Demand for specialist technical skills is concentrated, and it is growing fast. Demand for AI skills rose by nearly 200 percent in a year, with London accounting for 80 percent of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all technology vacancies in the UK, according to Accenture data reported by The Register. That tells you two things. The skills you need for exposure review are in short supply, and you are competing in a crowded market for them.
The wider backdrop is cautious, not flat. Against a subdued 2025 economic picture, businesses took a careful approach to hiring, but there were clear demand hotspots for specialist tech skills including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security, as Computer Weekly's tech recruitment outlook for 2026 sets out. Exposure review in agent-assisted insurers sits right across those hotspots: it needs data fluency, AI oversight and a firm grip on risk.
In financial services specifically, the roles under pressure skew senior. Recruitment was generally for Regulatory Qualification Framework (RQF) 6+ roles rather than RQF 3 to 5, as the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List Stage 2 report notes. In plain terms, firms are hiring for degree-level and above expertise. For exposure review, that matches what the work actually demands: judgement you cannot script.
When an AI agent drafts an exposure assessment, someone still has to own it. That shifts the role profile. You are no longer only hiring people to calculate exposures by hand. You are hiring people to supervise agents that calculate exposures, then challenge, validate and sign off the output.
Three capabilities stand out. First, risk and regulatory judgement: the ability to read an exposure, spot what is missing and know where the regulator will look. This is why financial services demand sits at RQF 6+ rather than RQF 3 to 5, per the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List Stage 2 report. Second, data and AI fluency: enough understanding of how the agent reached its answer to question it, which maps to the AI and data hotspots flagged in Computer Weekly's 2026 tech recruitment outlook. Third, auditability: the discipline to document decisions so an exposure review stands up to scrutiny.
You will likely blend profiles rather than find one person who has it all. An actuarial or underwriting specialist brings the risk lens. A data analyst or AI oversight lead brings the model scrutiny. A controls or governance role keeps the audit trail clean. The scarcity is real, though: with AI demand up nearly 200 percent in a year and heavily concentrated in London, as Accenture data reported by The Register shows, you cannot assume these people are easy to find.
Start with the decision, not the task. Write the role around the exposures the person will own and the judgements they will make, then describe how AI agents support that work. This keeps you focused on capability rather than on tools that will change again next year.
Test judgement, not recall. Give candidates a realistic exposure scenario with an AI-drafted assessment that contains a subtle error, and ask them to find it and explain the risk. Someone who can challenge a confident but flawed agent output is worth more than someone who simply reproduces a formula.
Hire for adaptability. The demand hotspots in AI, data and cyber security that Computer Weekly's 2026 outlook identifies will keep shifting, so prioritise people who learn quickly over people who already know one specific toolset. And widen your net beyond London, given how concentrated AI postings are there per Accenture's data via The Register: remote and hybrid access to national talent eases a genuine supply squeeze.
Finally, move quickly and keep the process clear. Senior, regulated specialists have options, so a slow or vague process loses them. Define who signs off, set your interview stages up front and give feedback fast.
When the people you need are scarce and competition is high, speed and reach matter. We search a database of 15 million candidates to surface people who can own exposure review alongside AI agents, and we manage the process end to end, from a ranked shortlist through to a booked interview. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, through Reed.ai. Tell us what good looks like for your exposure review team, and we will start building your shortlist today.
