His experience reflects a growing sense of urgency across the fast-moving AI sector. With top-level research talent in short supply, tech employers are keen to lock down candidates earlier than ever. “Companies that wait until graduation to find out who the best graduates are, they’ve already lost,” said Vahid Haghzare, managing director of Silicon Valley Associates Recruitment, a technology recruitment agency in Asia and the Middle East. Recruiters sometimes reached out to prospects up to three and four years before they finished school, while tech firms hosted a variety of conferences and seminars to make early contact, he said. The hunt is reaching even further down the academic pipeline.