Imagine Anything Ltd. – high-volume IT staffing of a cross-functional software development team for a rapidly growing British AI startup

Tsiala Jobava

Introduction

To bring their platform to life, Imagine Anything partnered with DevsData LLC, an agency known for building high-performing tech teams tailored to early-stage product goals. The objective was clear: assemble a versatile, UK-based team that could design, build, and scale the platform end-to-end. Over a five-week collaboration, we successfully recruited seven professionals, including a CTO, backend and frontend developers, a QA automation engineer, a UI/UX designer, a prompt engineer, and a “vibe-coder.”

To ensure seamless execution, a dedicated team of ten DevsData LLC recruiters worked in parallel, leveraging multiple sourcing channels and a structured screening process to deliver top-tier candidates aligned with the company’s creative vision, technical requirements, and collaborative culture.

Client overview

Imagine Anything Ltd is a UK-registered startup that specializes in AI-powered content generation tools for marketers, designers, and social media creators. Founded in 2020 and based in England and Wales, the company set out with a bold vision to empower users to create high-quality images, music, voiceovers, and other creative assets instantly, simply by using text prompts, with no technical expertise required.

Operating at the intersection of creativity and machine learning, the platform blends intuitive usability with advanced generative AI capabilities. From logos and clipart to speech and visual art, Imagine Anything delivers speed, customization, and originality for a broad spectrum of content creators.

As the company prepared to enter a key product development phase, they recognized the need to formalize their technical operations and assemble a dedicated in-house team. To support this transition, they partnered with DevsData LLC to recruit UK-based professionals across engineering, design, and creative tech, laying the foundation for scalable development, infrastructure, and long-term innovation.

Project scope & objectives

Imagine Anything’s primary objective was to launch its AI content generation platform with a fully staffed, in-house technical team. Rather than filling isolated gaps, the company aimed to establish a complete engineering and product function – capable of building, shipping, and maintaining the platform from day one.

The scope of work included recruiting seven core team members:

1. A Chief Technology Officer to lead the technical vision and architecture.
2. Senior backend and frontend developers to build and scale the platform.
3. A senior QA automation engineer to implement testing frameworks and ensure product stability.
4. A senior graphic designer and prompt engineer to shape the creative output and optimize generation quality.
5. A “vibe-coder” blended frontend development with storytelling to create an engaging user experience aligned with the brand’s creative identity.

All roles were to be filled within a five-week window to align with the company’s product launch plans. The recruitment effort was both high-volume and highly targeted, spanning multiple disciplines across engineering, design, and creative technology. Candidates were required to be based in the UK, with availability for hybrid or in-person collaboration.

“This wasn’t your typical scale-up recruitment. We were supporting a founder-led company entering a critical execution phase. Every hire needed to be autonomous, hands-on, and capable of shaping core systems from day one.” – Nenad H., IT Recruitment Lead, DevsData LLC

Beyond technical qualifications, DevsData LLC focused on sourcing professionals who could thrive in a dynamic startup environment. Priority was given to those with a proven ability to operate independently, contribute to early-stage product development, and adapt quickly to evolving requirements.

Cultural alignment was equally essential. The client emphasized finding individuals who shared their creative mindset, valued user experience, and could contribute to a fast-moving, collaborative team culture. More than just a hiring sprint, this engagement laid the groundwork for a scalable, resilient product organization with long-term growth in mind.

Challenges

Assembling a full product and engineering team is always a complex endeavor, especially when it involves diverse roles, tight timelines, and geographic requirements. In the case of Imagine Anything, several unique factors called for a highly coordinated and adaptable approach.

1. Laying the technical foundation

At the time of engagement, the company was entering a critical build phase. With no formal tech team or existing systems in place, each hire, starting with the CTO, had to take ownership of core decisions, including infrastructure and architecture, as well as tooling and early system design.

2. High-volume hiring under time constraints

With seven specialized roles to fill in just five weeks, the pace required precision. Each recruitment process, from sourcing to offer, averaged three to four weeks – meaning multiple pipelines had to run in parallel to ensure timely delivery and seamless team composition.

3. Geographic focus on UK-based talent

To support hybrid collaboration and company culture, all candidates needed to be UK-based. This added selectivity to the process, especially for creative and emerging roles like prompt engineers and “vibe-coders,” where top-tier local talent is more limited.

