The top 10 highest-paying AI jobs

A growing number of jobs in artificial intelligence (AI) offer a lucrative career opportunity for those with the necessary skills, according to a new report from Glassdoor.

Estimating pay for AI jobs is difficult, because compensation for these roles is often complex, with a significant share of pay in stock options or restricted stock units that are hard to value, Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, wrote in the report.

Base pay is the most accurately reported portion of pay, and though it doesn't included bonuses or stock-related payments, it's a useful benchmark and was used for this report, Chamberlain noted. And even without counting for those additional compensations, the highest-paying AI jobs studied here already rank among the top-earning jobs in America today.

The overall average base pay for AI jobs in this sample was $111,118 per year—more than twice the US median base pay for full-time workers of $51,220 per year. However, the range is wide in both pay and type of positions, including roles in tech, sales, marketing, and research.

SEE: Special report: How to implement AI and machine learning (free PDF)

Here are the top 10 highest paying AI job openings as of October 2017, along with the metro area and industry they are found in:

1. Director of AI

City: San Francisco

Pay: $257,269

Industry: Internet & tech

2. Vice president of AI product management

City: San Jose

Pay: $249,500

Industry: Marketing & advertising

3. Data engineer for deep learning

City: San Jose

Pay: $243,623

Industry: Computer software & hardware

4. Attorney for AI division

City: Los Angeles

Pay: $203,710

Industry: Internet & tech

5. Deep learning engineer for self-driving cars

City: San Francisco

Pay: $203,450

Industry: Consulting

6. Director of marketing for AI

City: San Jose

Pay: $202,876

Industry: Manufacturing

7. Director of machine learning and AI

City: San Jose

Pay: $200,627

Industry: Computer software & hardware

8. Director of technical sales for AI

City: San Francisco

Pay: $190,098

Industry: Computer software & hardware

9. Director of research for AI

City: Seattle

Pay: $188,966

Industry: Computer software & hardware

10. Software engineering lead for AI

City: Seattle

Pay: $188,966

Industry: Retail

In terms of companies hiring AI talent today, Amazon, NVIDIA, and Microsoft lead the pack, Glassdoor found. However, as you can see on this list, a growing number of employers in the financial services, consulting and government sectors are also emerging as major employers of AI talent.

And while the list of industries using AI is growing, most open AI jobs today are still located in a few metro areas: Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City, Glassdoor found.

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