Insights

Hiring in the age of AI: what's changed for startup founders

September 27, 2026

Founders raising their hands at an Aussie Founders Club event

What good looks like in a startup hire has changed. The people doing best right now have changed how they work in the last year, and they can tell you exactly how. AI has made a strong generalist far more capable, so the things most job ads still screen for, like years in a particular tool, a specific degree or a big-company logo, tell you less than they used to.

We've turned what we use on our own searches into a free hiring kit. Pick the kind of role you're hiring and it gives you the job ad changes, the interview questions and a scorecard to use in the room. Here's the thinking behind it.

Hire generalists who believe in what you're building

At early stage, generalists win. Move to specialists when the outcome you need changes and you need real depth in one area to keep growing. Headcount alone is a poor trigger. Early hires also need to believe in what you're building, so clarity on your mission and who you are as an employer does more to attract them than budget does, until you start hiring specialists.

Be careful with big-company hires

The most expensive mistake we see is hiring from large corporates on large salaries for early roles. People bring the playbook they know, and the startup loses the speed that was its advantage.

Brief on outcomes

If you're hiring into a function you don't know well yourself, you probably can't describe the day-to-day work, and that's normal. Brief on the outcomes you need in the first year and use the interviews to see how strong candidates would get there. The best of them will help you shape the role.

Screen for how people have adapted

The questions that tell you most are about change. Ask how their work has actually changed in the last 12 months because of AI, what they've stopped doing, and what they used to believe about their craft that they've changed their mind about. People who've genuinely adapted answer with specifics. People who haven't talk about AI in the abstract.

The research points the same way

Hiring for skills is five times more predictive of job performance than hiring for education (McKinsey, 2022).
In Australia, a skills-first approach makes the available talent pool 10.2 times larger (LinkedIn Economic Graph, 2023).
78% of employers have hired someone with strong technical skills who failed in the role because of poor soft skills or weak cultural or motivational fit (TestGorilla, 2025).
Organisations with a skills-based approach are 98% more likely to retain high performers (Deloitte, 2022).

Use the kit

The Kairos hiring kit covers any role, plus engineering, GTM and sales, and design. If you're hiring for one of these now, book a 20-minute hiring reset call and we'll pressure-test the brief, the job ad and how you'll assess candidates.