Hire the Best Artificial Intelligence Engineers

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Based on 2,564 client reviews
Jonathan G.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

$200/hr
4.6
79 jobs

I use AI and technology to turn scarcity into abundance. That principle connects my work across healthcare, real estate, finance, and research. When access, information, or specialized capabilities are limited, slow, or expensive, I build systems that make them broadly available, affordable, and scalable—without sacrificing reliability or accountability. The opportunity is not simply to automate tasks. It is to convert capabilities that scale linearly with people, time, and cost into infrastructure that can serve more people at progressively lower marginal cost. I build the data, model strategy, evaluation, human oversight, architecture, security, and production systems required to make that transition real. CLINICAL LANGUAGE ACCESS, EVERYWHERE A patient should not receive worse care because the right interpreter is unavailable, too slow, or too expensive. The goal is clinically reliable interpretation wherever care happens—in person or over video, in one clinic or across a nationwide provider network. For a multi-facility medical clinic in Dallas, I am building the foundation for a self-hosted multilingual medical-interpretation platform. We are collecting dialect-rich Arabic audio from clinic workflows, having humans transcribe and review it, and turning it into the dataset needed to fine-tune clinical speech-recognition models. The same system will build datasets across Spanish, Vietnamese, Farsi, Urdu, and other high-need languages. This creates an advantage generic APIs cannot easily reproduce: models trained on actual dialects, accents, medication names, dosages, and clinical conversations. Fine-tuning both speech recognition and translation gives the platform a path to win on clinical quality, latency, and cost. Model distillation, quantization, and right-sizing will then reduce hosting requirements and determine which workloads can safely move to edge hardware. The end state is not simply a better translator. It is nationwide language-access infrastructure that improves with every reviewed encounter and makes reliable interpretation dramatically more affordable. EVERY PROPERTY, INSTANTLY LEGIBLE Real estate is one of the world’s largest asset classes, yet answering a basic question—“What can I legally build here?”—still begins with fragmented municipal codes, zoning tables, parcel maps, and manual expert interpretation. Setbacks are especially difficult. The answer can depend on finding the right ordinance, identifying the property and zone, determining from geospatial relationships whether it is an interior, corner, or through lot, matching boundaries to roads, measuring neighboring conditions, and correctly applying ambiguous prose. One wrong assumption can change a project’s value or feasibility. For Plan AI, I built and productionized an engine that converts this fragmented process into on-demand property intelligence. It combines municipal rules, parcel and road geometry, building footprints, neighboring lots, flood risk, and permit data to produce setbacks, buildable envelopes, maps, risk signals, and supporting evidence. I also built the evaluation system that prevents fluent AI output from being mistaken for a verified answer. It rejects invented ordinance language, unsupported calculations, incorrect assumptions, geometry failures, and contradictions between the model’s reasoning and result. The harness also makes the system economical: it can use fast, lower-cost models such as Gemini Flash while accepting only answers that pass deterministic, source-grounding, and geospatial checks. The model supplies scalable reasoning; the harness supplies trust. The larger purpose is to make every parcel instantly understandable: what can be built, what constrains it, what risks matter, and why. EARLIER WORK I led an AI credit platform for a publicly traded lender that generated 30-point underwriting profiles and routed only the most complex 10–15% of applications to experts. I also shipped a production payroll platform for Finally, a $100M Series B company, in roughly six weeks and helped build Refine.ink, an AI peer-review platform used by leading U.S. universities. Other work includes SMART on FHIR and HL7 ADT integrations, voice-driven legal intake, and computer vision for detecting industrial defects only a few pixels wide. I am usually brought in when a company sees a transformative opportunity but the path to a dependable system is unclear. I identify the leverage, design the architecture, build the critical path, and create the evidence that it works. One former client described the result this way: “Got a week’s worth of work done in less than an hour due to Jonathan’s expertise. Would work with him again, no question.”

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Python
  • Machine Learning
  • Large Language Model
  • AI Development
  • AI Agent Development
  • Retrieval Augmented Generation
  • Next.js
  • Data Science
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Cloud Architecture
  • Data Engineering
  • Azure OpenAI Service
Lakshitha E.