4. Cross-functional expertise across disciplines

The project called for a truly cross-functional team: backend and frontend engineers, a QA automation expert, a UI/UX designer, and creative technologists. Each role demanded distinct sourcing strategies, industry knowledge, and vetting techniques.

5. Startup-ready mindset

The ideal candidates weren’t just technically capable – they needed to be self-driven, adaptable, and comfortable operating in dynamic, fast-evolving environments. Cultural fit was essential, as the team would be collaborating closely and shaping product direction from the ground up.

Despite the complexity, DevsData LLC’s ten-person recruitment team maintained momentum throughout the engagement. We quickly adapted to evolving priorities, refined role definitions as needed, and remained closely aligned with the founder to ensure that each hire made meaningful contributions to the startup’s vision and pace of innovation.

Strategic recruitment approach

To meet the hiring timeline and role diversity, DevsData LLC implemented a structured, high-volume sourcing strategy explicitly tailored to the UK market.

We began by mapping out candidate profiles for each role with the client, prioritizing startup experience, technical ownership, and availability for hybrid collaboration. Given the breadth of the positions, from CTO to creative and testing roles, we established parallel sourcing streams, each managed with its own filters and criteria.

Recruitment channels included:

• LinkedIn Recruiter for passive outreach across all roles, with emphasis on candidates with past startup or early-stage product experience.
• Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Dribbble for sourcing backend/frontend engineers and graphic designers based on contribution history and portfolios.
• AngelList (Wellfound) to identify UK-based tech talent open to joining early-stage companies.
• Local UK job boards and Slack communities to tap into niche technical networks and referrals.
• Direct headhunting for the CTO and senior engineering positions, targeting candidates with past leadership in high-growth environments.

We ran overlapping interview processes to avoid bottlenecks and adjusted timelines based on feedback from both the client and candidates. Regular check-ins with the company’s founder ensured alignment on role priorities, softskill fit, and expectations around product launch readiness.

By the end of the fifth week, all core roles were filled. The hiring funnel looked as follows:

This approach not only delivered high-quality hires but also provided Imagine Anything with a clear hiring framework to build upon in future growth phases.

If you’re interested in how we apply similar strategies across industries, explore our related case studies:

• Tech Recruitment for a Fashion Industry Innovation Lab: Assembled a multidisciplinary AI/ML tech team across the US, Canada, and Europe for a global fashion brand’s $9M transformation initiative.
• Recruitment for a Norwegian AI SaaS provider Memory AS: Delivered senior Ruby developers across two continents in under six weeks, helping the client hit AI milestone deadlines tied to government grants.

Technical implementation

Because Imagine Anything was in the early stages of building its in-house capabilities, each hire needed to do more than write code – they had to help shape the technical direction. Candidates were expected to make foundational decisions, select tools, define standards, and set up infrastructure in a greenfield environment, without reliance on legacy systems.

The CTO role was especially pivotal. DevsData LLC focused on sourcing candidates with a rare mix of hands-on engineering expertise and startup leadership experience. The ideal profile combined proficiency in Django and Next.js with deep knowledge of AWS architecture and a strong command of tools like OpenAI, Replicate.com, and HuggingFace APIs. Familiarity with Stripe, Elasticsearch, and cybersecurity best practices was also essential. Beyond technical depth, the CTO needed to be comfortable coding when necessary, mentoring future hires, and translating product vision into scalable execution.

Frontend and backend developers were evaluated on their ability to deliver clean, modular, and scalable systems in fast-moving environments. For frontend roles, Next.js, micro-frontend architecture, and experience integrating AI APIs were key. Backend and full stack candidates were assessed on their knowledge of asynchronous systems, such as Kafka and Celery, CI/CD pipelines, testing automation tools (e.g., Cypress, Selenium), and cloud-native deployment workflows. Each developer had to hit the ground running, contributing to product development with minimal onboarding friction.

Creative and hybrid roles like UI/UX Designer and the uniquely titled “vibe-coder” required a blend of design thinking, technical execution, and brand alignment. The UI/UX Designer focused on user flow design, prototyping, and systematized visual assets using tools like Figma and Adobe XD, ensuring the interface matched both user behavior and engineering constraints. The “vibe-coder” role blended frontend development with narrative-driven UX, shaping the platform’s feel and creating a user experience that was both engaging and functional.

