AI Engineers: What They Cost, Where to Find Them, and What They Actually Do

How do you get AI agents working inside your business, without becoming the person who builds them?

Australian real estate founder Mark Kentwell (Presence Real Estate Group) breaks down the full AI engineer hiring blueprint: what the role actually is, the 4 hiring models available in Australia, real cost comparisons, and the 4-question filter every AI project must pass before you spend a dollar.

Mark shares his own experience, including a $75,000 outsourced project that blew out in scope and time, later rebuilt for a fraction of the cost using offshore AI engineers, to give you an unfiltered, founder-to-founder guide on where to start, what to avoid, and why waiting will only make it more expensive.

Whether you're a $2M or $50M turnover business, this is the roadmap he wishes he'd had.

0:29 — Who Is Mark Kentwell — Third 8-Figure Company, Sharing the Roadmap Live

1:41 — The 3 Traps Founders Fall Into Before Hiring Right

2:23 — What an AI Engineer Actually Is — And What They're Not

3:01 — The 4-Question Filter — Every AI Project Must Pass This First

3:46 — The 4 Hiring Models — DIY, BPO, Done-With-You & Full Agency

7:45 — Full Cost Breakdown — Australia vs US, All 4 Models Compared

9:53 — The $75K Project That Blew Out — And How AI Engineers Fixed It for Less

10:48 — The Hidden Risk Nobody Talks About — Failed Hires, Security Incidents & Lost Revenue

11:57 — Should You Start Now or Wait? — Why Waiting Makes It Harder & More Expensive

Follow Mark Kentwell:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_kentwell/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_kentwell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markkentwell1/

Mark’s Businesses:

Presence Real Estate: https://presence.realestate/

Nexr: https://nexr.com.au/