Kandy, Sri Lanka

$15/hr
5.0
13 jobs

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 | 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆 | 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 You have a visionary SaaS or AI product idea. You don't want to manage a scattered team of backend developers, DevOps engineers, and ML specialists, and you definitely don't want to micromanage tasks. You need a single, accountable technical partner to architect the system, solve the hard problems, and turn your idea into a scalable reality. I’m a Computer Science grad (first-class), but I don't just live in the theory. I combine a heavy academic background in math, stats, and ML with fast, practical execution. I don't just write code. I take ownership of the whole project: the design, the architecture, and the infrastructure. 🧠 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺: When you hand me a prototype, an MVP, or even just a wireframe, my first step is mapping the architecture. I am a natural problem solver, so I look at the big picture first. I treat your product like a business asset and focus on the hard realities: 🔹 Can we launch the MVP faster to validate the market? 🔹 Does it do exactly what your users need? 🔹 Is the AWS bill optimized, or are we burning money? 🔹 Will it crash if traffic spikes tomorrow? 🔹 Is your proprietary data actually secure? 🔹 If a server dies, is the database instantly recoverable? 📈 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀 & 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿: 🔹 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Recently, completely re-architected a system to handle 𝟰𝟬𝘅 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 while achieving a 𝟳𝟬% 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 on cloud spending. 🔹 𝗔𝗜-𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: I use my deep learning research experience to build secure, private LLM and RAG pipelines tailored to your business data. 🔹 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 (𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀): I architect zero-downtime CI/CD pipelines and configure AWS/GCP environments so you can ship features fast. 🔹 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀: I engineer high-performance backends (Django, Node) that won't crash when your user base scales. 🤝𝗠𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: I work best with founders and small teams who need a leader. You bring the business problem and the priorities — what matters next and why. I own the rest: the architecture, how the work gets broken down, and the delivery. I run it in focused sprints against agreed goals, with async updates and a call when a real decision needs one — so you get momentum without daily standups eating your week. When you hire me, you are not buying hours of typing, or a developer to assign tickets to. You are buying the judgment, speed, and technical leadership required to win — and a clean, production-ready product handed back to you. Let's look at your system and get it running right.

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Python
  • Node.js
  • Django
  • React
  • FastAPI
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Docker
  • REST API
  • SaaS Development
  • API Development
  • PostgreSQL
  • AI App Development
  • Software Architecture & Design
  • LangChain
Noor Uddin A.

Arlington, Texas

$15/hr
5.0
13 jobs

Hi, I`m Noor 👋 "I turn raw data into clear, actionable insights that empower better decisions and drive real results, every step of the way." I'm a Data Scientist and AI Engineer. Over the past 5+ years, I’ve worked on projects that combine data engineering, machine learning, and large language models to build intelligent, production-ready solutions. I specialize in designing end-to-end ML pipelines, developing LLM-powered applications (RAG, LangChain, Llama-2/3, OpenAI), and deploying scalable systems on Azure, Databricks, and Docker. My work often involves automating data workflows, improving prediction accuracy, and transforming complex data into clear insights. Some of my favorite projects include building an AI chatbot for e-commerce, a predictive system for event planning, and an IoT protocol translator using LLMs. I value clarity, efficiency, and collaboration and I always aim to deliver results that make a measurable impact. If you’re looking for someone who can turn your data or AI idea into a working solution, I’d be happy to help.

  • MLOps
  • ML Automation
  • n8n
  • Data Engineering
  • Data Analysis
  • Big Data
  • Azure Machine Learning
  • Databricks Platform
  • Large Language Model
  • Retrieval Augmented Generation
  • Vector Database
  • Web Development
  • MEAN Stack
  • MERN Stack
  • React
  • AI Instruction
  • Technology Tutoring
  • Teaching
Dallin M.

