Blog Post
Nearshore
Why NYC Startups Are Nearshoring to LATAM for AI Talent in 2025
Published on Aug 14, 2025
by Laura Salazar
The New York tech ecosystem is booming again—and AI is at the heart of it.
From healthtech platforms to LLM-powered copilots, NYC startups are raising capital and building products fast. But one challenge keeps slowing them down:
Hiring senior AI talent is expensive, slow, and unsustainable.
In 2025, more startups are bypassing traditional hiring routes and embracing a smarter model: nearshore development in LATAM.
NYC’s AI Boom—and Its Engineering Bottleneck
What’s fueling the growth:
Fintech, healthtech, and SaaS startups investing heavily in AI
Continued expansion of enterprise AI buyers in finance and insurance
New York’s unique access to regulated industries and user data
What’s slowing teams down:
Median time to hire a senior ML engineer in NYC: 58 days
Median salary: $210K–$240K, plus equity and overhead
Burnout among small engineering teams who can’t ship fast enough
Startups with limited runway can't wait 2–3 months per hire—or pay Big Tech prices.
Why LATAM Is the New Talent Engine for NYC Startups
NYC founders are discovering what Bay Area startups figured out years ago: LATAM offers time-aligned, highly skilled, cost-effective engineering talent.
Time Zone Alignment
Most major LATAM cities (Mexico City, Bogotá, São Paulo) work on Eastern or Central Time—perfect for NYC-based teams needing real-time collaboration.
AI-Ready Talent Pools
Countries like Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina are producing:
Senior Python and ML engineers
Experienced data scientists
DevOps and backend engineers with AI integration experience
LATAM’s talent is no longer just junior support—its production-grade, startup-tested engineering.
Cultural + Communication Fluency
Strong English proficiency
Familiarity with U.S. startup culture and agile development
Strong GitHub, Jira, Slack, Notion, and Zoom literacy
Significant Cost Savings
On average, 30–50% less than U.S.-based engineers
Zero recruiting fees when partnering with a nearshore provider like Necodex
No local entity needed
Nearshore vs Offshore: Why NYC Chooses LATAM
Offshore (Asia/Eastern Europe):
Time zone overlap: 6–12 hour difference, causing delays.
Agile team integration: Limited involvement in real-time collaboration.
Cultural fit: Variable; may affect communication and workflow.
AI domain familiarity: Focused on general development skills.
Cost: Typically cheaper but may come with hidden inefficiencies.
Nearshore (LATAM):
Time zone overlap: 95–100% overlap with NYC, enabling real-time work.
Agile team integration: Seamless participation in sprints and standups.
Cultural fit: Strong alignment, smoother collaboration.
AI domain familiarity: Expertise in LLMs, NLP, and vector databases.
Cost: Competitive and scalable with strong ROI.
Offshore teams are cost-effective, but time zone and collaboration delays can hinder product velocity. Nearshore LATAM teams offer a strong balance of speed, communication, and technical value.
NYC x LATAM: A Growing Engineering Corridor
Major VC-backed startups (and their investors) are now actively recommending nearshore models:
Quicker ROI per hire
Lower risk vs unstructured contractor networks
Smoother integration into fast-moving sprints
NYC’s timezone and product velocity demands make LATAM a strategic—not just financial—decision.
Hire Where You Can Win
If your NYC startup is serious about building AI products at startup speed, you can’t wait months or burn millions to scale a dev team.
The answer isn’t to settle for less—it’s to hire differently.
