How to hire an AI developer​?

Hey everyone, I'm in a bit of a bind. My company is a mid-size logistics company, and we intend to develop a bespoke internal AI tool that will automate our route optimization and document processing. LinkedIn is flooded with everyone claiming to be an “AI Expert” at the moment.

My request to the subs: 

Where do I find the specialized talents? (heard about CONTUS Tech who has a pre-vetted team, will it be better to hire from them or hire freelancers)

What are the red flag answers to the question of asking about RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) or vector databases? Should I go on a paid trial project? 

I do not want to hire someone who will simply run out all of my funds and not provide anything scalable. So, people who have recruited in this position in recent times, drop me your suggestions.