Dive Brief:
- Demand for enterprise AI has increased salaries for senior technologists with AI and machine learning expertise, according to a report from VC firm Menlo Ventures published Wednesday. The company gathered salary data from recruiting firms Harrison Clarke and Riviera Partners.
- Total cash compensation for individual contributor roles in these high-demand categories ranges between $265,000 to $350,000 including base salary and bonuses, according to the report.
- “Companies should approach hiring for AI roles with strategic precision," said Tigran Sloyan, CEO of Menlo Ventures-backed startup CodeSignal, in the report. "Over the last few years, a new set of engineering jobs and skills has been created … and the exact skill set you need depends on what layer of the stack you operate in.”
Dive Insight:
AI talent continues to bring in higher compensation, a trend fueled by sweeping enterprise interest in adopting the technology.
Salaries for senior AI talent easily surpass compensation for overall technologists, who earned on average $111,193 per year in 2023, according to Dice data. The short supply of AI experts is driving recruitment competition across sectors.
“Applied research scientists in particular are in high demand," said Firas Sozan, CEO of Harrison Clarke, in the report. "Not only are startups and big tech competing for talent, but increasingly, incubation labs and venture capital firms ... are actively seeking research scientists as potential future founders"
Use of AI in different parts of the organization is also shaping hiring across IT.
In a sign of rising demand, AI developers earned an average yearly salary of $160,000, pushing the job category to the top 10 highest-paid IT positions for the first time, according to a September Stack Overflow survey.
The rush for AI experts contrasts with signs of cooling in the broader tech talent market. Unemployment has slowly but persistently crept up this year, rising to 3.4% in August up from 2.1% in August 2023, according to a CompTIA review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
