AI Eng offers skew more senior levels than SWEs

AI Eng are more expensive on both a per unit and in aggregate basis

AI / ML Engineering appears to carry both a compensation premium and a leveling premium over Software Engineering.

The AI comp premiums range from about ~10-15% on base salary to ~30-50% on total comp, although median premiums have come down some while the top of the market continues to spike.

But you see premiums in levels too:

Distribution of offers, US ICs, 2022-Present; Source: Compa

This image shows the distribution of offers across individual contributor levels in the US over the past couple years — AI Eng skews more senior.

The absence of early career AI Eng offers is especially interesting. Only 21.5% of AI Eng offers are below P3, compared to 36.5% of SW Eng. I expect this to shift as more and more NCGs market fresh technology skills.

Looking at the Manager levels is less conclusive though:

Distribution of offers, US Ms, 2022-Present; Source: Compa

While there are fewer M1 (Supervisor) leading AI, M5 (Sr Dir) shows more than 2x as many SW Eng leaders. I suspect that while some AI / ML engineers report into an AI-focused organization, many are integrated within software engineering teams.

Premiums compound

Note that the cost of AI / ML Engineering is not only higher on a per unit basis (cost within levels), it’s also higher in aggregate (distribution of levels).

With a 10% premium on base over SWEs, hiring 100 AI Eng costs 20% more

So if you’re planning to hire up in SWE/AIE and partnering with Finance on workforce planning, take both into account.

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