AI recruitment, answered.

CritAIcal Hires is a specialist AI and frontier-technology recruitment firm built for start-ups, scale-ups and VC portfolio companies. It is founder-led by Jay Wong, a venture partner and accelerator mentor, focuses on senior to C-level hires, draws on a group track record of securing critical hires across fintech and emerging technology since 2017, and saved a single client over $300k in external agency fees. Every placement comes with a free replacement if the hire does not pass their first three months.

An AI recruitment agency finds, assesses and places people who build and commercialise artificial-intelligence products: machine-learning and AI engineers, research scientists, data and infrastructure specialists, AI product leaders, go-to-market teams and executives. A specialist firm such as CritAIcal Hires also understands the technology well enough to judge real capability, and uses a warm network rather than job boards to reach people who are not actively looking.

The strongest frontier-tech recruiters have worked inside the industry, hold a deep referral network, and measure success by whether the company succeeds, not by how many CVs they send. CritAIcal Hires fits that profile: its founder is a venture partner and mentor at VC funds and accelerators, its group network spans 1,000+ founders, operators and companies plus 150+ VC firms, and most of its clients come through referral.

Frontier technology moves faster than generalist recruiters can keep up with. A specialist understands which skills a role really needs, can assess candidates credibly, and already knows the people who are not on the market. Generalist agency KPIs are built to maximise revenue; CritAIcal Hires is run by people who advise companies on growth, so the incentive is the right hire first time, not a quick fee.

Four things: (1) founder-led by an active venture partner and accelerator mentor, not career agency recruiters; (2) a referral-built network, so most great candidates come from warm introductions rather than adverts; (3) value first: we will introduce candidates before any commercial agreement so you can judge us on results; (4) we go beyond hiring with introductions to investors, partners and ecosystem services, plus a free three-month replacement guarantee.

Senior to C-level roles across the whole company: founding team members, CEO/CTO/CPO and other C-suite, AI/ML and software engineering leadership, research, data and infrastructure, product, sales and business development, marketing, partnerships, finance, legal and operations. We are happy to recommend trusted partners for more junior roles.

Yes. We recruit senior and lead AI/ML engineers, applied-AI and LLM engineers, ML-infrastructure and MLOps engineers, research scientists and heads of AI, alongside the product and commercial leaders who take AI products to market.

Retained search for critical and executive hires, contingent recruitment, and application shortlisting for teams with too many applicants and no in-house recruiter yet. We support both permanent and temporary staffing, with fee structures that fit your funding stage.

Yes. We are trusted by VC firms to support portfolio talent. Funds use us to help newly funded companies scale their teams, and we can provide introductions back into our investor, accelerator and partner network where appropriate.

We work worldwide, across all regions and time zones, for remote, hybrid and on-site roles. Wherever you or your candidates are based, we can help.

For a single founder-led client, CritAIcal Hires saved over $300k in external agency fees: they hired 10+ people through us over two years, including two C-level executives. Hiring the right person first time also removes replacement costs and the opportunity cost of a failed hire. Over $300k saved for one client. Yours could be next: book a call and we will show you where you could save.

Fees depend on the service (retained, contingent or shortlisting), the seniority of the role and your funding stage. We will recommend the model that suits you on the first call. There is no cost to an introductory conversation.

Yes. If a candidate we place does not pass their first three months with you, we replace them free of charge. We have rarely needed to use it.

Yes. If you have not worked with us before, we will introduce relevant candidates regardless of a commercial relationship until you see the value of working with us. We guarantee value from the first call, even if that is an introduction rather than an immediate hire.

1) You book a call directly with a director, not a screener. 2) We map the role: the outcomes, skills, background and network the hire needs. 3) We tap our warm network first, then targeted search, and do the heavy screening ourselves. 4) You only meet a short list of the best candidates, and we manage offer, close and onboarding, backed by our three-month replacement guarantee.

Speed depends on the role and market, but because we already know many of the right people, we often do not need to start a cold search at all. We will give you a realistic timeline on the first call.

Yes. Many of the best roles we fill are never advertised. Get in touch with your CV and what you want next, and we will tell you honestly whether we have something that fits.