AI engineer career path at tech companies · 220 roles · 90 days to Oct 16, 2026
Updated
In short
Of the 220 AI engineer roles at tech companies in the 90 days to Oct 16, 2026, 64 are senior, more than at any other level. Prompt Engineering rises most. Among the roles whose requirements we could read, it is required in 11 of 53 (21%) mid-level roles and 19 of 64 (30%) senior roles. Machine learning engineer roles share 6 of the 11 required skills listed for AI engineer roles; no other role shares more.
Levels in order
Each level counts its own roles. A median shows only where 50 or more of that level’s roles state pay, and each is taken over a different set of roles.
| Level | Roles | Median stated pay | At least half ask for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior AI engineer | 15 roles | Not shown | 1+ year, 10 of 11 |
| Mid-level AI engineer | 53 roles | Not shown | 3+ years, 49 of 50 (98%) |
| Senior AI engineer | 64 roles | Not shown | 5+ years, 46 of 50 (92%) |
| Staff AI engineer | 25 roles | Not shown | 5+ years, 20 of 22 |
| Principal AI engineer | 16 roles | Not shown | 10+ years, 8 of 12 |
| Lead AI engineer | 11 roles | Not shown | 8+ years, 7 of 9 |
Lead titles say who leads a team, not a step above principal, so lead is listed last and not compared with the level before it.
What rises at the next level
Required skills asked for in a larger share of roles at the next level, by 5 points or more. Each count is out of that level’s roles whose requirements we could read.
Mid-level to senior
Out of 53 mid-level and 64 senior roles whose requirements we read.
| Skill | Mid-level | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt Engineering | 11 of 53 (21%) | 19 of 64 (30%) |
| CI/CD | 14 of 53 (26%) | 21 of 64 (33%) |
| Machine Learning | 15 of 53 (28%) | 21 of 64 (33%) |
In the senior top 15, not in the mid-level top 15: Generative AI, TypeScript
Not compared, fewer than 50 roles read at one of the two levels: junior to mid-level, senior to staff and staff to principal.
Roles closest to AI engineer, by shared skills
Compared over each role’s most-required skills, umbrella labels such as “Programming” left out. The more skills two roles share, the shorter the move between them.
Machine learning engineer323 roles
6 shared: Python, AI, LLMs, Machine Learning, AWS, CI/CD
Median stated pay: $218.9k a year
Forward deployed engineer170 roles
6 shared: Python, AI, LLMs, AI Agents, Machine Learning, AWS
Median stated pay: $198.9k a year
Research scientist122 roles
5 shared: Python, AI, LLMs, AI Agents, Machine Learning
Median stated pay: $242.5k a year
Data scientist416 roles
4 shared: Python, AI, LLMs, Machine Learning
Median stated pay: $190k a year
More on AI engineer roles
How we count: 220 roles from 183 employers in the 90 days to Oct 16, 2026, each role counted once however many boards post it. Methodology