Looking for “someone with AI experience” is a bit like looking for someone who “knows the internet.” It says everything and nothing at the same time.

AI is such a broad and rapidly evolving field that “AI experience” can mean anything. Prompt engineering, MLOps, data science, LLM fine-tuning, Agentic AI… someone can have years of AI experience and still not be the right fit for how your company thinks about AI.

As Head of Engineering, that’s the real challenge. Not finding people with AI on their CV. But finding people whose AI philosophy aligns with your company’s.

It’s a mindset, not a skill set.

At bookU, that philosophy is simple: AI is not just a skill set. It’s a mindset, a culture. We look for people who are curious. Who experiment without being asked. Who wake up in the morning thinking: “Can this be done more effectively?”

And if you have that mindset, we’ll take care of the rest. Because the skill set of the future — we build that together, from within.

The best example we saw was with our own engineers. They built something none of us asked for — because they were curious enough to try.

Our ambition doesn’t stop at our own walls.

Lead through AI: automate internally, innovate and grow externally. Using AI to make our own processes smarter is step one. Helping our clients truly grow through AI — that’s where we’re headed.

The war for AI talent? You don’t win it by searching harder. You win it by building an environment where AI thinkers can experiment, grow, build, and make a difference.

So, are you hiring for skills — or for mindset?

That’s the question worth sitting with. The companies that get this right won’t just hire faster — they’ll build better.

At bookU, we’re building that environment. If you’re someone who thinks this way, we’d love to talk.

ui.written-by Jochen Deleu — Head of Engineering