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Jake Gilbert, head of 5V Tech, a specialist in scaling tech teams who are working towards solving some of the world’s biggest challenges, talks to Microelectronics UK about the pace of innovation, how AI is enabling opportunities right across the engineering lifecycle, and major growth in edge AI. Many thanks to Jake for providing these answers and to Katie White for help in organising this.

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Tell us about your role and what 5V Tech does. What problems are you solving, and for whom?

I'm the Head of 5V Tech, where I lead the team, shape our growth strategy and make sure we're delivering the right talent solutions for our clients. My role is about understanding where the market is heading, working closely with our clients and ensuring we continue to connect them with the specialist talent they need to grow.

5V Tech is a specialist recruitment business supporting companies across the UK, Europe and the US. We help organisations build engineering teams across IoT, embedded systems, hardware, silicon, Edge AI and machine learning through permanent hiring, contract recruitment and other tailored workforce solutions.

We're also the dedicated talent partner to the EDGE AI FOUNDATION, supporting its members as they grow and helping strengthen the wider Edge AI ecosystem. Alongside that, we lead the Foundation's dedicated Careers Working Group and host the Edge AI Careers Livestream, which is focused on helping engineers develop their careers and progress within Edge AI and embedded technology.

The companies we work with are developing some of the most advanced technologies in the market, but they're doing so in an environment where highly specialised engineering talent is increasingly difficult to find. Whether they're building connected devices, developing semiconductor technology or scaling AI products, they're competing for a relatively small pool of experts while trying to hit ambitious product roadmaps and growth targets.

Our role is to help them navigate those challenges by giving them access to the right talent, reducing hiring bottlenecks and building teams that can keep innovation moving. That means every client engagement looks a little different. Sometimes it's finding one critical engineering leader, sometimes it's helping a scale-up build an entire function, and other times it's providing specialist contract resource to keep a project on track.

My role is to make sure we understand those challenges properly and build the right solution around them, rather than taking a one size fits all approach.

What are the defining technical and operational pressures facing your sector right now - and where do you see the industry underestimating the challenge?

One of the biggest pressures we're seeing is the pace of innovation. AI, Edge AI and connected technologies are evolving so quickly that the skills companies need are changing just as fast. New roles are emerging all the time, while traditional engineering roles are becoming much more multidisciplinary. It's no longer enough to be an expert in one area, companies are increasingly looking for engineers who can bridge hardware, embedded software, AI, cloud and systems thinking.

I think the industry still underestimates how much this changes the way businesses need to hire and develop talent. Finding people with those blended skill sets is becoming more competitive, so organisations need to think longer term about workforce planning, upskilling and building diverse teams. The positive side is that it's creating huge opportunities for engineers to broaden their expertise and for businesses that invest in talent early to build a real competitive advantage.

Which application areas or end markets present the strongest near-term opportunity for your technology, and what is driving that demand?

We're seeing the strongest demand coming from companies building Edge AI solutions, particularly across industrial automation, automotive, robotics, defence and smart infrastructure. The common theme is that organisations want intelligence closer to where data is generated, whether that's to reduce latency, improve efficiency or enable real time decision making.

At the same time, demand for semiconductor, embedded software and systems engineering talent continues to grow because these technologies all rely on strong hardware foundations. AI might be driving the headlines, but none of it happens without the engineers designing the chips, devices and embedded platforms underneath.

What's exciting is that we're no longer talking about AI as a future technology, it's becoming part of mainstream product development. That's creating opportunities right across the engineering lifecycle and driving demand for multidisciplinary teams that can bring hardware, software and AI together.

Which emerging technologies or engineering approaches are you backing for the next three to five years - and what would it take for them to cross from promising to mainstream?

Over the next three to five years, I think we'll continue to see huge growth in Edge AI, particularly as organisations look to move intelligence closer to the device rather than relying solely on the cloud. Advances in semiconductors, embedded systems and low power computing will also be critical to making AI more efficient, scalable and commercially viable.

From a talent perspective, we're also backing multidisciplinary engineering. The boundaries between hardware, embedded software, AI and cloud are becoming increasingly blurred, so the engineers who can work across those domains will be incredibly valuable.

For these technologies to move from promising to mainstream, they need to become easier to deploy and integrate into existing products. That means better tooling, more mature ecosystems and ultimately, enough skilled engineers to build and support them at scale. Technology is only part of the equation, the talent to deliver it will be just as important.

Events like Microelectronics UK bring together engineers, researchers, and industry decision-makers under one roof. How valuable is that kind of in-person concentration of expertise to you and your team?

They're really important. You can have plenty of conversations online, but nothing replaces getting the right people in the same room. Events like Microelectronics UK bring together engineers, researchers, hiring managers and business leaders who are all working on similar challenges, and that's where some of the best conversations happen.

For us, it's an opportunity to understand what's changing in the market, hear what companies are actually struggling with and see where demand is heading.

What do you want engineers and technical buyers to come away understanding about 5V Tech after speaking with you at the show - and what conversations are you expecting to have on the floor?

I'd like people to come away knowing that there are some incredible career opportunities across microelectronics, semiconductors, embedded systems and Edge AI, and that the Talent Hub is the place to discover them. Whether you're an engineer looking for your next challenge or a business looking to grow your team, we want it to be a hub where people can connect with the right opportunities and the right people.

We're expecting a real mix of conversations, from companies wanting to promote roles and discuss their hiring plans, to engineers interested in where the market is heading and what skills are going to be in demand over the next few years. The Jobs Board is there to make those opportunities visible, but more importantly, to spark conversations that might not have happened otherwise. If someone leaves having found a role they didn't know existed, met a future employer or made a valuable industry connection, then we'll see that as a success.

Is there a leader, engineer, or mentor who has shaped how you approach your work - and what is the most enduring lesson you took from them?

I don't think I could pick just one person. I've been lucky enough to work with some great leaders, colleagues and mentors over the years, and I've taken different things from all of them.

The biggest lesson has probably been that you get much better results when you spend time understanding people first. Whether it's a client, a candidate or someone in your own team, listening properly and understanding what they're trying to achieve makes all the difference. It's something I try to carry into how I lead the business every day.

What does the next 12 months look like for you - in terms of product direction, capability expansion, or where you are focusing development resource?

The next 12 months are all about continuing to strengthen our position as a specialist talent partner within engineering and technology. We're seeing growing demand across areas like semiconductors, embedded systems, edge AI and AI more broadly, so a big focus for us is continuing to build our expertise in those markets and supporting the businesses driving that innovation.

We're also investing in the relationships we have with the wider industry. Partnerships like our involvement with Microelectronics UK and the EDGE AI FOUNDATION are a great example of that. They're an opportunity to do more than recruit, they allow us to support the wider ecosystem by connecting businesses, engineers and the next generation of talent.

Internally, we're focused on continuing to develop our team, expanding our reach across the UK, Europe and the US, and making sure we're delivering the level of market insight and specialist knowledge our clients expect. The technology landscape is evolving incredibly quickly, and our job is to stay ahead of those changes so we can continue helping businesses find the talent they need to innovate and grow.