North Salt Lake, Utah

$120/hr
5.0
51 jobs

I am a AI specialist and a problem-solver. I am expert in using Python to develop effective machine learning models. I have experience with AWS and Tensorflow and have built applications, models, and solutions for a variety of companies. I have developed cutting edge, custom machine learning models and successfully integrated them within existing structures. My goal is to revolutionize your business. I believe that machine learning and AI is the path forward, and I can help you obtain value from the data you collect. If you want to innovation and creativity in your business, reach out to me.

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Data Science Consultation
  • Data Science
  • Computer Vision
  • Machine Learning
  • Python
  • AI App Development
  • Data Cleaning
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Text Analytics
  • Data Analysis
  • Predictive Analytics
  • Exploratory Data Analysis
  • Data Mining
  • Amazon Web Services
Ojaswini S.

Dalhousie, India

$20/hr
5.0
7 jobs

I am an AI Engineer with 4+ years of experience building and deploying production-ready AI systems across classical machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, NLP, and Generative AI. Unlike many AI developers who focus only on LLMs, I work across the entire AI stack. I believe the best solution isn't always a large language model or an expensive API. Many real-world problems are better solved using classical machine learning or deep learning, resulting in lower infrastructure costs, faster inference, reduced latency, and greater control over your solution. My goal is always to build the most effective system not the most expensive one. Some of the areas I regularly work in include: * Classical Machine Learning (XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost, Random Forests, SVMs, feature engineering, predictive modelling, forecasting, anomaly detection, recommendation systems) * Deep Learning (PyTorch, TensorFlow, CNNs, Transformers, Vision Transformers, knowledge distillation, model optimization) * Computer Vision (object detection, image classification, segmentation, OCR, document understanding, face recognition, multi-object tracking, embedding-based search) * NLP & LLMs (RAG, GraphRAG, agentic workflows, fine-tuning, embeddings, semantic search, document QA, information extraction) * Generative AI applications using OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and open-source models * End-to-end AI pipelines from data collection and preprocessing to training, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring I also have extensive experience optimizing AI models for production through knowledge distillation, pruning, quantization, and efficient inference, making models smaller, faster, and more cost-effective for both cloud and edge deployments. On the engineering side, I work comfortably with Python, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, pgvector, asynchronous programming, Docker, GPU acceleration, and cloud deployments. I build complete AI products and APIs that are designed to scale not just research prototypes. Beyond implementation, I enjoy solving difficult research and engineering problems. Whether it's designing a predictive model, improving model accuracy, reducing inference costs, building an intelligent document processing pipeline, or deploying an LLM application, I focus on solutions that are reliable, maintainable, and practical for production. I also lead a team of AI engineers, giving me experience not only in technical execution but also in planning, code quality, mentoring, and delivering projects on time. If you're looking for someone who can understand the problem first, choose the right AI approach, and build a production-ready solution that balances performance, cost, and scalability, I'd be happy to help.

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Machine Learning
  • Computer Vision
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Generative AI
  • Large Language Model
  • Model Optimization
  • Hugging Face
  • OpenAI API
  • Deep Learning
  • Multimodal Large Language Model
  • Web Scraping
  • LangChain
  • LLM Prompt
  • LLM Prompt Engineering
  • Graph Neural Network
  • Research Papers
  • Machine Learning Model
  • Machine Learning Algorithm
  • Predictive Modeling
Shirie K.

