By Carla Burger, founder of PeopleNotResumes. Updated October 2026.
London gives US companies access to a deep pool of machine learning and applied AI talent, a time zone that overlaps with both the US East Coast and Europe, and proximity to European customers. Be clear about which of these matters most to you. A team opened to serve European customers needs different first hires from a team opened to add research or engineering capacity to the US product.
Start with someone who can own outcomes without daily direction from the US. For most product companies that is a senior applied AI or LLM engineer or a founding engineer type who can set up the team's working habits. If your product depends on models trained on your own data, a machine learning engineer is the right anchor. If London is about European revenue, an AI go-to-market hire may come first. Not sure which engineer you need? Read ML engineer vs applied AI engineer.
You generally have two routes. You can set up a UK entity and employ people directly, which takes longer but gives you full control. Or you can use an employer of record, which employs people on your behalf so you can hire quickly while you decide on a longer-term structure. Make this decision before you start interviewing, because it affects your offer letters, your payroll and how quickly a candidate can start. Take UK legal and tax advice on which route fits your plans.
UK employers must check that every new hire has the right to work in the UK before their employment starts. If you want to hire someone who needs a Skilled Worker visa, the employer must be approved by the Home Office as a licensed sponsor and must issue the candidate a certificate of sponsorship. A new entity cannot sponsor anyone until it holds a sponsor licence, so if your shortlist is likely to include candidates who need sponsorship, start that process early. Check the current rules on GOV.UK before you make offers.
UK employment is not at will. Employees and workers are entitled to a written statement of their main terms on or before their first day. Senior engineers in London often have notice periods of one to three months in their current role, so a candidate who accepts your offer today may not start for some time. Build that into your hiring plan, keep in touch with candidates during their notice period, and agree start dates in writing.
Use the same scorecard, the same interview stages and the same decision rules in London as in the US, so you are comparing candidates on evidence rather than on which office interviewed them. If you use AI tools to screen or rank UK candidates, UK data protection law gives candidates rights around decisions made solely by automated means, including the right to request human review and to contest a decision. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 changes these rules and the ICO is updating its guidance, so check the current position before you switch on automated screening. Our guide to AI hiring rules for UK employers covers this in more detail. For interview design, see our AI engineer interview questions that test judgment.
If you already have a network in London, you may not need one for your first hire. If you do not, a recruiter who knows the London AI market can help you reach people who are not actively applying and help you sell a new team to candidates who have never heard of you. At PeopleNotResumes we use AI to source widely, assess candidates on behaviour and decisions rather than resume keywords, and a human approves every candidate decision. See our AI recruiters in London page, or read our guide on how to hire AI engineers.
Yes. Many US companies start with an employer of record, which employs people in the UK on their behalf. Some later set up a UK entity once the team grows. Take UK legal and tax advice on which route fits your plans.
Only if you want to hire people who need a visa such as the Skilled Worker visa. The employer must be a Home Office licensed sponsor to do that. Candidates who already have the right to work in the UK do not need sponsoring, but you must still check their right to work before they start.
It depends on the role and the market, but plan for notice periods. Senior engineers often need to give one to three months' notice to their current employer, so the time from offer to start date can be longer than in the US.
Yes. We recruit AI engineers and AI go-to-market hires in London, San Francisco, New York and Austin, with behavioural assessment and a human approving every candidate decision.
Tell us the role and where the pipeline is stuck. You'll hear back within one business day with a scope, a timeline, and a fee.
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