Titlesby GlyphApplied AI Engineer job title trend since Apr 2011
Engineering · Emerging · in 0.95% of HN hiring posts · 78 open roles at 19 companies · median $265k
Turns frontier models into working products for specific customers or use cases.
first seen Sep 2017, Hacker Newstook off Apr 2025
Why it exists
Written by rule from our own data
First seen in our data in September 2017, in a Hacker News Who is hiring post from Bonsai AI. It took off in April 2025, when its share of Who is hiring posts first reached a quarter of its best year. Today 78 open roles use the title at 19 companies, most of them in AI labs. Closest tracked titles: AI Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer.
- PostingAsk HN: Who is hiring? (September 2017)Hacker News, Sep 2017 · backs: first sighting
- PostingApplied AI Engineer, Enterprise - Healthcare Life Sciences (HLS)OpenAI, Nov 2026 · backs: an open posting with the title
Where it is posted
Sectors
- AI lab51
- AI application8
- AI data4
- AI infrastructure2
- Data platform2
- Fintech2
Cities
- San Francisco24
- London, United Kingdom9
- New York8
- Washington5
- Singapore5
- Munich, Germany4
- Paris, France4
- Tokyo, Japan4
- Sao Paulo, Brazil4
- Sydney, Australia3
Countries and remote
- United States36
- United Kingdom10
- Singapore5
- Germany4
- France4
- Japan4
- Brazil4
- Australia3
- Israel1
- Canada1
Remote option51%
Posted pay
Middle half $225k to $278k, median $265k from 36 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 | 41 | ||
| 2 | 10 | ||
| 3 | 4 | ||
| 4 | 3 | ||
| 5 | 3 | ||
| 6 | 2 | ||
| 7 | 2 | ||
| 8 | 2 | ||
| 9 | AlembicA company hiring most for Site Reliability Engineer and Research Engineer. | 1 | |
| 10 | AntithesisA company hiring most for Staff Engineer and Engineering Manager. | 1 | |
| 11 | 1 | ||
| 12 | 1 |
Open roles
8 of 78; company pages list the restApplied AI Engineer, Startups (Life Sciences)
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY
Staff Applied AI Engineer - Enterprise AI Solutions
New York City, NY (Hybrid); San Francisco, CA (Hybrid); United States (Remote)
| Role | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied AI Engineer, Enterprise - Healthcare Life Sciences (HLS) | San Francisco | $251k to $278k | |
| Applied AI Engineer, Startups (Life Sciences) | San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | $280k to $320k | |
| Staff Applied AI Engineer - Enterprise AI Solutions | New York City, NY (Hybrid); San Francisco, CA (Hybrid); United States (Remote) | $230k to $360k | |
| Applied AI Engineer, Video Agent | San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Toronto | $180k to $240k | |
| Applied AI Software EngineerAntithesisVienna, VA, USA$155k to $185k | Antithesis | Vienna, VA, USA | $155k to $185k |
| Lead Applied AI Engineer | United States | $150k to $300k | |
| Member of Technical Staff (Applied AI Engineer, Agent Capabilities) | San Francisco | $220k to $405k | |
| Applied AI Engineer - ANZ | Sydney | $180k to $225k |
Share of Hacker News hiring posts
72 posts since Apr 2011 · -22% in 6 monthsNovember 2026 1 of 207 postings, 0.48%
Related titles
AI EngineerA software engineer who builds products on top of models rather than training them.6.4% of HN posts, 12 mo · 244 open · $240k median · since Jun 2011Forward Deployed EngineerAn engineer who ships software inside a customer's environment, part builder and part consultant; Palantir coined it, AI labs made it common.3.7% of HN posts, 12 mo · 437 open · $216k median · since Sep 2011Solutions EngineerThe technical half of a sale: demos, proofs of concept and integration help.1.9% of HN posts, 12 mo · 918 open · $200k median · since Jul 2011Full Stack EngineerWorks across the browser, the API and the database; the default startup hire.16% of HN posts, 12 mo · 294 open · $196k median · since Apr 2011Product EngineerA full-stack engineer who owns product decisions too, not just tickets.7.8% of HN posts, 12 mo · 109 open · $220k median · since May 2011Founding EngineerOne of a startup's first engineers, usually with equity and a wide remit.5.9% of HN posts, 12 mo · 25 open · $194k median · since Jul 2011
About this title
Turns frontier models into working products for specific customers or use cases.
Also counted: applied AI
First sighting
...Senior AI Engineer (Berkeley): http://grnh.se/bvfg3l1 Applied AI Engineer (Berkeley): http://grnh.se/2gpwkx1 Software Engineer (Berkeley):...
Median posted salary $265k from 36 postings that state a base pay range (the median of their midpoints, USD a year). Not a survey of what people earn.