As the need for AI skills increases globally, relying on traditional recruitment methods and automated screening is no longer useful for many organisations. Companies across the EU added more than 256k AI-related roles on LinkedIn between 2023-2026, according to a report by the professional networking platform. UK-based companies accounted for around 95k of these.

To meet this demand, companies are increasingly forced to look beyond their local talent pools and towards international remote hiring. "There's already a general shortage of talent but AI amplifies this," says Felix Steffens, CEO of HR and employment management platform Work Motion. "The talent available locally may lack the specific AI skills that you need. It reinforces the need for companies to hire remotely."

But international hiring brings a new challenge: an increase in AI-generated job applications, making it harder for hiring managers to separate qualified candidates. According to Statista, over 60% of job seekers in the UK and the US now use AI tools during the application process. Felix Steffens and Constantin Michel, founder of recruitment platform Synmatch AI, sat down with Sifted to unpack how organisations can find top AI talent by hiring across borders, and how using tailored AI screening platforms can assist in filling specialist roles more effectively.