What Burtch Works does

Burtch Works is a U.S.-based, privately held talent solutions firm founded in 2008 (operating as Revolution 4.0 LLC) and headquartered in Evanston, Illinois. The firm specializes in placing data science, analytics, AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, data engineering, market research, and product management professionals, delivering engagements through six modular service lines: AI-Lab Build-Out, RLHF & Alignment, Gen-AI Implementation, Data Science & Analytics, MLOps & Platform Engineering, and Contingent/EOR Workforce. Distribution is exclusively direct — executive search, direct-hire placement, contract staffing with Burtch Works as employer of record, and managed services under SOW — with no marketplace, reseller, or retail channels. The firm operates a curated, pre-vetted talent community of 100,000+ interview-ready candidates cultivated over 15+ years, and supplements recruitment delivery with proprietary annual research products including the 2025 AI & Data Science Compensation Report (covering 866 validated professionals) and the 2025 Data Engineering Compensation Report.

Revenue is generated from three primary streams: (i) contract staffing with Burtch Works as employer of record, where it captures bill-rate spread on placed W2 contractors while administering benefits, 401k matching, and upskilling; (ii) direct-hire and contingency placement fees on permanent full-time hires; and (iii) retained executive search and fractional CXO engagements (CDO, CAO, CIO, CTO, CISO), complemented by SLA-driven managed services for plan/build/run initiatives. Pricing is quote-based and varies by engagement type, role seniority, and scope; no public rates or tiers are disclosed. Customer rosters span Financial Services (Northern Trust, Fifth Third Bank, TPG), Retail (Kroger, Patagonia, CVS), Media & Entertainment (DirectTV, SiriusXM), Healthcare (BlueCross), Consumer Goods (P&G), and Consumer Technology (Apple Mac). Strategic partnerships with Northwestern University, AlignAI, Women in Data Science (WiDS), Domino Data Lab, and INFORMS extend the firm's pipeline and credibility. Leadership comprises Linda Burtch as Founder and Managing Director, Michael Butts as CEO, Derek Newman as Chief Product Officer, Matt Stautberg as CFO, and Abby Zimmerman as Vice President of Operations. Award validation includes Inc. 5000 (2023), SIA #8 Fastest-Growing US Staffing Firm (2025), ClearlyRated Best of Staffing (NPS 61.3% client, 86.3% candidate), and Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firms (2023).

Name

Burtch Works

Legal name

Revolution 4.0 LLC

Website

https://burtchworks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Burtch Works is a U.S.-based specialized talent solutions firm placing data, analytics, AI, cybersecurity, and product professionals for enterprises via contract staffing, direct-hire, retained executive search, and managed services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Recruiting & Talent Solutions

NAICS

Professional Employer Organizations (56133)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Agent of Record (AOR) / Contractor Engagement Services (BPACAGAB)

Keywords

• Executive recruiting services
• AI talent placement
• Data science staffing
• Contract staffing solutions
• Compensation benchmarking

Headquarters

HQ city

Evanston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Contract Staffing: Provides contract staffing with Burtch Works as the employer of record, offering benefits, 401k match, upskilling, and payroll. Candidates are W2 employees of Burtch Works while on contract.
2. Direct-Hire / Direct Placement: Permanent full-time placement services where Burtch Works identifies and places candidates directly with client organizations for a one-time or contingency fee.
3. Retained Search & Fractional CXO: Retained executive search for senior-level roles (CDO, CAO, CIO, CTO, CISO) and fractional CXO services for organizations needing part-time senior leadership without a full-time hire.
4. Managed Services (SOW): Deliverable-based outcomes for the plan, build, and run phases of strategic initiatives. Burtch Works provides comprehensive assessment, execution, and SLA-driven continuous improvement with dedicated Customer Success Managers and Solutions Architects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Burtch Works is a specialized U.S.-based talent partner that places data science, AI, analytics, data engineering, cybersecurity, product, and market research professionals through contract staffing (with Burtch Works acting as employer of record), direct-hire placement, retained executive search including fractional CXO engagements, and deliverable-based managed services (SOW). It complements its recruiting services with proprietary annual compensation benchmarking reports and serves clients nationally from its Evanston, Illinois headquarters.

