The buzz around artificial intelligence doesn't stop in 2024. We hear it from large corporations investing millions of dollars and small start-ups that follow the trend. Implementing AI solutions in daily operations is not only about efficiency and automation. It's now about staying competitive and flexible.

AI technology is here to change our operations and the ways we interact with each other. And the impact it brings to the global economy is immense. PwC predicts that by 2030, it will be $15.7 trillion. Now feel how significantly the demand influences the global job market and the overall AI engineer salary.

Stepping into this path of constant competition, get prepared with what you can expect if you want to advance. How much do AI engineers make, and what should you consider hiring the best? From East to West, from different industries to various seniority levels, let us guide you through one of the hottest topics that is on managers' minds.

How Much Do AI Engineers Make? Representative Numbers

When you hire a skilled AI engineer to your team, it's not enough to only set up the budget. Even if you only wonder how to find developers for a startup, the market research is a must. The sampling of remote specialists across countries, industries, and seniority levels will help you understand the estimated conditions for potential cooperation.

Artificial intelligence engineer salary across regions

With more businesses adopting the remote ways of working, you're not limited by your location only. So, it's important to assess your local market, but also the market of the regions where your specialists come from. AI skills are assessed differently, depending on the economic situation of the region, the living wages, and the competition.

Based on our experience in various IT recruitment services and assisting many clients with IT staff augmentation, we will focus on the US, Asia, Europe, and LATAM markets.

USA

According to Glassdoor, the AI engineer salary in the USA ranges between $121K and $191K with the average AI engineer salary being $ 108K. These are the latest numbers for summer 2024. If we look at the breakdown into big cities and different states, the following ones are the most competitive:

State

San Francisco, CA

Annual salary

$136.2K

New York, NY

Annual salary

$123.4K

Los Angeles, CA

Annual salary

$113.2K

Boston, MA

Annual salary

$106.1K

Washington, DC

Annual salary

$105.3K

Source: Glassdoor

Asia

The AI engineer average salary in the Asian region is lower than in the USA for some areas, and similar for others. Since AI is making its path in all regions and industries, the demand for the AI expertise is also growing in the East. The average breakdown per country will be the following:

Country

South Korea

Annual salary

$66.2K

Japan

Annual salary

$64.5K

China

Annual salary

$57K — $143K (significant variations in different cities and regions)

Singapore

Annual salary

$54K

Thailand

Annual salary

$29K

Philippines

Annual salary

$17.5K

India

Annual salary

$14K

Source: Economic Research Institute

Europe

In Europe, the demand for AI engineers is also growing, making an artificial intelligence salary grow accordingly. If the western market is more established, specialists from Central and Eastern Europe have lower rates, but at the same time maintain the similar professional benchmark.

Country

Denmark

Annual salary

$89K

Germany

Annual salary

$77.2K

Sweden

Annual salary

$75K

Finland

Annual salary

$60K

France

Annual salary

$57K

Poland

Annual salary

$50K

Italy

Annual salary

$38K

Spain

Annual salary

$38K

Hungary

Annual salary

$36K

Source: Glassdoor

LATAM

The AI landscape in Latin America is also dynamic, with bigger cities and hubs attracting more significant investments and offering better opportunities. Here, location is one of the main changing factors, because the diversity in countries' development is not homogeneous across areas. The average artificial intelligence engineer salary looks in the following way:

State

Chile

Annual salary

$37K

Mexico

Annual salary

$33K

Argentina

Annual salary

$30K

Brazil

Annual salary

$22K

Colombia

Annual salary

$22K

Source: Economic Research Institute

Closer look into industries

It's clear that the specialization is in demand around the world. But putting locations aside, how much does an AI engineer make across industries? Is the distribution of specialists equal? The answer is no. Quite predictably, the booming industry is tech and software development, with the biggest unicorns competing for the best talents in the market. According to Glassdoor, the top paying companies for AI engineer jobs are tech giants Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM.

The second in demand industry investing heavily in AI is finance and banking. Not only do they transform their banking systems, but also invest in AI in cybersecurity, fraud detection, and risk management. Among the big players in the sector, there are HSBC and JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and various fintech startups.

Another promising sector is healthcare and pharmaceuticals. AI implementation in healthcare touches such areas as drug discovery, medical image analysis, robotic-assisted surgery, and personalized treatments. That's why the median compensation for Software Engineers focused on AI ranges between $115K–$150K per year. Top AI implementors in the industry include Pfizer, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson.

Finally, retail and e-commerce transform at a quick pace, changing their every day users' experience. AI projects in the sector are mostly related to implementation of virtual assistants across customer support, inventory management, personal recommendations, and analytics. Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, and Alibaba lead the industry.

