Titlesby GlyphAI Engineer job title trend since Apr 2011
Engineering · Emerging · in 6.1% of HN hiring posts · 244 open roles at 95 companies · median $240k
A software engineer who builds products on top of models rather than training them.
first seen Jun 2011, Hacker Newstook off May 2024
Why it exists
Written from the sources below
Foundation models behind an API meant many AI tasks no longer needed a research team, only a software engineer who knows the models. Shawn Wang (swyx) named the role in June 2023 and the AI Engineer Summit followed that October. It absorbed most of the short-lived prompt engineer title.
- CoinedThe Rise of the AI EngineerLatent Space, Jun 2023 · backs: a 'shift right' of applied AI to software engineers using foundation model APIs
- TalkAI Engineer Summit 2023AI Engineer, Oct 2023 · backs: the conference that followed the essay
- DefinedAI engineeringWikipedia, 2026 · backs: AI engineering builds on foundation models; ML engineering builds models in-house
Where it is posted
Sectors
- Data platform27
- AI infrastructure21
- Software15
- Robotics and autonomy13
- AI application12
- Fintech11
- Security10
- Developer tools7
Cities
- San Francisco59
- Palo Alto36
- New York22
- Seattle12
- Boston8
- London, United Kingdom7
- Singapore7
- Pittsburgh4
- Bengaluru, India3
- Chicago3
Countries and remote
- United States146
- United Kingdom12
- Canada9
- Singapore7
- Australia6
- India5
- Poland5
- Italy4
- Germany3
- China3
Remote option37%
Posted pay
Middle half $195k to $278k, median $240k from 119 postings that state a base range (USD a year).
Pay by level and city on SalariesWho is hiring for it
Open postings on their own job boards, read 5h ago| # | Company | Open roles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G2i/ICAA company hiring most for AI Engineer and Full Stack Engineer. | 20 | |
| 2 | 10 | ||
| 3 | Anduril IndustriesA company hiring most for Systems Engineer and Test Engineer. | 10 | |
| 4 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 8 | ||
| 6 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 8 | ||
| 8 | 7 | ||
| 9 | KongA company hiring most for Solutions Engineer and AI Engineer. | 7 | |
| 10 | 5 | ||
| 11 | 5 | ||
| 12 | Distyl AIA company hiring most for Research Scientist and AI Engineer. | 5 |
Open roles
8 of 244; company pages list the rest| Role | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, AI Policy and Strategic Initiatives) | San Francisco | $220k to $405k | |
| Staff Software Engineer, AI Developer Tooling | San Francisco, CA; New York, NY | $252k to $315k | |
| Principal Software Engineer, AIPermitFlowNew York City, NY$250k to $300k | PermitFlow | New York City, NY | $250k to $300k |
| Senior Software Engineer, AIAnduril IndustriesCosta Mesa, California, United States$191k to $254k | Anduril Industries | Costa Mesa, California, United States | $191k to $254k |
| Senior Software Engineer, AI Platform | Remote U.S. | $224k to $263k | |
| AI engineer | San Francisco, CA | $198k to $259k | |
| Software and AI Engineer | Sunnyvale, CA / Bellevue, WA | $153k to $204k | |
| Sr. AI Engineer (Full Stack) | New York, New York | $161k to $225k |
Lineage
Share of Hacker News hiring posts
724 posts since Apr 2011 · -9% in 6 monthsNovember 2026 10 of 207 postings, 4.8%
Related titles
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About this title
A software engineer who builds products on top of models rather than training them.
Also counted: AI engineering, artificial intelligence engineer
First sighting
...AI Engineer: http://adroll.jobscore.com/jobs/adroll/ai-engineer/atUo04o0G... Lead Visual...
Median posted salary $240k from 119 postings that state a base pay range (the median of their midpoints, USD a year). Not a survey of what people earn.