Talent infrastructure for an AI-shaped workforce.
We run AI agents across our own operation, so we hire for the operating model our clients are moving into, not the one they're leaving.
PathwaysX pairs experienced operators with Pathways Connect, our evaluation and intelligence platform. Every search is led by a human Talent Partner who is also an active AI practitioner.
Pathways Connect powers sourcing and conducts structured, rubric-aligned candidate interviews, capturing verifiable work evidence and benchmarking competencies before our Talent Partners step in for deep evaluation.
- Finalists per search
- Three to five, in two to three weeks.
- Evidence standard
- A structured Decision Pack on every finalist.
- Search leadership
- A human Talent Partner, end to end.
- Platform & interviews
- Pathways Connect sources and conducts structured first-round interviews; human partners evaluate the evidence.
The work is being rebuilt for agentic operating models. Hiring hasn't caught up.
Teams are moving AI agents from pilots into production. The roles that carry that work barely existed two years ago, and the hiring playbook is still being written.
- 2025 → 2026
Agents move from pilot to production.
Enterprises stop demoing agents and rebuild workflows around them. New roles appear between AI and the business functions it serves.
- The postings already carry it
AI fluency shows up where it never did before.
Operations, marketing and finance postings now ask for AI fluency. Evaluation methods haven't kept pace.
- New titles, old functions
Hybrid roles resist conventional screening.
Forward-deployed engineers and agent operations managers combine two disciplines and defeat keyword screening.
Where the new roles sit
- Applied AI Engineer
- Agentic AI Engineer
- Evals Engineer
- AI Product Manager
- AI Product Builder
- AI Safety Engineer
- Forward-Deployed Engineer
- AI Solutions Architect
- Forward-Deployed Product Manager
- AI Product Strategist
- AI Implementation Specialist
- AI Transformation Consultant
- AI Governance Specialist
- Responsible AI Advisor
- AI Product Operations
- AI Adoption Specialist
- Automation Architect
- Agent Operations
- GTM Engineer
- Revenue Systems Architect
- AI Marketing Strategist
- Finance Transformation Partner
- Model Risk Specialist
- AI Risk Advisor
- Responsible AI Counsel
Swipe to see all five columns →
Each of these maps to one of the five families we hire against.
Three hiring consequences follow from that shift.
The work is rebuilt around agentic ops so the roles are too.
Teams are re-cutting responsibilities around what agents now do, so most job descriptions are already out of date.
Density sits between functions not inside them.
Scarce profiles pair product judgement with model fluency, or platform depth with operational range.
The pool is narrow by construction combinations, not credentials.
There is no degree for 'runs an agentic operating model'. These people are found by how the role is defined, not filtered.
Every search runs the same four stages. Nothing starts until the first one is done.
Most hiring failure is designed in before the first call: a vague description, an unweighted rubric. We fix the design first, then search against it.
- 01
Outcome
We start with the business result the role must deliver in 12 months, agreed with every stakeholder before anything is written.
- 02
Capability
The outcome becomes a weighted capability profile: the skills, judgement and range the hire actually needs, scored before sourcing begins.
- 03
Talent Model
We map where that profile sits in the market: which functions, which companies, and what it takes to move those people.
- 04
Role
Only then is the role written: translated into Pathways Connect interview rubrics, and led by a dedicated Talent Partner.
Five families we hire against: the roles AI is rewriting across the functions we know best.
We hire across three kinds of work: building AI, deploying AI, and running the business with AI.
Across engineering, product, operations, business functions, and governance, the strongest roles increasingly cross traditional boundaries.
| Family | Representative roles |
|---|---|
| AI Product & Engineering | Applied AI Engineer · Agentic AI Engineer · AI Product Manager · AI Product Builder |
| AI Deployment & Customer | Forward-Deployed Engineer · AI Solutions Architect · AI Implementation Specialist · AI Product Strategist |
| AI Platform & Operations | AI Platform Engineer · MLOps Engineer · AI Adoption Specialist · Automation Architect |
| Governance, Risk & Security | AI Governance Specialist · AI Safety Engineer · Model Risk Specialist · Responsible AI Counsel |
| Business Functions & AI | GTM Engineer · Revenue Systems Architect · Marketing Automation Strategist · Finance Transformation Partner · AI Enablement Partner |
Three to five finalists in two to three weeks, each with a Decision Pack you can interrogate.
A Decision Pack is a structured evidence file on every finalist: scores, sources and trade-offs. It turns a hiring debate into a decision.
A human Talent Partner leads every search and presents the pack with you. No black-box shortlists.
Every search closes with the same question answered: of the people we could have hired, why this one, and what did we give up?
Transparent, risk-aligned pricing. Fees tied to milestones or 12-month retention.
No locked-in retainers. Every model is published, with a calculator to test it against an agency.
Start a conversation
If you're hiring where the role doesn't have a name yet, we should talk.
Need org-wide AI fluency, not only a hire? PathwaysX runs workshops with your team, and can assemble an implementation team when something needs to ship.