So you decided to pursue an AI career path and are curious about what your career may look like in a few years?
Or, maybe, you're still deciding if an AI career path is the right track for you.
Either way, we've got you covered! In this article, we'll be sharing:
- AI Careers To Pursue
- The AI Career Path: Roles, Skills, & Progression
- AI Salaries (Entry-Level, Mid-Level, & Senior Level)
- Level-Up Your Game: How To Step Into A New AI Role
AI Careers To Pursue
There are several different career opportunities you can explore in the artificial intelligence field. However, different industries might require more expertise in specific areas.
For example:
- An AI role at a tech startup might focus heavily on natural language processing, recommendation engines, and real-time AI applications to support rapid product innovation.
- An AI role at a healthcare company could emphasize computer vision for medical imaging, predictive analytics for patient outcomes, and ethical AI practices to improve healthcare delivery.
- An AI role at a finance firm could offer opportunities in fraud detection, algorithmic trading, and risk modeling to enhance financial decision-making.
Not all companies will demand every specialty, but every specialty has a place within many different companies!
So, if you're thinking about which AI career you should pursue, it might be a good idea to first consider what kind of company you would like to work for.
Maybe you'd like to work for a company in big tech.
Maybe you're aiming for a recognized brand in healthcare.
Or, maybe, you'd like to join a startup.
You will find different AI opportunities with different scopes and setups. Having clarity about where you'd like to be within a certain time frame is key to deciding which path is right for you.
Most skills you need for an AI career are transferable across different roles, industries, and companies. The purpose of the exercise is so you can look at the opportunities on your horizon and decide where you'd like to be in the short term and eventually down the road!
💡 Pro Tip:
If you're struggling to find out where you'd like to be, check out the article “What Should I Do With My Life? A Step-By-Step Guide” and read it from top to bottom. If “AI” still feels like the right path, head back here and continue reading!
Once you've set your mind on your career path, it's time to understand what roles might be a good fit for you.
The AI Career Path: Roles, Skills, & Progression
We've selected the most common AI roles for each level and their job descriptions. Take a look below!
Entry-Level AI Roles
Most people begin their AI careers in specialist roles, such as:
AI Engineer (Associate)
This role offers hands-on exposure to developing, training, and deploying AI models.
📝 AI Engineer Job Description: Responsible for building and optimizing AI models, implementing algorithms, and working with datasets to improve predictive accuracy.
✅ Skills Required: Programming (Python, R, or Java), machine learning libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn), and data preprocessing.
⬆️ Possible progression: AI Engineers can progress into Senior AI Engineer or Machine Learning Engineer roles.
Machine Learning Engineer (Junior)
This role focuses on applying statistical methods and algorithms to real-world problems.
📝 Machine Learning Engineer Job Description: Responsible for training models, validating results, and deploying solutions into production systems.
✅ Requirements: Proficiency in Python or R, knowledge of ML algorithms, and cloud experience (AWS, GCP, Azure).
⬆️ Possible progression: Machine Learning Engineers can progress into Senior ML Engineer or AI Scientist roles.
Data Scientist (AI-focused)
This role bridges AI with data science, applying AI models to extract insights and make predictions.
📝 Data Scientist Job Description: Responsible for statistical modeling, predictive analytics, and AI-driven insights.
✅ Requirements: Strong analytical skills, programming, and experience with AI frameworks.
⬆️ Possible progression: Data Scientists can progress into Senior Data Scientist or Research Scientist roles.
Mid-Level AI Roles
As you gain experience, mid-level roles often involve leading projects or teams. Some common mid-level AI roles include:
Senior AI Engineer
At this level, professionals are responsible for managing complex AI projects, mentoring junior engineers, and improving system performance.
📝 Senior AI Engineer Job Description: Responsible for designing scalable AI systems, implementing advanced models, and coordinating across engineering and product teams.
✅ Skills Required: Deep understanding of ML/AI frameworks, distributed systems, data engineering, and leadership.
⬆️ Possible progression: Senior AI Engineers can advance to roles like AI Architect or Research Scientist.
Research Scientist
This role focuses on exploring new algorithms, architectures, and methodologies to push the field forward.
📝 Research Scientist Job Description: Responsible for publishing research, developing prototypes, and advancing state-of-the-art AI techniques.
✅ Skills Required: PhD or equivalent expertise, strong math/statistics, deep learning, and problem formulation.
⬆️ Possible progression: Research Scientists can move into Principal Scientist or Head of Research roles.
Applied AI Specialist
This role involves tailoring AI applications to specific domains such as NLP, computer vision, or robotics.
📝 Applied AI Specialist Job Description: Responsible for integrating AI into domain-specific solutions, optimizing performance, and ensuring real-world usability.
✅ Skills Required: Domain knowledge (e.g., healthcare, robotics), applied ML/AI, and software engineering.
⬆️ Possible progression: Applied AI Specialists can progress to Principal Engineer or Technical Lead roles.
Senior-Level AI Roles
Senior-level roles involve shaping AI strategy, research leadership, and organizational decision-making.
AI Architect
AI Architects are responsible for setting the overall AI systems design strategy and ensuring scalability and efficiency.
📝 AI Architect Job Description: Responsible for defining AI platforms, overseeing deployments, and ensuring AI aligns with organizational goals.
✅ Skills Required: AI strategy, architecture design, scalability, and cross-functional leadership.
⬆️ Possible progression: AI Architects can move up to roles such as Director of AI.
Principal Research Scientist
This role requires advanced expertise and leadership in AI research.
📝 Principal Research Scientist Job Description: Responsible for leading groundbreaking research, collaborating with academic and industry partners, and guiding innovation.
✅ Skills Required: Advanced research, leadership, innovation, and academic/industry collaboration.
