When it comes to IT team augmentation in general, software development companies and their clients alike are most focused on whether their professional of choice has the expertise necessary to help steer the project in the right direction. With AI now being of prime importance for companies the world over, engineers, architects and security professionals that specialise in the same, are in high demand.
But what makes their expertise truly stand out, if they are placed as part of AI staff augmentation arrangements, as opposed to traditional software offshoring? In this article, we discuss just that, as well as how you can get started with deploying AI professionals as part of staff augmentation efforts for your own AI project.
Looking for staff augmentation services? When it comes to AI, EFutures caters to sourcing and placements of top AI professionals, for projects across multiple industries and sizes. Allow us to do a free and no-obligation assessment of your business, so we can advise you on which AI experts will be ideal for your needs. Contact us today, to get started.
Numerous software development companies in Sri Lanka have long since expanded to also accommodate AI development, which now includes model training, prompt tuning and agentic AI deployment. The fast-paced nature of AI has propelled teams to also build and scale with equal momentum – which means AI development agencies need to amp up the delivery of new talent, while making sure they are competent in their respective fields of expertise.
Traditional software offshoring models, while flexible in terms of remote work and asynchronous collaboration, consume time during the candidate sourcing and onboarding process. For clients requiring specialist expertise without the downtime, staff augmentation services are ideal. Software and AI development companies typically have subject matter experts on standby, and then place them across relevant projects as and when the need arises.
Once the project concludes, augmented staff can have their contracts concluded in tandem. This gives clients liberty both in terms of project schedules and cost efficiency, as they won’t be obligated to honour contracts of a longer duration. Even for ongoing projects, subject matter experts can be provisioned and deprovisioned as required, especially during times of excessive workloads and bottlenecks, or if strategic direction is required for growth and expansion.
The software offshoring model has enabled dedicated development teams for startups, thereby giving smaller companies the chance to acquire top talent – as opposed to only larger organisations being able to access the same.
With AI staff augmentation, this is no different. Top talent can be accessed by companies of all sizes now, especially as contractual commitments are also shorter. This makes staff augmentation in general more affordable than its traditional counterpart, while affording the flexibility to onboard and scale talent as required.
Add to this the fact that remote work is now a norm. No matter where your business and its various teams are located, software and AI staff augmentation is something that can now be accommodated via regular virtual standups and real-time project dashboards. However, remote work alone isn’t the only option.
Nearshoring is an alternative arrangement which can be accommodated for clients that prefer in-person collaboration. This means that contracted staff members will either be based in closer proximity for regular in-person meetings, or may travel periodically to attend to client requirements in person.
The ad hoc nature of staff augmentation is what makes it attractive for clients that partner with most software companies in Sri Lanka. With the Sri Lankan IT workforce offering advanced subject matter experts who have substantial experience in what they do, getting access to such expertise as and when needed is a convenience that clients nowadays perceive as an essential.
This way, clients gain a greater advantage in the following ways (in addition to being within budget for expert assistance that otherwise needs to be hired on a comparatively more expensive, fixed-term contract):
As one of the best IT companies in Sri Lanka for both software offshoring as well as AI development, our 100-member team is robust, versatile and ready to take on projects irrespective of niche, industry or size. Having been in the technology outsourcing space for decades, we’ve identified the key characteristics of sourcing and hiring the right AI talent. So here, we list what we do to find nothing short of the finest talent for AI staff augmentation.
Every staff sourcing initiative starts with an assessment. At this initial stage, we gather details about your business needs, pain points as well as what your team is endeavouring to achieve, in the oncoming phases of their AI project. These details serve as a primary point of reference to help us build the job description of the candidate you need.
As job advertisements attract applications, the initial screening stage involves narrowing resumes down to a list that only includes the most suitable applicants. At the client’s request, select candidates are shortlisted for interviews. While the client attends each interview, their feedback intermingled with the expert insight of our own team aids in deciding which candidate(s) to hire.
In the meantime, all administrative tasks pertaining to sourcing and hiring are taken care of, by our team.
In many cases, we may already have relevant professionals on standby and available to start work. In this case, it will be easier and faster to onboard your augmented AI staff member, provided you are satisfied with their experience and portfolio.
Once your new AI team member is selected, we’ll identify all the access they’ll require to apps and tools that your team uses, for reporting daily tasks and progress. From project management tools to security provisioning, we’ll coordinate with your internal teams to onboard them, so they have all the resources they need to stay connected with the rest of your team, and the project at large.
Irrespective of the duration that your AI team member expends on your project, their performance will be comprehensively tracked, especially by tallying the KPIs that were assigned to them during the project. For one-off projects, measuring variance in terms of KPIs achieved, as well as the proportion that they were achieved may suffice to help the client determine if they’d like to re-hire, during the next round of staff augmentation.
For ongoing projects, more metrics may be tracked, such as those pertaining to productivity and even soft skills.
AI staff augmentation is an effort that requires faster turnarounds, both from the client’s side of the team, as well as from the AI development partner’s side. With AI exponentially gaining popularity and new trends appearing with equal if not more velocity, organisations need to pivot just as fast – else risk losing out to the competition.
With software offshoring now having become mainstream and the rise of remote work, businesses have what they need to scale from a knowledge and execution standpoint. But sometimes, traditional software offshoring, which involves maintaining an external team on a fixed-term contract, may end up being suboptimal.
Myriad reasons abound for a more conventional software offshoring model to not suffice. From excessive delays due to candidate sourcing and onboarding, to the long financial commitments involved with fixed-term contracts, companies need a more flexible alternative. AI staff augmentation provides business teams (including startups and SMEs), to scale expertise, by simply hiring a subject matter expert on a temporary basis.
In other words, AI staff augmentation delivers all the specialisation that a business needs, but without the downtime that comes with waiting until a traditional project-based offshoring model is onboarded and ready to go. Additionally, the flexibility in contractual obligations means that augmented staff can be hired on an ad hoc basis, or for ongoing projects.
For AI staff augmentation, EFutures recommends following the below four-step plan:
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