also welcome that these roles will be created in both Belfast and Derry, helping to support regional balance and ensuring the benefits of growth are felt more widely. AI is reshaping our economy, and this investment demonstrates the strength of partnership between government and industry in driving innovation, productivity and inclusive growth for communities right across the north." Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly added: "This is great news for Northern Ireland and a real testament to the strength of our tech talent pipeline. The creation of over 340 new jobs, including graduate and early career opportunities, shows that young people here do not need to look elsewhere to build ambitious, rewarding careers. "Kainos is a Northern Ireland success story, the company is world-class and this expansion demonstrates the confidence that leading businesses have in our people and our economy. By working together with industry partners like Kainos, we can deliver real opportunity for everyone across Northern Ireland and further cement our position on the global stage." Economy minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said the investment was a "strong vote of confidence in our growing tech sector and the highly skilled people who work here". "Companies like Kainos are helping to build a globally competitive tech ecosystem, while offering flexible and hybrid working opportunities," said Archibald. "This expansion highlights the north's reputation as a place where businesses can scale, innovate and create rewarding careers for local talent, with AI driving new high-value job creation across the economy. It also demonstrates the breadth of the AI opportunities emerging across our sectors, with strong local expertise and companies helping to boost productivity and support long-term economic growth." The new roles on offer span software engineering, platform and data engineering, AI and data science, architecture, product and Workday consulting, as well as delivery, design and business support roles, with an average salary of £58k. Brendan Mooney, chief executive of Kainos, said: "This expansion reflects growing customer demand for our AI digital transformation services across the public, health and commercial sectors. By investing in our people, including 200 company-wide early career roles alongside these experienced positions, we will be able to do more for our customers as they put AI to work. "It is an exciting time for Kainos and our customers, and a pleasure to be creating these jobs in Belfast and Derry alongside our £39m investment in Bankmore, our new Belfast office." Invest NI has offered the company £1.5m of support towards the creation of the 341 new jobs. Kieran Donoghue, chief executive of Invest NI, said: "We are very pleased to support Kainos as it continues to develop its industry leading capabilities and grow its presence in Northern Ireland. Our previous R&D support helped the company to create its innovative Smart Test and Smart Audit products, while earlier support enabled significant job creation in Belfast and Derry~Londonderry. "This latest expansion will create highly skilled roles in AI, data and software engineering, further strengthening Northern Ireland's reputation as a centre for advanced digital and AI capability."