Citadel is stepping up its recruitment of quantitative investment specialists, extending its search for talent into artificial intelligence laboratories as hedge funds increasingly compete with technology companies for researchers, according tp a report by Bloomberg.

The report cites Navneet Arora, head of Global Quantitative Strategies as saying that the hedge fund’s quantitative investing operation, which has about 180 employees spanning financial research and data engineering, is planning to grow its workforce at a double-digit annual rate over the coming year.

The expansion includes a new team headed by Alexey Poyarkov, who recently joined Citadel from TGS Management and is focused on systematic trading strategies across global equities.

Citadel is continuing to recruit university graduates while broadening its search to researchers working at AI organisations, including Google DeepMind. The firm is looking for specialists who can develop investment concepts and use increasingly sophisticated AI systems to translate those ideas into trading strategies.

Arora said the growing use of AI is changing the skill set required by quantitative investment teams rather than eliminating the need for human researchers. As machines become more capable of handling coding and other technical processes, the ability to identify investment opportunities and direct automated systems towards them is becoming more important.

Citadel’s Tactical Trading fund, which combines fundamental equity investing with quantitative techniques, gained 24.7% in the first eight months of 2026, according to a person familiar with the results. The strategy has generated an annualised return of about 20% since its launch in 2008.

Citadel manages approximately $76bn across equities, fixed income and commodities, with multi-billion-dollar allocations dedicated to quantitative strategies. Arora said the additional hiring is intended to reinforce the firm's established equities franchise while expanding its capabilities in areas including futures and volatility.

The recruitment drive comes as AI has widened the competition for quantitative talent. Hedge funds and proprietary trading firms are increasingly competing with Silicon Valley companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, for researchers with advanced machine-learning expertise.