Salaries

Functional discipline.

AI Executive Roles.

Where AI meets the C-suite.

31
$267K
$140K to $421K

Source.

By Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI OfficerUpdated Q2 2024 benchmarks

These are the people deciding what their entire company bets on. Chief AI Officers, VPs of AI, Heads of AI, AI Directors, CTOs at AI-first companies. The decisions move billions in enterprise value: which models to standardize on, which hyperscaler to host on, who to hire, what to build, what to kill. Compensation reflects the weight of the call. The market for these executives is brutally undersupplied in 2026. Roles below are sorted by base salary.

Roles in ai executive roles.

AI Executive Roles ranked by base median salary, sourced from Orbyt Intelligence Q2 2024.
RoleLowMedianHigh
SVP of AI Innovation$275K$324K$421K
Chief AI Officer$230K$310K$400K
VP of AI Product$258K$303K$394K
VP of AI Engineering$258K$303K$394K
VP of AI$258K$303K$394K
VP of AI Research$258K$303K$394K
Chief Data & AI Officer$220K$295K$385K
Head of AI$230K$270K$351K
Head of AI Research$230K$270K$351K
Head of Applied AI$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Strategy$227K$267K$347K
Head of AI Platform$227K$267K$347K
Director of Generative AI$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Research$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Engineering$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Safety$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Platform$227K$267K$347K
Director of NLP$227K$267K$347K
Head of AI Safety$227K$267K$347K
AI Director$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Operations$227K$267K$347K
Director of AI Product$227K$267K$347K
Head of AI Engineering$227K$267K$347K
Head of AI Product$227K$267K$347K
Head of AI Operations$227K$267K$347K
Head of Generative AI$227K$267K$347K
Senior Director of AI$227K$267K$347K
Head of AI Partnerships$175K$235K$310K
CTO, AI Startup$180K$230K$300K
AI Chief of Staff$140K$180K$234K

Top cities.

Median ai executive roles salary across the top U.S. metros for AI compensation. Multiplier reflects local cost of living relative to the national median.

Common questions.

CAOs own the AI bet across the entire company; CTOs own the technology strategy. At AI-first companies the roles often merge. At enterprises pivoting to AI they are usually distinct, with the CAO reporting either to the CEO directly or to the CTO. The CAO with direct CEO reporting commands higher compensation.

Frontier model selection, infrastructure cost trajectories, talent supply at each level, regulatory exposure, build-vs-buy on the AI stack, and specifically how to allocate the AI engineering budget across research, applied work, and platform. Executives without hands-on AI fluency get filtered out fast.

Increasingly yes. Austin, Seattle, Boston, and London are the next-tier AI executive markets. Many enterprise AI exec roles are also remote-first now, especially at financial services and healthcare companies that are pivoting to AI from a traditional operating base.

Related AI hubs.

AI Healthcare Roles

Where AI meets medicine.

AI Finance Roles

Where AI meets capital.

AI Legal & Policy Roles

Where AI meets law and policy.

AI Security Roles

Where AI meets adversaries.

AI Industrial Roles

Where AI meets the physical world.

AI Consumer & Commerce Roles

Where AI meets the consumer.

AI Creative Roles

Where AI meets craft.

AI Research Roles

Where AI meets the frontier.

AI Product Roles

Where AI meets the roadmap.

AI Design Roles

Where AI meets the interface.

AI Operations Roles

Where AI meets production.

AI Engineering Roles

Where AI meets the codebase.

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