How RebelsAI scaled rapidly with AI talent through StudentFlex and TalentSpark

The challenge at RebelsAI

RebelsAI is a fast-growing AI scale-up that helps organizations make their processes and knowledge management AI-ready. From structuring and labeling data to building secure internal AI applications, the company operates at high speed and in a strongly project-driven environment. Whenever a new project starts, additional capacity must be available immediately, without compromising on quality.

In its early phase (fall 2023), RebelsAI faced a common challenge for many start-ups and scale-ups: the focus is on clients, product development, and delivery, not on setting up a full recruitment process with sourcing, scheduling, administration, and multiple interview rounds.

At the same time, RebelsAI requires a very specific type of professional: tech-savvy, entrepreneurial, eager to learn, and customer-oriented. People who take ownership, learn fast, and thrive in complex client projects.

This combination of speed, flexibility, and high quality makes attracting early-career AI talent challenging, especially in a tight labor market where AI profiles are scarce and hands-on experience with AI implementation is still relatively new.

Our approach

From a flexible request to a scalable talent strategy

The collaboration started in October 2023 with a request for flexible staffing. Through in-depth discussions, we identified the underlying need: structural growth capacity without organizational complexity.

This resulted in a hybrid recruitment model:

• StudentFlex for fast and flexible deployment of high-quality working students on a project basis
• TalentSpark for recruiting graduates and young professionals who can contribute structurally to long-term growth

This created not just individual hires, but a scalable recruitment strategy aligned with the growth of an AI scale-up.

Character over skills

At RebelsAI, the person behind the profile is decisive. Drive, curiosity, entrepreneurial mindset, and strong technical affinity form the foundation. Skills can be developed.

During the early growth stage, Talent Sourcing Partner acted as an extension of RebelsAI’s recruitment function. We fully managed the front end of the hiring process so the founders could focus on building the company.

Concretely, we provided:

• Active sourcing of suitable candidates within scarce AI profiles
• Conducting first-round interviews with all candidates, focusing on cultural fit and motivation
• Structuring the interview process and accelerating scheduling
• Managing all candidate communication throughout the process

The result: RebelsAI only spoke with a small number of high-quality, highly motivated candidates who matched both technically and culturally.

This approach aligns with their culture: a team of tech-savvy professionals with a strong customer-first mindset, operating independently at client organizations and taking ownership of complex AI implementations. Even small signals matter. For example, RebelsAI pays attention to how candidates use tools and devices during case interviews. Digital fluency and efficiency are seen as indicators of real-world technical capability.

The results

The collaboration with RebelsAI demonstrates how an AI scale-up can grow rapidly without building an internal recruitment department. By outsourcing recruitment strategically, the focus remains on product development and client delivery, while hiring accelerates growth instead of slowing it down.

Since the start of the partnership:

• 3 key roles have been successfully filled through Talent Sourcing Partner
• Within a company that has grown to approximately 20 employees
• With exceptional speed: first hire within 3 weeks & second hire within 5 weeks
• And with long-term success: all placed professionals are still employed at RebelsAI

This enabled RebelsAI to scale at critical moments in roles such as:

• Junior Machine Learning Engineer
• Implementation Lead

Exactly the profiles required to accelerate AI implementations for clients and maintain consistently high quality.

Want to structurally deploy strong working students or early-career talent in your organization?

Talent Sourcing Partner supports start-ups, scale-ups, and growing organizations with:

• StudentFlex for high-quality, flexible working students
• TalentSpark for graduates and young professionals who contribute structurally to growth

With our character-first approach, we select talent that not only fits on paper, but also adds immediate value to teams and client environments.

Leave your details in the form below, and we will be happy to think along about a talent strategy that fits your growth stage and ambitions.