Navigating Your Artificial Intelligence Career Path

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming a part of everyday life and is revolutionizing how we live and work. If you’re starting out on an AI career path, it’s an exciting time as technology develops, creating more AI jobs for those with the right skills. According to Bain and Company, by 2027, the AI market could be worth a record $990 billion. With it, AI workloads could grow by up to 35 percent [1]. 

AI encompasses many things, including machine learning, robotics, cloud computing, and cognitive computing. Many industries also use AI, from health care to manufacturing, internet security, and retail. This means you’ll find many job opportunities and can choose where your interests and skills align best. Discover 10 potential AI positions, including requirements, salaries, and job outlooks to help you progress on your artificial intelligence career path.

*All annual base salary data is sourced from Glassdoor as of February 2025 and does not include additional pay, such as commission and benefits.

1. Machine learning engineer

Median annual US salary: $121,794 

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 36 percent [2]

Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in computer science or similar. Some employers ask for a master’s degree for more senior or management-level roles.

As a machine learning engineer, you create machine learning models and algorithms for machine learning applications. This helps machines learn and develop by analyzing and reacting to outcomes. Your role will involve software engineering and working with and analyzing large volumes of data to predict outcomes and identify patterns. 

The role of a machine learning engineer spans many industries. As such, you may find positions in health care, IT, cybersecurity, and even agriculture—such as supporting precision agriculture to improve crop levels.

2. Data scientist

Median annual US salary: $115,398

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 36 percent [2]

Requirements: A bachelor’s or graduate degree in computer science, math, business, engineering, or similar. You may need a master’s for some positions.

As a data scientist, you collect, clean, analyze, and present data to solve a specific problem. You work with large data sets, which you gather from various sources, including web scraping and surveys. You have excellent analytical and technical skills, which you use to build algorithms and models to categorize data while predicting patterns and trends. You present data in a way that is accessible to all who need to use it, using visualization tools such as graphs and charts. Data scientists work predominantly in an office setting in a range of industries. You may choose to specialize in a field in which you have a background or relevant skills. Many data scientists work with AI systems, analyzing AI programs to support decisions about AI technology.

3. Robotics engineer

Median annual US salary: $111,811

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 11 percent [3]

Requirements: A bachelor's degree in computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or robotics engineering. 

As a robotics engineer, you look after the design, development, maintenance, testing, and improvement of robots and automated systems. You have a unique skill set combining mechanical engineering, computer science, and electronics, so you can create robotics that operate in various sectors, including manufacturing, IT, automotive, aerospace, textiles, and mining. 

Using AI technology like autonomous navigation and object recognition, you may create robotics to take over human duties or systems that work alongside humans. To make a start in this field, you might consider an entry-level role—such as a robotics technician—to build your experience.

4. Computer vision engineer

Median annual US salary: $123,720

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 11 percent [3]

Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, or similar, with experience in deep learning and machine learning, plus programming skills.

As a computer vision engineer, you are an expert in using computer vision to solve problems, gathering and working with large volumes of data using machine learning systems. You'll use AI technology to help computers and systems extract information from visuals supporting technology such as facial recognition and image enhancement.

A computer vision engineer is highly technical, so you may start in an entry-level role to gain some relevant experience in data science or software engineering. 

Read more: 21 Examples of Computer Vision Applications Across Industries

5. Natural language processing engineer

Median annual US salary: $92,265

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 36 percent [2]

Requirements: An associate or bachelor’s degree in engineering, data science, and computer science, and relevant experience. For higher-level positions, you may need a master’s degree.

As a natural language processing (NLP) engineer, you design natural language processing systems through AI technology to add speech recognition—such as what you’ll see with office assistants like Alexa or Google Home, allowing your device to understand what you are saying. You may also work with text analytics to analyze text to understand how people relate to a brand, and with language translation.

You might consider an internship to grow your skills and experience in this role, which relies heavily on technical skills.

Read more: What Does an NLP Engineer Do?

6. AI research scientist

Median annual US salary: $131,341

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 26 percent [4]

Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in a relevant major, such as math, physics, computer science, or electrical engineering. You’ll also need a master’s degree, as this is an academic, theoretical role. 

As an AI research scientist, you research, analyze, and develop new models, systems, and algorithms to support AI advancements. You’ll most likely work in an academic setting, such as a university or research center, and take a theoretical approach. 

As well as working on research and development, you’ll likely publish papers and collaborate with other professionals such as data scientists and engineers.

7. AI ethicist

Median annual US salary: $106,555

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 5 percent [5]

Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, social science, or philosophy, with a master’s degree in AI, with a focus on ethics.

As an AI ethicist, you must ensure that AI advancements and applications are ethically deployed and managed. In this role, you will most likely be part of an AI team, working closely with those developing AI technology. You’ll ensure compliance with legal frameworks, mitigate risk, and create AI ethics guidelines and policies to stop ethical concerns from emerging or escalating.

Your ethical responsibilities extend to human rights, trust in AI, promoting responsible research, economic impact, and mitigating serious harm.

8. Business intelligence (BI) analyst with AI expertise

Median annual US salary: $100,540

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 11 percent [6]

Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in a major such as computer science or information technology with electives in business subjects.

As a business intelligence analyst with AI expertise, your role is to collect, analyze, review, and share business data relating to finance and marketing. This will help you identify trends and patterns to help grow and improve a business. You’ll use AI business intelligence tools to analyze data and present it as a report or on a dashboard.

Through AI business intelligence tools, you’ll use machine learning algorithms to analyze data. You’re also likely to automate routine tasks like data collection and produce visuals to share information effectively. 

9. Cybersecurity analyst

Median annual US salary: $103,674

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 33 percent [7]

Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, engineering, math, or similar. However, you may be able to enter the field with certifications and relevant experience.

As a cybersecurity analyst with expertise in AI, you’ll protect your company’s network, hardware, software, and systems against cyber attacks. How? By assessing threats and improving security systems.

In recent years, cybersecurity professionals have been using AI tools to speed up threat detection and appropriate responses, as well as encryption to protect data.

10. AI user experience (UX) designer

Median annual US salary: $81,559

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 17 percent [8]

Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in design, software engineering, or marketing with relevant experience and a portfolio.

As a UX designer, you are responsible for how well a website or software functions from the user's perspective. You design interfaces and test them to ensure they run smoothly, look good, and do their job. As a UX designer with AI expertise, you use AI to enhance user experience when designing websites, applications, and products. This improves customer engagement, which often results in business growth. AI helps by improving productivity by speeding up processes.

Developing your artificial intelligence skills

To work in AI, it’s crucial that you develop your AI skills, no matter which direction you want to take in your career. In such a highly technical field, you’ll find a number of technical skills you need to hone. That said, workplace skills are still important for collaborating with others. Consider the following skills:

Technical skills:

• Programming languages

• Machine learning and deep learning

• Robotics

• Visualization tools

• NLP

• Cloud computing

Workplace skills:

• Communications skills 

• Collaboration

• Analytical skills

Next steps on your artificial intelligence career path

Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology that is developing quickly and offering in-demand career opportunities and high salaries. If you’re starting out on your artificial intelligence career path or interested in learning more about the field, you might consider an online course such as Google AI Essentials to learn the basics or AI for Good Specialization by Deep Learning. Both programs are on Coursera and are designed for beginners with no prior experience in AI or coding necessary.