⬆️ Possible progression: Principal Scientists can advance to Head of Research or Chief AI Scientist.
Director of AI
This role oversees the AI function across an organization.
📝 Director of AI Job Description: Responsible for setting AI vision, managing teams, aligning research and applied projects with business strategy, and ensuring ethical AI practices.
✅ Skills Required: Leadership, strategic thinking, AI ethics, and budget management.
⬆️ Possible progression: Directors of AI can move up to executive roles such as VP of AI or Chief AI Officer.
AI Salaries (Entry-Level, Mid-Level, & Senior Level)
Now that we’ve covered the most common AI career paths, you might be asking yourself what the pay range is for each role.
To answer this question, let’s head over to one of our favorite tools for salary research: Glassdoor.
According to Glassdoor, the base salary for the most common AI roles in 2025 are:
AI Engineering Roles:
- AI Engineer (Entry-Level): $93K – $152K / year base pay
- Senior AI Engineer (Mid-Level): $137K – $218K / year base pay
- AI Architect (Senior-Level): $99K – $178K / year base pay
Research Roles:
- Machine Learning Engineer (Entry-Level): $100K – $149K / year base pay
- Research Scientist (Mid-Level): $119K – $183K / year base pay
- Principal Research Scientist (Senior-Level): $151K – $223K / year base pay
Leadership Roles:
- Data Scientist (AI-focused) (Entry-Level): $112K – $136K / year base pay
- Applied AI Specialist (Mid-Level): $99K – $145K / year base pay
- Director of AI (Senior-Level): $121K – $187K / year base pay
Level-Up Your Game: How To Step Into A New AI Role
Whether you're looking for an entry-level job in AI or aiming to advance in your AI career, it's important to know that you don't necessarily need a graduate degree or specialization to move up the AI career ladder. Your unique experience and skills can go a long way, as long as you learn how to sell them!
Here are a few tips and tricks that will help you land your next AI role.
1. Run A Resume Scan To Find Out Skill Gaps In Your Target Role
Wondering if you are the right fit for that target role you've been eyeing?
We've got you covered.
Here's a simple, step-by-step guide to find out if you have the skills to land a job in AI:
- Copy the job description of the AI role that sparked your interest
- Head over to ResyMatch.io (or use our shortcut below)
- Grab a copy of your most updated resume
- Upload your resume on the left side
- Paste the job description on the right side
- Hit “Start Resume Scan”
Boom! ResyMatch will compare and score your resume against the job's description and identify missing skill gaps, such as:
ResyMatch will also make sure your resume is ATS compatible. And of course, ResyMatch will provide suggestions and outline best practices you can use to edit and improve your resume!
Use our shortcut below to get started:
Scanning...
2. Update Your Resume With Compelling Resume Bullets
After you've compared your resume against your target job description, you will likely find yourself in one of two scenarios:
1. You have some missing skills that you'll need to master before taking on a new role — if that's the case, you can take action and start building those skills through online courses and a portfolio strategy.
OR…
2. You have already mastered most of the skills — if that's the case, all you need to do is update your resume with compelling resume bullets, leveraging the keywords found in your resume and job description scan.
To get started, you'll want your resume bullets to have just the right amount of hard and soft skills, action words, measurable results, and common words.
This means a compelling resume bullet for someone applying for an AI role might look something like this:
Developed deep learning model that reduced false positives by 32% in fraud detection.
This bullet focuses on AI-specific skills while also showcasing measurable results!
To help you write the perfect resume bullet, we've created ResyBullet.io, a free resume bullet analyzer that helps you write your resume in a way that grabs attention and illustrates value. Simply copy and paste your resume bullet below to begin your analysis:
ResyBullet will analyze and score your resume bullet and give you actionable insights for improvement.
Here's how our resume bullet scored on ResyBullet:
If you're a visual learner, check out our video that walks you through the step-by-step of writing a crazy-effective resume bullet:
3. Build A Visually Appealing, ATS-Friendly Resume
Now that you've updated the content on your resume, it's time to transfer it over to an awesome layout that's also ATS-friendly.
We recommend using a resume template so you can save the time you'd normally spend designing your resume and instead allocate it to your job search.
You can use ResyBuild.io, a free AI resume builder, to easily build and customize your resume in no time. Just pick one of the templates below and get started:
Free Job-Winning Resume Templates, Build Yours In No Time.
Choose a resume template below to get started:
Choose from 8 proven templates and easily create, edit, and customize your resume. ResyBuild's AI assistant also helps you craft personalized, job-winning bullets in a single click. Simply add your experience, hit “Optimize,” and watch the magic happen.
4. Don't Apply Online — Do This Instead
The most common next step in the process is to start applying for AI roles.
While applying online can absolutely be the next step in your job search, the truth is, it will only get you so far. In fact, only 2% of resumes submitted for the average open role end up reaching the interview stage.
Sure, optimizing your resume will boost your chances of being a part of that 2%.
But some estimates, like this one from the Wall Street Journal, show that 80% of hires come from referrals.
This means your best shot at landing the role you've been eying is through networking.
And no, we're not talking about attending conferences, events, and meetups. We're talking about a fresh approach that really builds relationships and gets your resume at the top of the resume pile at companies like Microsoft, Google, Uber, and more.
You can read all about it in our flagship guide for effective job searching:
Read More: How To Get A Job Anywhere Without Applying Online
Final Notes
Whether you're just starting out or looking to advance in your AI career, getting clarity on the possibilities ahead of you can help you navigate your career with more ease.
Just don't forget: your career path isn't set in stone. Jobs and career goals will often evolve with life transitions. Always remember that your career should adapt to fit your life and not the other way around.
