A Dedicated AI Team, Shipping in Four Weeks.
Hire AI engineers as a managed, dedicated team: ML, MLOps, Gen AI, and evaluation specialists embedded in your sprints, your tools, and your repos, with US time-zone overlap and a lead accountable for delivery.
- 4weeks to shipping
- 5working days to profiles
- 4+hours overlap with US Eastern time
- 14days to replace a team member
Why Not Just Hire AI Engineers?
You can, but most AI roadmaps can't wait for it.
- 01Hiring Takes MonthsRecruiting senior AI engineers typically takes 4 to 9 months per role.
- 02One Hire Isn't a TeamProduction AI needs ML, MLOps, and evaluation skills working together.
- 03Freelancers Don't Carry DeliveryIndividuals bill hours; nobody owns the outcome or the handover.
Definition
What Is a Dedicated AI Engineering Team?
A dedicated AI engineering team is a managed group of remote AI specialists, such as ML, MLOps, Gen AI, and evaluation engineers, who work only on your roadmap inside your tools and sprints. SMI TechSolutions provides the team, a delivery lead, and replacement cover, while you set priorities.
Roles and pods
The AI Engineers We Embed
ML Engineers
FromModels stuck in notebooksToModels in productionTraining, serving, and integration with your systems.
Gen AI Engineers
FromPrototype chatbotsToProduction RAG, copilots, and agentsHire generative AI and agentic AI developers who've shipped before.
MLOps Engineers
FromManual deploymentsToCI/CD, monitoring, and retrainingPipelines that keep models accurate after launch.
Evaluation Engineers
From"Looks good" testingToEval harnesses and quality gatesContinuous code and model quality evaluation.
Pod Lead
FromYou managing every engineerToOne accountable delivery leadRuns ceremonies in your Jira, GitHub, and Slack.
Hiring options compared
Hire, Augment, or Build a Dedicated AI Team?
Hire in-house when AI is core to your product and you can wait months to recruit. Use staff augmentation to fill one or two known gaps. Choose a dedicated AI team when you need several AI skills shipping together quickly, with someone accountable for delivery.
| Option | Time to start | Who manages delivery | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-house hiring | Typically months per role | You | AI is a long-term core capability |
| Freelancers | Days to weeks | You | Short, well-defined tasks |
| Staff augmentation | Weeks | You | One or two specific skill gaps |
| Dedicated AI teamShipping in 4 weeks | About 4 weeks | SMI pod lead, to your priorities | Several AI skills needed together, fast |
| Build-Operate-Transfer | About 4 weeks, then transfer | SMI, then you | You want the team on your payroll later |
How we deliver
The Four-Week Ramp-Up Plan
- 1
Week 1
Team profiles agreed, candidates introduced, offers confirmed.
- 2
Week 2
Access to your tools, codebase, and roadmap; first commits.
- 3
Week 3
Pair programming with your engineers; first pull requests merged.
- 4
Week 4
Independent sprint delivery begins.
- Engagement models
- Monthly retainer on 3-, 6-, or 12-month cycles
- Outcome-tied, with up to 30% of fee linked to milestones
- Build-Operate-Transfer to your payroll
- Hybrid pairing with in-house engineers
- Security and IP
- Code in your repos
- Data in your cloud tenant
- Background-checked engineers under your NDA
- Runbooks and knowledge transfer from week one
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How can we hire AI engineers quickly?
The fastest route is a dedicated team from a partner that already employs vetted AI engineers. SMI TechSolutions shares profiles within five working days of a 45-minute scoping call, and the team is delivering sprints independently by week four.
How much does it cost to hire AI developers?
Cost depends on the roles, seniority, and engagement model. SMI TechSolutions prices dedicated AI teams as a monthly retainer on 3-, 6-, or 12-month cycles, with an option to tie up to 30% of the fee to delivery milestones. A proposal follows the scoping call.
Can we hire generative AI engineers for one project?
Yes. SMI TechSolutions can stand up a Gen AI pod for a defined project, such as a RAG assistant or an agent, on a 3-month cycle, then extend, scale down, or hand over once the project is in production.
Do you provide agentic AI developers?
Yes. SMI TechSolutions engineers build agentic AI systems that plan and take multi-step actions through your APIs, with defined permissions, human approval points, and logging. Agentic AI developers can join a pod or work alongside your existing team.
How do remote AI developers fit into our agile sprints?
SMI TechSolutions engineers join your Jira, GitHub, and Slack, attend your ceremonies, and work to your definition of done. A pod lead coordinates with your product owner, and outcomes are tracked against your engineering KPIs.
How is our IP and data protected?
All code lives in your repositories and all data stays in your cloud tenant, with no third-party hosting. SMI TechSolutions engineers are background-checked, sign your NDA, and follow your security training and access policies.
What time zones do your engineers work in?
SMI TechSolutions teams deliver globally and guarantee at least four hours of overlap with US Eastern time, so stand-ups, reviews, and pairing happen live. Overlap with Pacific time can be arranged for specific roles.
What happens if an engineer isn't the right fit?
SMI TechSolutions replaces an underperforming or departing team member within 14 days, with handover managed by the pod lead so delivery continues.
What is the Build-Operate-Transfer model for AI teams?
Under Build-Operate-Transfer, SMI TechSolutions builds and runs your AI team, then transfers the engineers to your payroll after an agreed period, typically 12 to 18 months, carrying the severance risk if anyone doesn't transfer.
How do you ensure code quality from AI engineers?
SMI TechSolutions applies a four-layer quality model: spec-driven inputs from your architecture docs, test-first development, automated gates for static analysis and security, and eval-driven CI that blocks merges on regressions. Human review is the final layer.
How is a dedicated AI team different from AI engineering outsourcing?
Traditional outsourcing hands a project to a vendor who works separately. A dedicated AI team works inside your tools, to your priorities, as an extension of your engineering organization, while SMI TechSolutions still carries delivery accountability and staffing risk.
Ready to Build Your AI Team?
Tell us the roadmap. In 45 minutes we'll agree the pod shape, and you'll see engineer profiles within five working days.
- Nearly two decades of delivery
