Artificial Intelligence Salary: Your Guide to AI Pay in 2023

The best way to determine your per-project rate is to figure out how many hours you estimate the job will take. You can make an educated guess based on your knowledge of the subject and how long it’s taken you to complete certain tasks in the past. Feel free to look at consulting rates by industry, but don’t use them as your bible to pricing—use them as another data point to reference.

For example, if your company wants to build a system, plus get some initial analyses done, it makes sense to hire a data scientist versus a data engineer and a data analyst. Because your fee is an expression of value, low consulting rates don’t necessarily lead to work or respect. If your clients have regularly hired consultants or freelancers, they’ll be familiar with average consulting market rates. Pitching yourself on the low end simply to undercut competitors won’t always serve you well.

How Much Do AI Engineers Make? 2023 Salary Guide

In most cases, data scientists offering machine learning consulting services will base their hourly or flat rate off their background and expertise. While deep learning consulting rates may seem straightforward, especially when looking at average prices, several factors determine the cost of machine learning consulting. Understanding these factors is critical, whether you’re looking to hire a consultant or work as one. The average machine learning consulting rate depends on the pricing model of your consultant. In comparison, flat-rate consultants cost $5000 to $7000 per project. Agencies that offer machine learning consulting services will often base their data science consulting rates on the experience of their agency.

Many consultants and freelancers make the mistake of confusing average consultant rates with standard pricing—that’s not the case. Averages don’t take into account your value, the scope of work, client perceptions, or even your cash flow. Setting your consultation fees is the best and worst part of running a consulting business. It’s the best because you get to decide your worth (not management or HR)—and it’s the worst because you likely hate talking money with your clients. The average IT consulting rates vary depending on location, from $20 to $250, and more per hour.

How to Calculate Per-Project Consultant Rates

It’s not just the time you put into consulting—it’s the results of the consulting. IT consultants work within almost all industries and have deep domain expertise (healthcare, logistics, fintech, blockchain). Usually, small outsourcing companies specialize in one specific area, like UI/UX design, web and mobile app development services, or exact programming languages like Node.js, React Native, and so on. To stay competitive and turn technologies into a growth driver, companies of all sizes resort to software consulting. Are you interested in custom reporting that is specific to your unique business needs?

• If your clients have regularly hired consultants or freelancers, they’ll be familiar with average consulting market rates.
• This content has been made available for informational purposes only.
• When making your calculations, feel free to play with the numbers to satisfy the lifestyle you want.
• You can make an educated guess based on your knowledge of the subject and how long it’s taken you to complete certain tasks in the past.
• It’s a great option if you want to get an experienced consultant for a reasonable price.

Learn how to create chatbots, apply computer vision techniques using python, and even develop custom image classification models today. With the immense value offered by big data, it’s becoming essential for businesses today. In fact, almost 80% of executives say that skipping big data will hurt their companies’ competitive advantage and risk their long-term survival. It is important to keep in mind that the above analysis from Consulting.us presents a simplified and indicative view of rates. Differences in firms, market segments and service offerings across regions and countries, for instance, will inevitably lead to exceptions in the typology. Strategy Boutiques, high-end firms that have a national/regional focus, follow in terms of rates.

How to communicate your hourly rate

That’s because a data scientist or machine learning consultant will have to invest more time into setting up and implementing your solution architecture. When comparing a data engineer’s and a data analyst consultant’s hourly rates, data engineers will generally cost more. That’s because they provide the technical expertise to build systems versus data analysts which analyze the data using a pre-existing system. Your business may pay higher or lower big data consulting fees depending on your location, project scale, and requirements. Or, if you operate as a big data consultant, you may charge more or less based on your experience and client.

Once you’ve shown the results, create a case study from that first client. Repeat this step and start scaling your rates up from there until you find a comfortable cost for your clients. IT consultant rates often depend on location, company size, experience, and many other factors. For instance, the USA holds the highest IT consulting rate—$100-$250 per hour compared to $50/h for the same service in Estonia. Since we’ve talked about companies that use consulting services, then it’s time to talk about IT providers. There’s a wide variety of consulting companies to choose from, and they all vary in rates.

Job outlook for AI engineers

It makes sense—the more experience you have working as an AI engineer, the more expertise you have, and the more you can expect to earn. Artificial intelligence engineers use their technical expertise to program machines to think like the human brain. Here’s how much they’re earning—by experience, it consultancy services cost industry, and location. Certifications demonstrate your commitment to the field and indicate your mastery of job-relevant skills. To learn more about the exact certifications or certificates that you might consider obtaining, reach out to others in your professional network.

So, you might not be a copyright lawyer or investment consultant, but think about where your expertise is rare in your field. By differentiating your skillset and developing a niche, you’ll become more valuable as a consultant. However, if you set your rates too high, you may alienate yourself from the client and out price yourself out of the project. Clients may perceive you as the high-end of the consulting or freelance market, and they may decide to settle for a less experienced but more affordable alternative.

AI engineer salaries by industry

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you need to build a game-changing business. You may convince your client to cut out some of the scope to meet your pricing constraints, or you may insert a clause into the agreement to raise your rates after 2 to 3 months of satisfactory work. The conversation about rates happens with every client, sometimes more than once. Sometimes it’s pleasant, sometimes it’s awkward, and sometimes it’s ugly. What rate do you need to set to cover your costs, make a profit, and live the life you want to live? This answer varies for everyone, so you’re not going to find a golden number anywhere.

In general, working for companies based in big cities like New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Boston, and Chicago correlates to a higher salary. Moving into leadership roles such as director or vice president of ML or AI can boost your salary by tens of thousands of dollars. However, you might choose to focus on your expertise rather than managing a team, in which case you can earn more by switching companies or negotiating a higher salary by proving your value. AI engineers typically work for companies helping them improve their products, software, operations, and delivery. They tend to be employed in the technology, finance, healthcare, and consulting industries. While the salary range for AI engineers varies, these salary figures are significantly higher than the mean annual salary across all occupations in the United States, $58,260 [4].

Salaries for jobs related to AI engineer

With these core service features, your machine learning consultant can move forward with building a system for processing and analyzing your data. In some cases, your contractor may offer additional services or the option to keep them on retainer for anything else you need. For example, a business that wants accurate results, but provides a small data set, may need to invest more time and money building its dataset. That way, the contractor can deliver on the client’s requirements quality. Technology will also impact your big data consulting rates, since your tech requirements will determine the kind of big data contractor you hire.

You pay a monthly fee in advance to have consultants on your team anytime you need them and ensure they help make the right decisions during some risky project. According to the Grand View Research report, the United States leads the consulting market in terms of providing IT consulting service. This is due to increased investment in ERP, CRM, IoT, Machine Learning, and data analytics. Though, if you need a high-level technical specialist, it’s better to work with IT consultants. They’re often more experienced and have in-depth tech expertise in specific areas.

Building a Career in Consulting — The Ultimate Guide

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most talked about technologies in the world today. While many once considered it only the heady musings of a handful of science fiction writers, now it is a fast-developing field that many employers are eager to implement in the real world. And, they’re willing to pay a hefty salary for those few professionals who can help them do it. Learn what you can expect to earn from a wide range of different positions in the field. In some cases, companies may desire high-quality results but provide small datasets.