Why growing companies bring in a recruitment partner
Hiring under investor pressure with a small team? Nikita on when a specialist partner saves you time.
AI & ML recruitment agency in India
AI and ML recruitment. Engineers who ship, leaders who scale.
Stellaspire hires AI engineers, machine learning specialists and applied research talent for GCCs, product companies and growth-stage startups, with a search built around the real problem your team is solving.
Who this is for
For teams turning AI from pilot into product.
Strong AI candidates are often approached many times a week. The searches that succeed explain the problem clearly, assess real production work and move quickly. That is how we run every AI and ML mandate.
- CTOs and heads of engineering building a first ML or GenAI team, or adding senior depth to an existing one.
- GCC leaders setting up AI, data science or ML platform capabilities in India for a global parent.
- Founders of AI-first startups hiring founding engineers and early research or applied science talent.
- Analytics and data heads adding ML engineering and MLOps skills to analytics teams.
Roles we hire
AI and ML talent across the stack.
From individual specialists to the leaders who set an organisation's AI direction.
| Function | Typical roles | Seniority |
|---|---|---|
| Machine learning engineering | ML engineers, deep learning engineers, recommendation and ranking specialists | Mid-level to Principal |
| Generative AI & LLMs | LLM engineers, GenAI application developers, retrieval and evaluation specialists | Senior IC to Lead |
| Applied science & research | Applied scientists, AI researchers, NLP and computer vision specialists | Senior IC to Head |
| ML platform & MLOps | MLOps engineers, ML platform engineers, data and feature engineering | Mid-level to Lead |
| AI product | AI product managers, AI solution architects, technical programme leads | Manager to Director |
| AI leadership | Head of AI, head of data science, director of ML engineering | Director to VP |
The exact scope of each search is agreed in the first hiring conversation.
How we assess AI talent
AI hires who have shipped to production.
A strong AI hire is defined by what they have shipped, not by a list of frameworks.
We look for evidence of models in production, sound judgment on data and evaluation, and the ability to explain trade-offs to business stakeholders. Every shortlist comes with notes on each candidate's depth, motivation and expectations.
How we run a searchOur process
A focused search for a fast-moving market.
Every AI and ML search follows five clear stages, so your hiring team knows what to expect and candidates have a good experience throughout.
Process, models & fees
01
Define the problem
Agree the use case, the stack, the stage of the product and what the hire must deliver, so the role speaks to the right candidates.
02
Map the talent
Search across product companies, GCCs, research groups and open-source communities, and share what the market says about availability and pay.
03
Assess depth and fit
Review hands-on experience, production work and motivation, then present a considered, diversity-balanced shortlist.
04
Interview and offer
Coordinate technical rounds, keep feedback moving and help align the offer with what strong candidates expect.
05
Joining
Stay close to the candidate through notice period and joining, and support the next hires as the team grows.
Engagement models
Choose the model that fits the mandate.
Commercial terms, including replacement terms, are shared in writing before a search begins.
Contingency search
For specialist engineering and science roles. You pay a fee only when a candidate we introduce joins.
Retained search
For heads of AI, data science leaders and confidential hires that need a dedicated, research-led search.
Dedicated hiring
For new AI teams or centres hiring several roles at once, with a dedicated recruiter and a shared hiring plan.
Decision support
Specialist partner, in-house team or generalist IT staffing?
| What matters | Specialist partner (Stellaspire) | In-house TA | Generalist IT staffing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment of AI and ML depth | Built into every search | Relies on engineering time | Often keyword-based |
| Reach into passive candidates | Targeted, personal outreach | Limited by bandwidth | Mostly active job seekers |
| Market and pay insight | Shared with every search | Limited to own data | Limited |
| Diversity-balanced shortlists | Built into every search | Depends on sourcing reach | Not usually a focus |
| Best for | Senior, niche and leadership roles | Steady, repeat hiring | High-volume developer roles |
From our founder
Hear it from our founder.
Nikita Agrawal on how we hire, in under a minute. In Hindi and English.
How we check a candidate before you meet them
Background, motivation and fit: what we verify before a profile reaches your inbox.
The diversity lens
More women in AI,
by design.
Women remain under-represented in AI and ML engineering. As a women-led firm, we search actively for qualified women engineers, scientists and leaders for every AI mandate, including experienced professionals returning after a career break.
Where we hire
India's AI talent hubs.
Based in Bengaluru, we support AI and ML hiring across India, including remote and hybrid roles.
BengaluruHyderabadPuneMumbaiDelhi NCRChennai
Related services
Hiring resources
AI & ML hiring questions
AI hiring questions.
We hire ML engineers, GenAI and LLM engineers, applied scientists, AI researchers, MLOps and ML platform engineers, AI product managers and AI leadership roles.
We review what candidates have built and deployed, how they approach data and evaluation, and how they explain trade-offs. Your technical team then runs its own interviews on a better-qualified shortlist.
Yes. We usually start with the lead or founding engineer, then plan the next hires together so the team has the right mix of skills.
Yes. We work with Global Capability Centres building AI capability in India and with startups and growth companies hiring AI talent.
We are based in Bengaluru and recruit across India, including Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Chennai, as well as remote and hybrid roles.
Fees depend on the role, seniority, number of positions and engagement model. We share commercial and replacement terms in writing before the search begins.
Building an AI team? Let’s find the right people.
Tell us about the problem, the stack and the roles. We will come back with a suggested search approach.