Product overview

Burtch Works is a U.S.-based talent solutions firm that operates as a unified staffing platform offering multiple service delivery models. The core offering spans contract staffing, direct-hire placement, retained search, and managed services (SOW), supported by specialized service lines including AI-Lab Build-Out, RLHF & Alignment, Gen-AI Implementation, Data Science & Analytics, MLOps & Platform Engineering, and Contingent/EOR Workforce. The company complements its talent services with proprietary market intelligence products—the annual AI & Data Science Compensation Report and Data Engineering Compensation Report—which provide salary benchmarks and hiring trends. All services are delivered through a high-tech, high-touch approach leveraging a 100,000+ candidate database, with Burtch Works acting as employer of record for contract engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Contract Staffing Flexible project-based staffing solution where Burtch Works acts as the employer of record, providing employee benefits, 401k matching, upskilling, and payroll for specialized data, analytics, and technology professionals placed at client organizations.
• Direct-Hire Placement Permanent full-time placement service that matches organizations with qualified candidates in data science, analytics, AI, machine learning, and related fields, with personalized onboarding guidance and consultative recruiter support.
• Retained Executive Search & Fractional CXO Retained executive search services for senior-level data and analytics leadership roles, including fractional CDO, CAO, CIO, CTO, and CISO placements for organizations needing part-time or advisory-level executive expertise.
• Managed Services (SOW) Deliverable-based workforce solutions covering plan, build, and run phases of strategic AI, data, and analytics initiatives, with dedicated Customer Success Managers and Solutions Architects overseeing project execution against SLAs.
• AI-Lab Build-Out Service Service to establish Centers of Excellence in AI capabilities within weeks rather than quarters, providing strategic guidance and specialized talent to help organizations stand up AI competencies rapidly.
• RLHF & Alignment Service Human-in-the-loop training services to align large language models with brand voice, safety requirements, and compliance standards through reinforcement learning from human feedback.
• Gen-AI Implementation Service Integration and fine-tuning services for deploying LLMs into mission-critical business workflows with domain-specific accuracy requirements.
• MLOps & Platform Engineering Service Services for maintaining ML/AI model resilience including CI/CD implementation, drift monitoring, and scalable infrastructure deployment for client AI/ML platforms.
• 2025 AI & Data Science Compensation Report Annual salary benchmarking report built from proprietary first-party data gathered from 866 validated professionals (724 Data Scientists and 162 AI Professionals), providing salary benchmarks, market trends, demographic insights, and hiring trends for AI and Data Science roles.
• 2025 Data Engineering Compensation Report Annual compensation benchmarking report for data engineering professionals covering salary trends, industry demand drivers, and career outlook across cloud, AI, and compliance sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research time on dead IoT devices reduced from 20 minutes to 2 minutes — a 90% reduction — through an AI agent deployed by a client using talent sourced and built by Burtch Works.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Northwestern University Machine Learning & Data SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 July 2023Strategic partnership providing companies with practicum and capstone projects, connecting Northwestern students with real-world data science and AI challenges while building a talent pipeline for Burtch Works clients and candidates.
• Women in Data Science (WiDS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership to boost female representation in Data Science and AI to 30% by 2030. Burtch Works collaborates with WiDS to advance diversity in AI talent through thought leadership, event participation, and talent pipeline development targeting underrepresented groups in data science and AI roles.
• INFORMSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partnership with INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences), supporting Burtch Works' Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) credentialing programs and thought leadership in analytics.
• Women in DataminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partnership with Women in Data organization to support diversity and inclusion initiatives in the data and AI talent ecosystem.
• TAG (Technology Association of Georgia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partnership with TAG to extend Burtch Works' reach into technology communities and support regional talent and employer engagement initiatives.
• Growth AI PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBurtch Works partners with Growth AI Partners for AI ROI frameworks and roadmaps, connecting Burtch Works' talent solutions with Growth AI Partners' AI strategy consulting capabilities for joint client engagements.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• TEKsystems: TEKsystems is one of the largest IT and technology staffing providers in North America, with mature data, cloud, and AI delivery practices. As a broad incumbent, it competes with Burtch Works on enterprise AI and data engineering contract and direct-hire placements at greater scale.
• Robert Half: Robert Half is one of the largest US staffing and consulting firms with a dedicated technology division that places data, AI, and analytics professionals. It serves as a broad incumbent benchmark and increasingly overlaps with Burtch Works on enterprise data-talent mandates.
• Randstad Technologies: Randstad is a global staffing leader with a dedicated technology and data practice serving enterprise clients worldwide. It competes with Burtch Works on AI/data placements and brings international sourcing capability that the boutique currently lacks.
• Kforce: Kforce is a publicly traded US staffing firm with technology and finance practices including data and analytics. It operates as a broader incumbent with cross-category scale that Burtch Works lacks, while overlapping meaningfully in data engineering and analytics placement.
• Vaco: Vaco is a US-based staffing and consulting firm with technology, data, and analytics practices offering contract, direct-hire, and managed services. It overlaps with Burtch Works' service delivery model and target candidate categories at broader scale.
• Insight Global: Insight Global is a large US staffing provider with dedicated IT, data, and engineering practice areas. It is a broad incumbent competitor that has invested in expanding AI/data capabilities, putting it on collision courses with Burtch Works on enterprise staffing RFPs.

Direct peers

• Eliassen Group: Eliassen Group is a US-based staffing and consulting firm specializing in technology, data, and AI talent across consulting, contract, and direct-hire models. It is a strong comparable peer given its dedicated AI/data practice and managed consulting delivery model similar to Burtch Works' SOW services.
• Mondo: Mondo is a US staffing firm specializing in digital, technology, data, and creative talent across contract and direct-hire engagements. It competes with Burtch Works for the same digital and data engineering candidate pool and similar mid-market/enterprise buyers.
• Smith Hanley Associates: Smith Hanley Associates is a US-based specialized recruiter focused on analytics, data science, and consumer insights talent. Its market research and analytics practice overlaps directly with Burtch Works' data and market research service lines.
• Harnham: Harnham is a specialist data, analytics, and AI recruitment firm operating in the US and UK. It is the closest direct peer to Burtch Works, offering contract, permanent, and executive search across highly overlapping candidate categories (data science, analytics, data engineering, AI/ML).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Burtchworks
• Facebookfacebook.com/BurtchWorks
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/burtch-works

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Burtch Works