Suita, Japan

$40/hr
4.7
5 jobs

👋 Hello and welcome! I’m a passionate Senior Full-Stack Developer with 9+ years of experience, specializing in modern frontend & backend frameworks, AI, Web Scraping, Web3, and Mobile App Development. I don’t just write code—I craft high-performance, scalable, and future-ready solutions tailored to your unique needs. Whether you're a startup looking to disrupt the market or an established business aiming for digital transformation, I'm here to bring your vision to life. What I Can Do for You: ✅ Frontend Excellence: React.js, Next.js, Vue.js, Svelte, Angular, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Material-UI ✅ Backend Mastery: Node.js (Express/Nest.js), Python (Django/Flask), Laravel, Java Spring, .NET ✅ AI & Web3 Solutions: ChatGPT/OpenAI, TensorFlow, Blockchain, Smart Contracts, Solidity, NFT Platforms ✅ Web Scraping & Automation: Puppeteer, Selenium, Scrapy, BeautifulSoup, Reverse Engineering, Captcha Bypass ✅ Mobile App Development: React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin, Expo – delivering seamless cross-platform experiences ✅ Database & API Integration: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Firebase, REST, GraphQL, Stripe, Twilio, Google Maps ✅ DevOps & Cloud: AWS, GCP, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD Pipelines Why Clients Love Working With Me: - 100% Client Satisfaction – I treat every project as my own and strive for perfection. - Fast & Reliable – Clear communication, quick execution, and on-time delivery. - Scalable & Secure Code – Best practices for performance optimization & cybersecurity. - Innovative Problem-Solver – I don’t just build software; I create solutions that drive success. - Long-Term Collaboration – I aim to build lasting relationships with my clients. Let’s build something amazing together! Message me now and let’s discuss how I can help you achieve your goals.

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Mobile App
  • International Development
  • Web Application
  • Web Development
  • Mobile Game
  • Android App Development
  • App Development
  • iOS Development
  • Svelte
  • Java
  • Spring Boot
  • n8n
  • Blockchain
  • Bot Development
  • Python
  • WooCommerce
  • Vue.js

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Cost to hire a Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Cost to hire a Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Explore typical Artificial Intelligence Engineer rates and what businesses pay to hire top talent.

Artificial Intelligence Engineer job description template

Artificial Intelligence Engineer job description template

Get tips to write a job post that attracts qualified Artificial Intelligence Engineers.

Artificial Intelligence Engineer interview questions

Artificial Intelligence Engineer interview questions

Top interview questions to help you hire the right Artificial Intelligence Engineers, faster.

Artificial intelligence engineer hiring guide

Artificial intelligence engineers build the machine learning models, data pipelines, and generative AI applications that help businesses automate operations, forecast outcomes, and gain competitive advantage. From computer vision in manufacturing to natural language processing in customer support, skilled AI engineers turn raw data into intelligent systems that drive measurable results.

What does an artificial intelligence engineer do?

An artificial intelligence engineer designs, builds, and deploys AI-powered systems that solve specific business problems. The role spans the full life cycle of an AI project, from collecting and preparing data to training models and putting them into production environments where they deliver value every day.

AI engineers often do the following tasks:

  • Build and train machine learning models for tasks like classification, prediction, anomaly detection, and recommendation

  • Integrate AI capabilities into existing business applications, APIs, and workflows

  • Design and maintain data pipelines that collect, clean, and transform raw data into formats suitable for model training

  • Optimize AI system performance by tuning hyperparameters, reducing latency, and improving accuracy over time

  • Develop generative AI applications, including large language model (LLM) fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, and prompt engineering solutions

How to hire an artificial intelligence engineer on Upwork

Upwork gives you access to AI engineers with experience across machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and generative AI. Follow these four steps to find and hire the right professional for your project.

Step 1: Post a job

Start by specifying which AI specialization your project requires, whether that's ML model development, NLP, computer vision, or generative AI. Name the frameworks and cloud platforms your team uses so candidates can confirm their experience.

  • Define your project scope, timeline, and expected deliverables for the AI system

  • List required specializations such as deep learning, reinforcement learning, or transformer architectures

  • Identify cloud platforms (AWS SageMaker, Google Cloud AI Platform, Azure ML) and frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn) relevant to your stack

  • Specify whether you'll provide training data or expect the engineer to source and prepare it

  • Indicate whether the project involves building a custom model, fine-tuning an existing model, or integrating AI APIs

  • Define any latency, accuracy, or cost targets the solution should meet

  • Share your expected budget and timeline

  • Reference this artificial intelligence engineer job description template for guidance on structuring your requirements

Use the Job Post Generator — powered by Uma™, Upwork's Mindful AI — to speed things up. Describe your AI project needs in a few sentences, and Uma will draft a detailed job post for AI engineers that you can review and customize. 

Step 2: Evaluate candidates

Focus on evidence of real-world AI engineering work. Candidates who've deployed models into production environments bring different skills than those who've only worked on research prototypes.

