Our vetting process
Carefully selected. Ready to contribute.
Vetted talent
ObjectiveConfirm seniority and a record of delivery at the level the role demands.
- Tenure and scope of responsibility
- Production systems delivered at scale
- Alignment with client stack and domain
ObjectiveEstablish that the engineer can operate inside a client team and represent the work to stakeholders.
- Professional English, spoken and written
- Clear articulation of technical trade-offs
- Dependable collaboration across time zones
ObjectiveVerify technical fundamentals against a role-specific standard.
- Code quality and test discipline
- Architecture and system design
- Proficiency in AI-assisted development
ObjectiveAssess judgment and execution on a representative client problem.
- Representative, time-boxed assignment
- Soundness of approach and trade-offs
- Completeness and clarity of delivery
ObjectiveSenior engineers validate depth, decision-making and accountability before an offer is extended.
- Panel review of the practical challenge
- Design decisions examined in depth
- Ownership, references and final approval
What we look for
Six standards. Every engineer. Skill alone does not clear the bar.
Technical depth
Strong fundamentals in their stack, from architecture down to tests, proven on real production systems.
AI fluency
Comfortable building with AI tools every day, and able to build AI features into a product.
Problem-solving
They ask the right questions, weigh trade-offs and get to a workable answer without hand-holding.
Communication
Clear spoken and written English, and the habit of keeping a team informed.
Ownership
They take responsibility for outcomes, not tickets, and follow work through to production.
Seniority
Experienced engineers who contribute from the first sprint instead of learning on your budget.
Beyond developers
Every role your product needs. The same vetting applies to all of them.
Software engineering
AI & ML
Data engineering
Cloud & DevOps
Product design
QA engineeringHow we work
Easy to engage. Easy to scale.
Vetting, contracts and delivery, engineered to raise your team’s velocity and cut your overhead.
Vetted Senior Talent
We accept the top 1% of engineers, so you only work with proven talent.
Every engineer is assessed on technical depth, problem-solving and communication before joining a client team. Our engineers average eight to ten years of hands-on experience, so they contribute from the first sprint instead of learning on your budget.
Timezone-Aligned Management
Product and project managers in your time zone, wherever your engineers are.
Our client engagement team is distributed globally. You get a product or project manager who works your hours, joins your meetings live and keeps delivery moving across time zones, so nothing waits overnight for an answer.
AI-Native Engineering
Engineers who build with AI, and build AI into your product.
Our teams use AI tooling across design, coding, testing and documentation to ship faster, and they have production experience with LLM applications, machine learning and MLOps. You get AI capability inside the team rather than from a separate vendor.
Full-Stack Capabilities
One team, from roadmap to production support.
Strategy, product engineering, cloud, data, AI and QA under one roof, across eight practice areas. The people who plan your architecture are the same people who build, ship and run it.
Scalable Teams
Start with one engineer. Grow to several teams.
Add or reduce capacity as your roadmap changes, and move between staff augmentation, dedicated teams and outsourcing without changing partner. We handle hiring, onboarding and replacements.
Standard MSAs & SOWs
Clear paperwork, so work starts sooner.
We work under a master services agreement with a statement of work for each engagement, so scope, responsibilities and terms are written down before anything starts. Adding a team or a project means a new SOW, not a new negotiation.
NDAs & IP Protection
Everything we build belongs to you.
NDAs are signed before any access is given, and IP assignment is part of every contract in every engagement model. Your code, models and data stay yours.
Enterprise-Grade Security
Security handled. Compliance built in.
Engineers work inside your environment under least-privilege access. Our practices align with ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR and HIPAA, with PII masking, encryption and audit logging built into data work.
Managed Delivery
We manage delivery, quality and people.
Team leads run sprints, demos and reporting; we handle retention, performance and handovers. You set direction and see progress in the open, without managing every engineer.
Engagement models
Engage on your terms.
Our engineers are available through any of our three engagement models.
Staff Augmentation
A few engineers join your team. You lead the work; we handle hiring and HR.
Explore Staff AugmentationDedicated Teams
Stable AIGard teams deliver several projects in parallel against your roadmap.
Explore Dedicated TeamsSoftware Outsourcing
Hand us the outcome. We scope, build, ship and support it.
Explore Software OutsourcingFAQ
Our talent. Answered.
How does AIGard vet its engineers?
Every engineer clears a five-stage process before joining a client team: profile review, communication, skills assessment, a practical challenge and a technical interview with senior engineers.
The process tests delivery record, professional English, code quality, system design and proficiency in AI-assisted development. For staff augmentation and dedicated teams, you then interview and approve each person we put forward.
How experienced are AIGard engineers?
AIGard engineers average eight to ten years of hands-on experience.
Seniority is confirmed at the first vetting stage against the level the role demands, including tenure, scope of responsibility and production systems delivered.
What does AIGard assess beyond technical skill?
Communication and judgment carry as much weight as technical depth. Candidates are assessed on professional English, spoken and written, on how clearly they explain technical trade-offs, and on dependable collaboration across time zones.
The practical challenge and the panel interview then test how an engineer approaches a representative client problem, the soundness of their decisions and their ownership of the result.
Which roles can AIGard provide?
AIGard provides software engineers, AI and machine learning engineers, data engineers, cloud and DevOps engineers, mobile engineers, product designers and QA engineers, along with architects, team leads and project managers.
Roles are combined into the team shape your work requires, from a single specialist to several cross-functional teams.
Can we interview engineers before they join?
Yes. For staff augmentation and dedicated teams, you meet and approve every engineer before they join.
For outsourced projects, AIGard assembles the team and is accountable for its performance; you review progress at demos and approve each milestone.
Where is AIGard based, and where are its engineers?
AIGard is a US company headquartered in Southern California, with a global team and an engineering hub in Vietnam.
Product and project managers work in your time zone, join your meetings live and keep delivery moving across time zones, so decisions do not wait overnight for an answer.
Do AIGard engineers use AI tools in their work?
Yes. Proficiency in AI-assisted development is part of the skills assessment, and teams use AI tooling across design, coding, testing and documentation.
They also have production experience building AI features, including LLM applications, machine learning and MLOps. Which tools may touch your code and data is agreed with you in advance.
What happens if an engineer leaves or is not the right fit?
AIGard finds the replacement and manages the handover, so delivery keeps moving and you do not restart a hiring process.
Retention, performance and handovers are our responsibility in every engagement model. If someone is not working out, tell us and we act early.
Do AIGard engineers work in our tools and processes?
Yes. Engineers work in your Slack, Jira, GitHub and cloud accounts, and follow your sprint cadence and review process.
In a dedicated team or an outsourced project, an AIGard team lead runs sprints, demos and reporting, and you see progress in the open.