Find AI-ready talent in New Zealand.
Access pre-vetted AI professionals from New Zealand’s largest young AI community. Hire across Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, and nationwide.
Why hire through Harkness AI
Young Kiwis in AI Network
Direct access to New Zealand’s largest young AI community - 200+ members, with meetups in 11+ cities including Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, and Hamilton.
Pre-Vetted Candidates
Every candidate is screened for technical capability, practical AI experience, and role fit. No wading through hundreds of unqualified applications.
NZ-Wide Coverage
Whether you’re hiring in Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, or anywhere in New Zealand - we have candidates across the country ready for AI roles.
What We Offer
Talent Sourcing
- Define role requirements and success criteria
- Source from the Young Kiwis in AI network
- Technical screening and shortlisting
- Present a vetted shortlist within 5-10 business days
Team Augmentation
- Contract or permanent placements
- AI engineers embedded in your team
- Scale your AI capability without long hiring cycles
- Ongoing support and performance check-ins
Hiring Consultation
- AI role scoping and job description review
- Market rate guidance for NZ AI roles
- Interview process design
- Advice on building an AI-ready team
How we work together
Every hire is different, so we keep the commercials flexible. Pick the model that matches your situation, then get in touch for a quote tailored to the role.
Retained search
A dedicated, prioritised search for a key senior hire. We commit time upfront to map the market, headhunt, and present a tightly vetted shortlist for your most important roles.
Contact for a quoteContingency
Lower-risk and budget-friendly - you pay on a successful placement. A good fit when timing is flexible and you want to test the market without an upfront commitment.
Contact for a quoteTeam augmentation
Contract or day-rate AI talent embedded in your team to scale capability fast. Ideal for project spikes or when you need skilled hands without a long permanent hiring cycle.
Contact for a quoteWhich option is right for you?
Match your situation to a recommended engagement model.
Use a specialist AI recruiter when
- ✓The role is genuinely senior and the shortlist quality matters more than the fee
- ✓You cannot tell a strong AI engineer from a strong CV - technical screening is where most AI hires go wrong
- ✓The role has sat open for months on the usual job boards
- ✓You need the hire to land in weeks, not quarters
- ✓You want candidates who are not actively applying anywhere
Go direct or in-house when
- ✗You have an in-house technical recruiter who already screens AI candidates well
- ✗The role is junior or graduate level - the NZ pipeline for these is healthy and reachable directly
- ✗You have strong inbound applications and just need help choosing between them
- ✗What you actually need is a fractional engineer, not a permanent hire - talk to us about that instead
Not sure which fits? Tell us about the role and we’ll recommend the right approach and a quote.
Backed by Aotearoa’s AI community
I run the Young Kiwis in AI community and speak at AI events across New Zealand. When you hire through this network you’re tapping into the same conversations shaping the country’s AI ecosystem - not a generic recruiter’s database.
Ready to hire AI talent in New Zealand?
Tell us about the role and we’ll tap into the network to find your next AI hire. Serving businesses across Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, and all of NZ.
Discuss Your Hiring NeedsLooking for an AI role instead? Find AI roles in NZ →
Last updated 17 June 2026
What people say
Blake ran a couple of sessions for my team. He was fantastic; he made it really simple for the whole team to understand, regardless of their previous AI experience.
Blake is amazing, his knowledge of AI is really impressive. He helped us become more confident with AI and showed us how to use it in our business. The training sessions were great, and he's very approachable and always happy to help. He also presented at our networking event and received fantastic feedback from everyone.