According to Yotewo, AI proficiency is now a requirement for technical roles. According to the company, 85% of all full-stack and background job briefs that were submitted on its platform in the last six months asked for AI skills such as prompt engineering or OpenAI API integration.
These demands no longer limit themselves to AI-specific roles. Now, developers hired to perform classic roles – such as frontend, fullstack or backend – must integrate AI into their workflow. Job specifications are changing from static lists to assessments that assess how candidates integrate AI into their workflow.
Yotewo, based on this trend predicts that, by mid-2026 at least 70% developers will be “AI-native”, which means they use AI tools throughout the entire development lifecycle and not just as occasional aids.
More platform insights revealed:
- Yotewo now has 10% AI engineers, up from just 4% one year ago
- An estimated 30% of AI users already use AI daily. The rest are actively upgrading their skills.
- Over 50% of fractional roles become full-time
- The majority of matches are made within 48 hours and work usually begins within five days.
Aliaksandr Kazhamiakin is the CEO and cofounder of Yotewo. He said, “We are seeing a shift from job titles and technology stacks being used as primary hiring filters. The new question to ask is, “Can this person build independently with AI by their side?”
Denis Eremenko is the COO and founder of Yotewo. He said: “AI fluency has become a requirement for entry.” “Founders choose people who are able to use AI in order to move quickly, stay lean and avoid reinventing themselves.”
This shift has led to a new era of team structure in startups. Founders are abandoning traditional hiring and relying on fast-assembled teams that can be built just-in time to solve specific issues. One common configuration includes a founding team, a full-stack AI developer and a frontend web developer.
Kazhamiakin describes this as the “IKEAification of startup hiring”, and adds: “Founders are building modular teams that can ship quickly. It’s not a long-term plan, but what can be done now to reach the market quicker. It only works if all parties are already working at AI-native speeds.”
We’ve had clients hire a full-stack AI developer and a frontend programmer within days and only a fractional role for CTO. It’s more important that they are able to deliver quickly and integrate AI thoughtfully into the product strategy than where they are on an organization chart.
CaseCraft.AI is a UK-based startup in the legal technology sector that has adopted this model. Yotewo helped them match a Chief Product and Tech Officer (CPTO) with three senior developers in 72 hours to build an MVP within a tight deadline. This team was able to reduce delivery time by 40 percent and take the product from prototype through pilot in less than three months.
Alexander Mints said that the developers at CaseCraft.AI had shipped LLMs in the past. They were not just technical, they understood our pace. There was no delay, no help. “They just started building.”
Yotewo is continuing to monitor the hiring trends of early-stage companies by analyzing thousands of job descriptions.
The original HR News article 85% startup tech roles require AI fluency now appeared.
