Companies are jostling to hire highly coveted AI talent as the sector grows — and they're not just looking for people who know how to code.
While many AI-related jobs posted on Indeed and LinkedIn are for software developers and machine learning engineers with advanced degrees, some don't require a technical background. Organizations want to use AI tools in their workflows to boost productivity, save time, and make more money — but they also need workers who can link the very technical side and the business side.
"Companies are desperate to get people figuring out AI for their organizations," J.T. O'Donnell, a career coach at Work It Daily, told Business Insider.
That's leading to a whole new subset of roles in the emergent tech sector. While some of them can be more undefined — "A lot of the jobs have the term AI in it as they try to figure out what to call you," O'Donnell said — others are easier to understand.
Business Insider searched job sites for such positions that didn't require programming skills and also consulted Alex Libre, principal recruiter for Einstellen Talent, a service that matches job candidates with generative AI startups, about which non-technical roles in the industry are in demand.
Here are nine AI-related jobs you can get without knowing how to code — and how much Libre says they typically pay. Salary estimates vary based on the company's size and how much experience a candidate has.
AI product manager
Companies are looking to hire professionals who can bridge the gap between technical AI development and business acumen. Product managers familiar with AI can help do just that.
They're "the key people responsible for bringing AI products to market, which is a lot harder than most people think in a world full of businesses run by people who don't really understand AI," Libre, the tech recruiter, told BI.
Salaries typically range from $120,000 to $400,000 a year.
AI ethics specialist
The need for ethics specialists is expected to grow as AI evolves and becomes a greater part of people's lives.
"They're responsible for ensuring that AI is developed and deployed in an ethical, responsible, and transparent manner," Libre says. "These should be viewed more as risk mitigators than ethicists, frankly."
Demand for ethics specialists, he says, will become increasingly important in healthcare, finance, and government — industries where the stakes of deploying AI are high because the tech could have major societal consequences if not used properly.
AI ethics specialists can typically make between $90,00 and $150,000 annually.
AI sales engineer
Sales engineers at AI companies who understand machine learning can use that knowledge to sell the most relevant tools to other firms.
Ideal candidates combine a deep technical understanding with "strong sales and communication" skills to demonstrate value to potential clients.
"As AI continues to advance and become more widely adopted, the need for skilled AI sales engineers who can articulate the business value of AI will only continue to grow," Libre says.
Sales engineers can make anywhere between $100,000 to $200,000 a year.
AI business analyst
Companies new to AI may wonder just how and where to deploy the technology. That's where analysts can help.
Employees in this role are responsible for "analyzing business processes" and "identifying areas" where AI can help "drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve outcomes," the recruiter says.
Success in this position requires a combination of corporate savviness, strong communication chops, and technical understanding.
AI business analysts can earn between $80,000 and $150,000 annually.
AI data annotator
AI models only produce useful outputs if they're trained on high-quality data. Data annotators play a critical role in that process.
Annotators are tasked to label and categorize vast amounts of information to train models to be "accurate, consistent, and free from biases."
"While these roles may not require advanced degrees or technical skills, they do require a keen eye for detail, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work independently," Libre says.
Data annotation jobs — many of which are part-time or contract-based — pay between $40,000 to $80,000 a year on average, the recruiter says.
Prompt engineer
Want to make a living getting AI chatbots to sound more human? A job as a prompt engineer may be the job for you.
Seen as one of the hottest jobs in AI, prompt engineers develop queries on the back end of AI models to ensure they produce desirable outputs. Doing the job well requires a deep understanding of how models work and solid communication and collaboration skills.
"You need to have a strong understanding of how humans actually think to interact effectively with these machines, however counterintuitive that may sound," Libre says.
Prompt engineers can make anywhere between $100,000 to $180,000 a year.
AI product designer
AI tools need to be simple, intuitive, and engaging. Product designers help make that possible, as they're responsible for creating the user interface of AI tools and making them enjoyable and easy to use.
But the job is "much harder" than "simply making things look pretty," Libre says. They must possess a "deep understanding of user-centered design principles" and an "understanding of the capabilities and limitations of AI" and its models.
"AI designers typically have to focus more on function than form," the recruiter says.
AI product designers typically get paid between $90,000 to $250,000 a year.
AI policy analyst
Expertise in public policy may help you land a job as an AI policy analyst.
People in these roles work on regulations that govern the technology's development and deployment. According to job listings, understanding AI's capabilities, societal impacts, and legal issues is required.
Anthropic is hiring a policy analyst responsible for making its AI comply with global regulations, offering a base pay of up to $260,000 a year. A nonprofit focused on emerging technology is looking to fill a similar role for an analyst who will conduct research into policy proposals around AI, among other tasks, for up to $95,000 annually.
Sector AI specialist
If you know how to apply AI to your workflows, you may be able to get a job as an AI specialist.
At its core, specialists use AI to automate tasks and deliver better results. For instance, a recruitment firm has a job posting for an AI marketing specialist role for a candidate who would automate and optimize email programs using the technology. A senior presales AI specialist listing says the software company is looking for a candidate who could develop strategies for selling its generative AI products.
Even the Biden administration wants AI specialists to steer the technology toward responsible use. A specialist for the CIA can earn between $64,957 to $172,075 per year deploying machine learning techniques to the federal agency's data collection efforts.