  • Review portfolios for deployed AI projects, GitHub repositories with ML code, and published research or technical writing on AI topics

  • Evaluate proficiency in relevant frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face) and cloud deployment experience (AWS, GCP, Azure)

  • Look for experience deploying AI models to production, not just building prototypes

  • Review examples of LLM, computer vision, NLP, or predictive modeling projects similar to yours

  • Confirm familiarity with vector databases, model serving, or inference optimization, if relevant

Use Uma's Best Match insights to generate candidate shortlists with side-by-side comparisons of AI engineers' skills and experience.

Step 3: Interview your top choices

Interview top candidates to check both their technical capabilities and communication skills.

  • Ask about their approach to data preparation, feature engineering, and handling imbalanced or noisy datasets

  • Discuss model training workflows, algorithm selection criteria, and how they validate model performance

  • Explore their MLOps experience, including CI/CD for ML pipelines, model monitoring, and production deployment strategies

  • Present a sample problem relevant to your project and ask them to walk through their solution approach

  • Ask how they evaluate model performance and monitor it after deployment

  • Discuss their approach to managing hallucinations, bias, or model drift, when applicable

  • Explore how they balance accuracy, inference speed, and infrastructure costs

  • Review these artificial intelligence engineer interview questions for additional guidance

Schedule and conduct interviews within Upwork Messages. You'll get an immediate transcript and summary of each conversation, so you can compare candidates without taking detailed notes.

Step 4: Agree on scope and begin work

Choose between fixed-price contracts for well-defined AI deliverables and hourly contracts for ongoing model development or research work.

  • Define how model performance will be measured and accepted before project completion

  • Clarify ownership of datasets, trained models, prompts, and source code

  • Establish a plan for model monitoring, retraining, or ongoing optimization after deployment

  • Break your AI project into milestones: data collection and preparation, model training, evaluation and testing, and production deployment

Use Upwork's contract workroom and messaging to share datasets, model specifications, and progress updates. Take advantage of identity verification, payment protection, hourly tracking, and project funds for financial security on every contract.

Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.

The rates and information provided in this article are based on current data and industry sources available at the time of publication. Freelance rates can vary depending on factors such as experience, location, project scope, and market conditions. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research to confirm current rates and trends, as this information may change over time.

How much does hiring an artificial intelligence engineer cost?

Hiring an artificial intelligence engineer on Upwork generally costs $35-$60 per hour, depending on project scope and experience level.

The table shows typical project-based pricing for common AI engineering work.

AI chatbot or virtual assistant

$1,500-$5,000/project

Intermediate
  • Custom chatbot development
  • API integration
  • Testing and deployment

Machine learning model development

$3,000-$10,000/project

Expert
  • Data preprocessing and feature engineering
  • Model training and validation
  • Performance optimization

AI API integration

$1,000-$4,000/project

Intermediate
  • Third-party AI API setup
  • Workflow automation
  • Technical documentation

Computer vision system

$5,000-$15,000/project

Expert
  • Image recognition pipeline
  • Model training on custom datasets
  • Production deployment

Generative AI application

$3,000-$12,000/project

Intermediate to expert
  • LLM fine-tuning or RAG implementation
  • Prompt engineering
  • Application interface development

Frequently asked questions

Is hiring an artificial intelligence engineer worth it?

Yes, if you're building AI-powered products or automating complex workflows, hiring an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer can be a worthwhile investment. AI engineers who understand your specific data and business context can build custom models that outperform generic off-the-shelf solutions, making the investment worthwhile for companies with complex or specialized needs. 

What types of businesses benefit most from AI engineering?

Healthcare, finance, e-commerce, SaaS, and logistics companies benefit most from hiring AI engineers because they generate large datasets and run repetitive processes that AI can automate or optimize for measurable cost and time savings.

What do I do after I hire an artificial intelligence engineer?

After hiring an AI engineer, start with a clear project brief that includes your data sources, success metrics, and expected timeline. Schedule regular check-ins to review model performance and adjust priorities as results come in.