AI Engineer – The #1 Growing Role for 2026

AI has been part of almost every hiring conversation that we’ve had in the tech and data market over the past 12 months. All companies seemingly have AI projects in their pipeline for 2026 – the key question is how they will use it? Organisations are feeling the urgency to go to market ahead of competitors – some without fully understanding what they’re looking for when hiring new talent.

The AI Engineering role has gone from virtually non-existent to one that most companies are actively hiring for, or at the least, planning to soon. So it’s no surprise that LinkedIn named AI Engineer the fastest-growing job title in this year’s “LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise“ report.

In a market where AI roles are popping up everywhere, and companies are still figuring out exactly what they need, we’re here to bring clarity and market insight on how candidates can succeed and what clients need to know. 

In this blog, we’ll cover:

• What an AI Engineer actually does
• The skills that are in the highest demand right now
• Where the demand is strongest
• What salaries you can expect
• The current skills gap in the market
• How candidates can close that gap and succeed in this ever-evolving role
  

So, what is an AI Engineer, and what do they actually do?

AI Engineers (sometimes similar to Machine Learning Engineers) design and build systems that analyse data, recognise patterns, and make predictions that drive real business outcomes.

This is no longer a research-heavy role. It’s a production-first role. 

The most in-demand skills right now:

• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• LangChain
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Where demand is strongest: 

• Software Development / SaaS 
• IT Consulting 
• Education
• Banking / Financial Services
• Healthcare

Salary Ranges: From $140k Base – $220k Base (dependent on seniority)
Hiring hotspots: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
Median experience level: 3.5 years
Common backgrounds: Software Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Engineer, ML Engineer
Flexibility: 53% Hybrid, 10% Remote, 37% Other


What’s driving the surge in demand?

AI has presented businesses with one of the most significant opportunities in recent times. Many projects are targeting embedding AI into core products and operations, which has created strong demand for AI Engineers who can build, deploy, and scale real-world systems.

And with significant investment already made in AI infrastructure and strategy, this demand isn’t going anywhere; it’s only accelerating.

The AI Skills Gap: What the Market Is Really Looking For

Whilst the role is still fairly new, it comes with the downside of being tricky to hire for. There’s no shortage of people who can build models. But there is a shortage of people who can turn models into real-world results. Across our conversations with clients, we’re seeing some clear gaps:

• Deployment expertise: knowing how to take a model from prototype to production without falling over in real-world environments
• Working with messy data: real-world data is rarely clean, and engineers who can handle it are in high demand
• Cross-functional collaboration: the ability to work closely with product, engineering, and business teams, and translate technical output to different departments
• Commercial awareness: understanding when and where AI makes sense, and how to balance ambition with business realities

How candidates can close the gap:

• Highlight deployment experience and projects that impacted the business, not just demos
• Upskill in LLMs, MLOps, and RAG pipelines, especially in cloud environments
• Focusing on your communication skills to be able to explain technical solutions to non-technical stakeholders
• Put your hand up to work on cross-functional projects (i.e. engineering + product + business)
• Lastly, having experience from personal projects combined with commercial experience goes a long way

The future of AI is still taking shape, but one thing is clear: there’s never been a better time to build on your career in AI, and the demand just continues to grow.

Our Data & AI team at TheDriveGroup are partnering with companies across Australia to place AI Engineers and build production-ready AI capability.

Whether you’re advancing your AI career or hiring critical talent, our specialist AI recruiters know this market inside out.

👉 Download our FY25/26 Data & AI Market Report & Salary Guide for deeper insights
👉 View our current Data & Tech roles and see what’s live now

Get ahead of 2026 and talk to our team today!

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Source: LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2026: The 15 fastest-growing jobs in Australia