Talent Radar · May 2026 — GCC hiring slows in BFSI, AI roles up 14%.

Get the report

In the fastest-moving comp market there is, last quarter's band is already wrong.

AI and data leadership is the most competitive senior hire in the market right now. Bands are moving every quarter, real ML depth is hard to tell from a fluent CV, and the people you want are courted constantly. You need a live comp read and an assessor who can separate signal from hype.

Start a Mandate See our impact
ML · data · applied AI
Comp read
Livequarterly
Where we place
Dirto VP
The Problem

The band moves every quarter, and everyone's CV says they do AI.

AI comp is repricing faster than any band you set can keep up with. A number that was competitive two quarters ago now reads as a downgrade, and the senior people you want are fielding offers weekly. Without a live read, you're negotiating blind against a market that already moved.

Assessment is the second trap. The label is on every CV now, so telling real applied-ML and platform depth from confident vocabulary is genuinely hard. Hire on fluency and you find out in production, not in the interview.

In AI, the gap between sounding senior and being senior is wider than in any market we work.
Across AI and data mandates
Our Approach

A live band and an honest read on depth.

We price AI roles to the current quarter, assess for real applied depth, and move fast enough to win people who don't stay on the market long.

01 · Price to this quarter
A comp read that tracks a moving market
We benchmark AI and data leadership against what's closing now, not a survey from two repricings ago. So your band reads as serious to people who are fielding offers weekly, and you're not negotiating against a number that already moved.
02 · Read past the hype
Tell applied depth from fluent vocabulary
Everyone's CV says AI now. We assess for what someone has actually built and shipped, so the shortlist is people with genuine applied and platform depth, not the ones who interview well and unravel in production.
03 · Move at market speed
Reach and close before they're gone
The best AI people don't sit on the market. We come in with the universe already mapped and the band already set, so you can move from interest to offer fast enough to win, instead of losing the person to a slower process.
What This Changes

The numbers that move.

Aggregates across AI and data mandates we ran in 2024 to 2025. Not promises, the pattern in a fast market.

~7 wks
Typical brief-to-offer on senior AI and data mandates
Senior time-to-offer
Every qtr
We re-read the band on top AI roles every quarter, because the market reprices that fast
Live comp read
~94%
Of placed leaders still in seat at twelve months
12-month retention, firm-wide
Frequently Asked

Questions we get asked.

If you don't see what you're looking for, the form below is the fastest route. Most enquiries get a response within one working day.

Which AI and data roles do you place?
Applied ML and machine-learning engineering, data science and analytics leadership, data platform and engineering, MLOps, and the AI and data leadership layer that runs a GCC's mandate, from senior IC to head-of-function.
How current is your AI comp read?
It's built to the current quarter, because this market reprices that fast. We track band movement on top AI roles and flag the direction of travel, so you're not setting an offer against a number that's already stale.
Everyone claims AI experience now. How do you tell who's real?
We assess for what a candidate has actually built and shipped, not the vocabulary on the CV. That's the core of the work in this market, and it's what keeps you from learning the truth in production.
The best people get hired fast. Can you keep pace?
Yes. We come in with the universe mapped and the band set, so you can move from interest to offer quickly. In AI, speed with discipline is usually what wins the hire.
Start a Conversation

Tell us the AI role you need to fill.

Give us the role, the city, and the band you're working with. We'll come back with a live read, even if we don't end up running the search.

Tell us what you're hiring for.
We'll only use this to come back to you. Privacy · DPDP
Thanks. We'll come back within one working day.