Latest Industry Insights

Every week another Australian business decides it needs an "AI Lead." Far fewer know what that person should actually do, what to pay them, or how to tell a genuine operator from a confident talker. Get this hire right and you set the ceiling on your entire AI strategy. Get it wrong and you quietly burn six to twelve months you can't get back.

As AI tools flood into Australian workplaces, a new role keeps appearing on org charts: the AI Enablement Manager. It's one of the most misunderstood positions in modern business — often confused with an AI engineer, a trainer, or an IT lead. In reality, it's none of those. Here's what the role actually involves, and why more businesses are creating it.

Something's changed in the briefs. Until recently, the default motion for AI hiring was contract. It made sense — the work was project-shaped, budgets were cautious, and nobody wanted to commit permanent headcount to a capability they were still figuring out. Bring someone in, ship the pilot, see what happens.

If you're recruiting for AI roles right now, you've probably noticed something frustrating: two companies can advertise the exact same job title and be looking for completely different people.

Forward deployed engineering is the practice of embedding a specialised AI or software engineer directly inside a client organisation to scope, build, and ship production AI solutions.

All three roles require a technical foundation, but they diverge sharply on where they sit, what they own, and what success looks like.