The AI talent war: tech giants court researchers years ahead of graduation

China's tech giants are offering fresh AI graduates salaries 16 times the national average, and recruiters are courting doctoral researchers like Hu Qi at the University of Hong Kong up to three or four years before graduation, according to Vahid Haghzare, managing director of Silicon Valley Associates Recruitment. The urgency reflects a shortage of top-level research talent in the AI sector.

The AI talent war: tech giants court researchers years ahead of graduation China’s tech giants are luring fresh AI graduates by offering salaries that are 16 times the national average Coco Feng /author/coco-feng in Guangdong Doctoral researcher Hu Qi still has about two years left in his programme at the University of Hong Kong, but headhunters are already reaching out to pitch specific jobs and ask when he will graduate. Hu, who specialises in artificial intelligence agent security, is currently interning at a Chinese tech giant where his team leaders regularly ask about his post-graduation plans, urging him to sign on full-time the moment he finishes his degree. His experience reflects a growing sense of urgency across the fast-moving AI sector. With top-level research talent in short supply, tech employers are keen to lock down candidates earlier than ever. “Companies that wait until graduation to find out who the best graduates are, they’ve already lost,” said Vahid Haghzare, managing director of Silicon Valley Associates Recruitment, a technology recruitment agency in Asia and the Middle East. Recruiters sometimes reached out to prospects up to three and four years before they finished school, while tech firms hosted a variety of conferences and seminars to make early contact, he said. The hunt is reaching even further down the academic pipeline.