7 reasons to hire AI developers before your competitors do

The AI wave is no longer something to prepare for; it is already reshaping how software is built, how companies operate, and who wins. If you are still considering when to hire AI developers, the answer is simple: before your competitors do.

In 2025, “AI developers” are not just specialists in machine learning. They are the engine behind faster releases, smarter tools, and adaptive workflows. This post breaks down what they do, why demand is spiking, and how nearshoring can give you a decisive edge in one of the most competitive hiring landscapes in tech.

What “AI developer” actually means in 2025

The best-performing teams in 2025 often combine both. And if you are not hiring people who can build or leverage AI fluently, you are already at a disadvantage.

1. Demand for AI-savvy developers is surging

By mid-2025, AI has become a must-have competency for software teams, not a bonus. A recent LinkedIn Workforce Report shows a 42% year-over-year increase in demand for AI-related roles, including prompt engineers, LLM integration specialists, and Copilot-fluent developers.

Yet the number of candidates with hands-on experience remains limited, especially those who have deployed AI in production environments. While large companies hoard talent with inflated salaries and prestige, smaller companies are left fighting over a shrinking pool.

This demand mismatch means teams who act early, especially through nearshore pipelines, can lock in talent before it becomes unaffordable or unavailable.

2. Internal hiring is expensive, slow, and reactive

Let’s say you want to hire an AI engineer in the U.S. this quarter. Prepare for a 2–3 month process, plus $20K–$30K in recruiting costs. That is before onboarding, ramp-up, or any guarantee that they will stick around.

Worse, most in-house teams are still figuring out what “AI talent” they need. Should you hire an ML specialist or a backend dev who understands LangChain? Do you need someone to build LLM features or just implement them using OpenAI?

This confusion adds delays. Meanwhile, AI-native companies are already pushing updates, experimenting with GPT-powered tools, and iterating faster.

Hiring AI developers through a vetted, nearshore pipeline like Bertoni Solutions means you skip guesswork, save months, and plug talent in where it matters.

3. Developers who use AI tools outperform those who do not

Even if you are not building AI products, hiring developers who use AI tools is a performance unlock.

A study by Microsoft and MIT in 2023 found that developers using GitHub Copilot completed tasks 55% faster, with fewer errors and better documentation. That study was early. By 2025, it is common for developers to:

• Use Copilot to generate boilerplate or test cases
• Deploy GPT agents to build internal tools
• Automate API documentation with AI
• Refactor legacy code with minimal human effort

Hiring developers who know how to leverage these tools does not just improve delivery speed, it fundamentally shifts your cost-to-output ratio.

Think about that: the same number of people producing 30–50% more. That is what your competitors are betting on. Are you?

4. Your competitors are already hiring globally and remotely

Remote hiring used to be a cost-saving tactic. Now it is a necessity.

GitHub’s 2024 developer report showed that 60% of AI-related commits came from outside the U.S. Top-performing teams are hiring wherever the talent lives, not where their HQ is located.

Companies like Zapier, Canva, and Deel now have AI developers in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, not because they are cheaper, but because they are available, fast-moving, and more fluent in modern AI tooling.

If you are sticking to local talent pools while your competitors go global, you are not just paying more, you are likely hiring slower and getting less.

5. Nearshoring offers the best balance of cost, skill, and timezone

So why nearshoring, and why now?

Regions like LATAM are producing world-class technical talent at a fraction of the U.S. cost. These developers are not just well-educated, they are fluent in English, trained in international dev stacks, and increasingly experienced in AI integration work.

At Bertoni Solutions, we help fast-growing companies tap into this nearshore talent layer without going through bloated agencies or unvetted marketplaces. We combine hands-on technical interviews with real project experience, so you are not just getting someone who says they know AI, but someone who is used it to ship real work.

Our team is built to plug into your product flow fast, adapt to your tech stack, and start contributing where it matters most.

6. You need thinkers, not just coders

AI implementation is not just a technical job; it is a thinking job. Your ideal hire is not someone who blindly applies an API; it is someone who asks:

• Should we fine-tune this model or use embeddings?
• Is this best solved with GPT-4, Claude, or open-source?
• Can we automate this entire workflow with Zapier + GPT agents?

These are not questions traditional developers are used to answering. But AI developers, especially those who have worked across products and experiments, are wired to think this way.

Hiring people who blend engineering with automation, design thinking, and prompt fluency gives you a real edge. That is exactly what the nearshore talent layer is delivering right now.

7. Delaying your AI hiring? You are already behind

Here is the uncomfortable truth: if you wait to hire AI developers until you “need” them, you will already be late.

AI-native teams do not just ship faster; they learn faster. Every month you delay hiring is a month someone else is experimenting with GPT flows, automating reporting, building internal agents, or reducing cloud costs with smarter infrastructure.

And the longer you wait, the more expensive that talent becomes. VC-backed companies are already locking in AI talent early, even if their AI product is not fully defined, just to avoid scarcity.

Hiring now, even for a lean AI squad, means you are investing in learning, iteration, and long-term velocity.

Why Bertoni Solutions: AI developers ready to build

At Bertoni, we work with companies that want more than just extra hands on a project. Our nearshore AI developers are fluent in the tools and techniques that power today’s fastest-moving teams, whether that means building LLM-based features or using GPT agents and Copilot to move faster every sprint.

And we do not rely on keyword-matching or resume filters. Every developer we place has been evaluated for:

• Real-world experience building or integrating AI tools
• Fluency with LLMs, vector databases, and prompt frameworks
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Cultural compatibility with North American and European teams

Ultimately, we help companies build AI-ready squads across shared time zones, tap into top Latin American talent without the hiring drag, and scale your team up or down without long-term risk. Whether you are prototyping with AI or accelerating your product roadmap, we can match you with developers who can deliver from day one.

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