diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
index 9b349d6bd..162079a3c 100644
--- a/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ progress.when = "auto"
 [target.x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu]
 linker = "clang"
 rustflags = [
+    # mold is the default for local + CI. CI optionally swaps to `wild`
+    # via an in-script sed before `cargo build` (see compile-and-deploy
+    # WorkflowTemplate); both linkers are installed in
+    # Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu. Keeping mold as the file default means
+    # local dev works out-of-the-box with the more widely packaged linker.
     "-C", "link-arg=-fuse-ld=mold",
     "-C", "link-arg=-Wl,-z,relro,-z,now",
     "-C", "link-arg=-Wl,--as-needed",
diff --git a/infra/docker/Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu b/infra/docker/Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu
index f689a54bf..60826e9cc 100644
--- a/infra/docker/Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu
+++ b/infra/docker/Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # CUDA-free CI builder image for Foxhunt service compilation
 # ~2-3GB vs ~8GB for the CUDA devel variant (Dockerfile.ci-builder)
-# Contains: Rust 1.89, protoc, sccache, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, kubectl, git, OpenSSL, clang, mold, lld, make,
+# Contains: Rust 1.89, protoc, sccache, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, kubectl, git, OpenSSL, clang, mold, wild, lld, make,
 #           CUDA nvcc/cudart-dev/cublas-dev (for cudarc .cubin precompilation in ml-* crate builds)
 # Base: Ubuntu 24.04 (glibc 2.39) — matches local dev and training runtime
 # Build: docker build -f infra/docker/Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu -t foxhunt-ci-builder-cpu .
@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@ RUN curl -fsSL https://github.com/rui314/mold/releases/download/v2.35.1/mold-2.3
     | tar xz -C /usr/local --strip-components=1 \
     && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mold
 
+# wild linker — Rust-native, typically 10-30% faster than mold on link.
+# Drop-in replacement; selected per-build via RUSTFLAGS=-Clink-arg=-fuse-ld=wild
+# (CI sets that override). Local dev keeps mold via .cargo/config.toml.
+# Single static musl binary; mold stays as fallback if wild ever regresses.
+RUN curl -fsSL https://github.com/wild-linker/wild/releases/download/0.8.0/wild-linker-0.8.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz \
+    | tar xz -C /tmp \
+    && mv /tmp/wild-linker-0.8.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/wild /usr/local/bin/wild \
+    && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wild \
+    && rm -rf /tmp/wild-linker-0.8.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
+
 # protoc 28.3 (proto3 optional support, matches local dev)
 RUN curl -fsSL https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v28.3/protoc-28.3-linux-x86_64.zip -o /tmp/protoc.zip \
     && unzip -o /tmp/protoc.zip -d /usr/local bin/protoc 'include/*' \
@@ -80,4 +90,4 @@ RUN curl -fsSL https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu24
 ENV PATH="/usr/local/cuda-12.6/bin:${PATH}"
 
 # Verify
-RUN rustc --version && cargo --version && git --version && protoc --version && sccache --version && make --version && mold --version && tofu --version && terragrunt --version && kubectl version --client && nvcc --version
+RUN rustc --version && cargo --version && git --version && protoc --version && sccache --version && make --version && mold --version && wild --version && tofu --version && terragrunt --version && kubectl version --client && nvcc --version
diff --git a/infra/k8s/argo/compile-and-deploy-template.yaml b/infra/k8s/argo/compile-and-deploy-template.yaml
index 1fd8585f5..ee4384bf9 100644
--- a/infra/k8s/argo/compile-and-deploy-template.yaml
+++ b/infra/k8s/argo/compile-and-deploy-template.yaml
@@ -288,6 +288,23 @@ spec:
               CARGO_ARGS="$CARGO_ARGS -p $pkg"
             done
 
+            # CI-only linker swap: prefer wild over mold. wild is a Rust-native
+            # linker, typically 10-30% faster than mold on release-LTO links;
+            # we have ~5 service binaries each doing release-LTO, so this is
+            # a meaningful 30-90 sec wall-time saving. Both linkers ship in
+            # Dockerfile.ci-builder-cpu — to revert, drop this sed and rebuild.
+            # Sed is idempotent (no-op if wild already substituted from a prior
+            # run on the same PVC checkout) and surgical (single line in
+            # .cargo/config.toml). If wild is missing for any reason, the build
+            # falls back to mold once we revert this hunk.
+            if command -v wild >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "=== Swapping linker mold -> wild for this CI run ==="
+              sed -i 's|-fuse-ld=mold|-fuse-ld=wild|' .cargo/config.toml
+              grep -n 'fuse-ld' .cargo/config.toml || true
+            else
+              echo "WARN: wild not on PATH, sticking with mold"
+            fi
+
             echo "=== Building service binaries: $SERVICE_PKGS (incremental) ==="
             # --locked: skip Cargo.lock resolver work (~5-15s saved) and fail fast
             # if the lock has drifted (catches accidental Cargo.toml edits without