Each candidate underwent a structured, role-specific evaluation process that began with CV and portfolio reviews, followed by technical interviews or live coding sessions. Soft skills were equally prioritized, with emphasis on autonomy, adaptability, and startup experience. Final interviews with the founder ensured cultural alignment and shared commitment to the company’s vision.

Beyond talent sourcing, DevsData LLC also supported Imagine Anything in refining job descriptions, aligning expectations, and building onboarding workflows – ensuring smooth integration and early team cohesion.

Result & impact

By the end of the five-week engagement, Imagine Anything had evolved from a founder-driven vision into a fully operational product and engineering organization. DevsData LLC played a central role in this transformation, delivering a high-performing, cross-functional team that could execute quickly and scale intelligently.

The seven UK-based hires covered every essential function, including platform architecture, backend and frontend development, QA automation, UX design, and creative technology. This wasn’t just about filling roles – it was about laying the groundwork for long-term technical success. With a greenfield environment and no legacy systems to constrain them, each team member contributed to defining technical standards, establishing workflows, and shaping the platform’s architecture from the ground up.

“From the assessments, we were confident these candidates had the skills and mindset to succeed in a zero-to-one environment. Seeing how quickly they aligned, set up architecture, and shipped features was even more rewarding. Watching our hires become the foundation of an entire product organization – that’s the kind of impact we aim for.” – Ava H., Senior Technical Recruiter, DevsData LLC

The impact was immediate. Within the first week of onboarding, the newly assembled team, led by the CTO, aligned on architectural decisions, set up the development environment, and began implementation with minimal oversight. Their autonomy enabled the founder to step back from daily operational setup and instead focus on strategic priorities such as product vision, fundraising, and go-to-market planning.

Beyond short-term execution, the engagement also laid the groundwork for long-term stability. With a cohesive in-house team in place, Imagine Anything transitioned from early-stage resourcing models to a scalable, permanent technical foundation. Each team member was selected not only for their technical expertise, but also for their independence, ownership mindset, and ability to shape the direction of a growing product.

Creative roles, such as the UI/UX designer and the uniquely positioned vibe coder, played a crucial part in establishing the platform’s personality, ensuring the user experience felt seamless, distinctive, and aligned with the brand’s creative identity.

From an investor standpoint, the newly formed team signaled strong execution capabilities and product readiness. In a market where early-stage AI companies often compete fiercely for technical talent, Imagine Anything stood out – with a complete, high-caliber team built and onboarded in record time through its partnership with DevsData LLC.

Conclusion

Building a high-performing technical team under tight timelines and geographic constraints is one of the most complex challenges early-stage startups can face. Imagine Anything was entering a pivotal phase, ready to execute its vision and bring its AI platform to market. With ambitious goals and a clear product roadmap, the company needed to quickly assemble a capable, cross-functional team to drive development forward.

This is exactly where DevsData LLC excels. With a strong track record in fast-paced, full-cycle tech recruitment, we specialize in helping startups build end-to-end engineering organizations quickly and efficiently. For Imagine Anything, our team of ten recruiters worked in parallel to source, vet, and deliver seven UK-based specialists spanning backend and frontend engineering, QA, design, creative tech, and leadership – all within just five weeks.

The result: A fully operational product and engineering team ready to build, ship, and scale from day one. Imagine Anything now has the technical foundation it needs to grow, and DevsData LLC remains a trusted partner for future hiring needs.

Whether you’re launching a new AI platform, scaling a startup, or building your first engineering team, DevsData LLC can help you build the right team from the ground up. Contact us at general@devsdata.com or visit our website www.devsdata.com to get started.

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Tsiala Jobava Copywriter and Marketer

Tsiala Jobava is a talented marketing specialist from Georgia. Tsiala holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Georgian American University and a master’s in Marketing and Communication from Barcelona Business School. She has built a diverse career, working as a copywriter and in marketing and PR, before returning to her first passion – writing. Along the way, she has gained valuable experience in social media management, content creation, and brand development.

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