Hire an AI engineer for your startup: full-time, fractional, or agency
A startup that needs AI in its product has three options: a full-time AI hire, a part-time (fractional) AI engineer, or an agency. A full-time hire is slow and expensive to find; an agency rotates teams; a part-time engineer works inside your team and builds. Cognitiv is the part-time option - one senior engineer, in your team, building software that runs live.
Full-time hire
The right call once AI is core to the product and the workload is constant. The cost is time - a senior AI hire is hard to find and slow to get up to speed - and the risk of committing to a full salary before the plan is proven.
Agency
Useful for large, well-defined builds, but the work usually passes through a rotating team, and the people who designed the software are rarely the ones maintaining it. It can be hard to pin down who is accountable for what goes live.
Fractional AI engineer
One senior engineer, working inside your team part-time, accountable for the software that goes live. It suits startups and established businesses that need senior AI engineering now but not a full-time hire. This is how Cognitiv works - from a USD $4,000 Ship Sprint to ongoing monthly work from USD $8,000 a month, and you can stop any month.
Common questions
Should a startup hire a full-time or fractional AI engineer?+
Part-time makes sense when the AI workload is not yet constant or the plan is still being proven - you get senior engineering without a full salary. Full-time makes sense once AI is core and the work is continuous.
How quickly can a fractional AI engineer start?+
Much faster than a full-time hire. A Cognitiv Ship Sprint can start within days and gets a feature running live inside two weeks.
What does it cost to add AI engineering this way?+
Cognitiv starts with a USD $4,000 two-week Ship Sprint, then ongoing monthly work from USD $8,000 to USD $15,000 a month. You can stop any month.
Have something you need built?
Start with a Ship Sprint - a two-week paid project that ends with something working, not a document.