AI engineer starting salary and beyond: from Junior to Senior positions

Even though many developers are switching careers to ML/AI to meet the market demand and get higher compensations, companies still require a certain amount of experience, which is reflected in the salary range. When you hire AI engineers, stick to the following breakdown of experience and skill levels:

• Junior. Some consider junior positions of up to 3 years of experience, others mark 0–2 years of experience. Juniors still work under guidance and can manage simpler tasks, such as data cleansing, or model training. AI engineer starting salary for a junior usually serves as a baseline in your budget. It will be a starting point for your further salary increase for middle and senior positions.

• Middle. Middle specialists typically have 3–5 years of experience. They are more experienced in AI concepts and can work independently. Artificial intelligence engineer salary for the middle positions typically increases to 50–75% from the junior ones.

• Senior. With over 6 years of experience, senior specialists can deal with complex projects and be involved in strategic and managerial tasks. They can define the project scope and lead a team of junior and middle specialists. Senior AI engineers salary can be 100–150% higher than the junior positions.

What Factors Affect an AI Engineer Salary?

As you have seen it with the regions, the artificial intelligence salary you will pay to engineers are going to change significantly depending on numerous factors. If you are only at the beginning of your AI journey and need to assess how to start an AI business, consider the following factors:

• Location. It's not only the location of your business, but also the location of your developers, especially if you have a remote model. Hiring someone from the US or the Eastern Europe will change your budget significantly.

• Experience level. Earlier mentioned breakdown through junior, middle, and senior positions will change the final compensation for a specialist. But this factor usually depends on your needs and the specifics of your projects. If you have some complicated tasks that only a senior will manage, plan the budget accordingly.

• Industry. Even if the above-mentioned industries, such as tech or healthcare, invest in AI, they don't have the same budgets. Before you hire ML engineers for your future projects, assess the situation in your segment.

• Skills and specializations. Typically, the better the skills and the more specific the specialization of your project, the higher AI engineer's salary should be. The same applies to the experience with a specific tool.

• Education. Specialists with a degree and additional certificates are paid more, and you will assess them in the different way than specialists without a degree or with their educational program still in progress.

Global Impact of AI on the Economy

In addition to earlier mentioned global GDP growth, AI is believed to bring significant transformations in the job market. It's considered one of the main contributors to efficiency of operations, increased productivity, and geopolitical competition.

Jobs

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the implementation of AI across industries, 40% of jobs will be affected. It doesn't mean they will disappear, but they will transform or give way to the new ones. They believe that AI will not only automate routine tasks, but will also impact high-skilled specializations. At the same time, as National Bureau of Economic Research states, AI continues increasing the productivity, especially among low-skilled specialists, improving it to up to 34%.

Transition between jobs

With the shift in sectors, we expect the shifts in skill demands, which will make the specialists adapt quicker to the evolving market. Younger specialists will be more likely to switch between areas of demand. But the older generation will remain the most vulnerable.

Inequality levels

According to IMF report, in emerging markets and developing economies where initial inequality is more significant, AI has the potential to widen wealth gaps and significantly lower wage disparity. However, if AI adoption is more limited and evenly distributed, these effects could be mitigated.

Revenue growth

In their survey, McKinsey & Company show that 42% of the surveyed organizations reported cost reduction from implementing AI in their organizations, while at the same time flagging the revenue increase (59%). This is one of the main indicators that companies will continue adopting AI in the coming years.

Jobs Related to AI Engineering

With the broad range of tasks, the responsibilities of an AI engineer often cross with those of other specializations. The closest related positions include ML engineer, Data engineer, and Data scientists. They share common tasks in terms of design, development, and implementation of machine learning algorithms.

Other similar positions include Robotics engineer, NLP engineer, and Research scientist. The fit of one role or another will depend on your project requirements.

It's important to highlight that due to the constantly growing demand for AI specialists, their average compensation is slightly higher than the one of their non-AI counterparts. For example, junior AI engineers get around 8% more than their non-AI colleagues, while the senior positions can have up to 12% of difference.

Average AI Engineer Salary Predictions for the Upcoming Years

For the time being, the demand for AI specialists is higher than the number of specialists in the market. With the growing interest in AI implementation around businesses, we expect that the number of sought-after specialists and their salaries will continue to grow as well.

The main contributors to this growth are increasing number of investments into AI, ongoing technological advancements, and global competition. However, we shouldn't forget about the inflation level in every region and the appearance of new specialists, which can change the numbers significantly.

FAQ

by Viktoria Semeniuk
on July 18, 2024. Share on LinkedIn Post on Twitter

Viktoria is our Talent Acquisition specialist, the talent guru of Outstaff Your Team. With extensive experience in IT, programming, and HR, she is the one who finds the best tech talent gems across markets and geographic locations. Meticulously working with the requirements for the job offerings, she identifies and engages the best candidates that will be the future match for the tech positions. She elaborates sourcing strategy and keeps her finger on the pulse with the competitive market.