Hire an AI
AI Researcher
Find an AI Researcher who advances your AI capabilities beyond the current state of the art.
AI Researchers push the boundaries of what machine learning systems can do. They work on novel algorithms, test hypotheses about model behavior, publish findings, and translate research breakthroughs into competitive advantage. For organizations building AI products that need to stay ahead of the curve, a strong AI Researcher is a strategic asset.
- AI Researchers with applied research experience and a track record of real-world impact
- Candidates screened for research depth and the ability to translate findings into production
- We screen for practical depth, not just certifications
- Contract, contract-to-hire, or full-time — your choice
- US and Canada talent. Shortlist in 5–10 business days.
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About CRM Force
Boutique means something different when the person who built the company has done the work.
Saad Ahmed spent 20 years as a CRM consultant, solution architect, and implementation lead — building marketing automation and CRM systems for clients from start-ups to publicly traded enterprises. He founded CRM Force to bring practitioner-led vetting to a space dominated by generalist agencies.
Every candidate goes through a two-step internal qualification process — reviewed by two separate evaluators before they reach you. We confirm experience, certifications, technical depth, and fit. You receive a shortlist, not a resume dump.
CRM consultants, architects, developers, and admins. Marketing automation specialists. RevOps leaders, business analysts, and project managers. If it touches the CRM or marketing technology stack, we place it. Contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire — across all seniority levels.
We Recruit for You
Three reasons companies choose us over a traditional recruiter — and what makes the difference in practice.
Vetted by Someone Who Has Done the Work
Saad Ahmed, founder of CRM Force, spent 20 years as a CRM Consultant and Solution Architect — building HubSpot implementations, designing data models, and running client engagements himself. When he reviews a candidate for your role, he is not reading a job description. He is evaluating whether someone can do work he has done himself. That distinction matters.
No Resume Dumps. A Shortlist You Can Act On.
You receive 3 to 5 pre-vetted candidates, each with our written assessment — why we believe they fit your role, where they are strong, and what to probe in the interview. Our internal process puts every candidate through two separate evaluation stages before they reach you. You only meet people who have cleared the bar.
Three Engagement Models. One Standard.
Contract for short and long-term engagements. Contract-to-hire when you want to try before you commit. Direct placement for permanent roles. Every model includes the same sourcing, multi-stage screening, skills assessment, and reference validation. The delivery vehicle changes — the standard does not.
Our Recruitment Process
Four steps from brief to shortlist — no surprises, no padding, no wasted interviews.
We Learn Your Requirements
A focused role briefing call — not a generic intake form. We ask about portal size, Hub configuration, seniority level, technical depth required, team structure, and what a genuinely great candidate looks like for your specific situation. The brief matters more than most clients expect.
We Search Our Network
We work our pre-built database of CRM and HubSpot professionals alongside targeted outreach to passive candidates who are not actively applying. The majority of the people we present are not on job boards — they are available to the right opportunity, if the right person asks.
You Receive a Shortlist
Typically 3 to 5 pre-vetted candidates, each with our written assessment — not just a resume. We tell you why we believe each person is right for your specific role, where they are strong, and what you should probe in the interview. You decide who moves forward.
We Support You to Offer
We coordinate interviews, facilitate debriefs, provide market-rate compensation benchmarks, and support you through the offer stage. The search does not end when we send the shortlist — it ends when you have the right person in the role.
Looking for an AI Researcher?
We place CRM and Marketing Automation professionals across the US and Canada.
Industries We Serve
AI Researchers are most needed at organizations where technical differentiation through novel AI capabilities is a core competitive strategy. We work with organizations of all sizes — from growth-stage startups to publicly traded enterprises — across all major industries.
Not sure what you need? We can help you define the role.
One conversation is usually enough. No commitment required.
Signs You Need an AI Researcher
A few things we hear from clients before they reach out.
- Your AI products are losing ground to competitors who are advancing faster technically
- You have identified a research problem that existing commercial models do not solve well
- You need to publish research to attract top AI engineering talent
- You are building in a domain (medical AI, robotics, materials science) where applied research is core
- Your AI team is exclusively focused on engineering and no one is tracking what is coming next
What to Look For in an AI Researcher
AI Researchers need both depth of research output and the practical orientation to connect their work to real products.
Red Flags to Watch For
- Only has academic research output — no evidence of connection to product impact
- Publication record is thin relative to claimed seniority
- Cannot explain the intuition behind their research in terms a smart non-specialist could understand
- Has no interest in engineering implementation — treats research as disconnected from building
Whatever your sector, we know CRM talent.
Tell us about the role and we will get back to you within one business day.
What an AI Researcher Does
AI Researchers advance the technical frontier — and connect those advances to competitive product advantage.
Novel Algorithm Research
Investigates new approaches to learning, inference, and optimization that go beyond current commercial methods.
Model Architecture
Designs and evaluates new model architectures — attention mechanisms, training objectives, and inductive biases.
Evaluation Design
Builds rigorous evaluation frameworks that measure AI capabilities and limitations more accurately than existing benchmarks.
Literature Synthesis
Tracks the research frontier, synthesizes findings, and translates external advances into internal opportunity.
Prototype Implementation
Implements research ideas as working prototypes that engineering teams can build on for production systems.
Research Communication
Publishes findings, presents at conferences, and communicates research internally to build organizational AI literacy.
AI Research Domains
AI Researchers typically specialize in one or more of these core research areas.
LLM & Language
Research on large language models and language understanding.
- Pre-training and fine-tuning
- RLHF and alignment
- Reasoning capabilities
- Multimodal language models
Computer Vision
Research on visual understanding and generation.
- Generative models (diffusion)
- 3D understanding
- Video models
- Embodied AI perception
RL & Decision Making
Research on agents that learn from interaction.
- Deep RL algorithms
- Offline RL
- Multi-agent systems
- Planning and search
AI Safety & Alignment
Research on making AI systems safe and trustworthy.
- Interpretability (mechanistic)
- Robustness and adversarial
- Constitutional AI
- Red-teaming methods
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need an AI Researcher or an AI Engineer?
- Most organizations need AI Engineers first — people who build and ship AI systems using existing methods. AI Researchers are most valuable at organizations that have exhausted what current commercial methods can achieve and need novel approaches to stay competitive. If you are asking this question, you probably need an AI Engineer.
- Do AI Researchers need a PhD?
- Not necessarily, but it is common. The most important signals are depth of research output (publications, patents, or significant open-source contributions), evidence of applied impact, and engineering ability. Some of the best applied AI Researchers are PhD-holders; others are self-taught practitioners who have contributed at the research frontier.
- How long does it take to hire an AI Researcher?
- AI Researchers are among the most difficult technical hires. CRM Force can typically deliver a shortlist of qualified applied AI Researchers within 2 to 4 weeks, depending on specialization and seniority.
- What is the difference between applied research and fundamental research in AI?
- Fundamental research advances the theoretical understanding of AI systems — often without a specific product application in mind. Applied research is directed at solving specific, near-term product or business problems using research methods. Most companies need applied AI Researchers; fundamental research is primarily the domain of AI labs.
Tell Us What You’re Looking For
Share the role, your timeline, and any must-haves. No commitment required.