TL;DR
AI is creating new jobs, from Claude Evangelist ($240,000) to vibration encoder ($108,000), even as it eliminates the roles they are replacing.
AI companies aren’t just changing the way people work. The types of roles that exist are changing. Organization charts are transforming as an entirely new class of jobs emerges, some with titles that didn’t exist two years ago, others representing old professions reborn within the tech industry. The hiring waves stand in stark contrast to the layoffs for which many of the same companies cite AI as justification.
The range is surprising. Companies are pursuing everything from one of the oldest intellectual pursuits, philosophy, to an entirely new category of work generated by generative AI coding tools: the professional vibration encoder. Among those poles are deployed engineers, AI accelerators, evangelists, freelance training models, and a growing class of C-suite officials whose entire job is to make sure the rest of the company uses AI.
Advanced Engineer is the hottest position in the category. Popularized by Palantir in the 2010s, the job integrates a specialized engineer directly with a client to deliver customized AI solutions instead of off-the-shelf software. In fact, data shows that job openings for engineers deployed in January 2026 were about 19 times the volume of the previous year. Palantir CEO Alex Karp has likened the position to that of an experienced waiter at a French restaurant, combining deep product knowledge with exquisite service. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Amazon Web Services and Palantir are hiring, with starting salaries ranging from $115,000 to more than $200,000. Salesforce plans to spend $300 million on Anthropic tokens this year illustrates the scale of enterprise AI adoption for which these engineers are hired.
The AI evangelist is a different type of hire. Anthropic is looking for a “Claudio Evangelista,“Someone who will serve as the face of the company in the startup ecosystem, combining at least seven years of founder-builder experience with developer-facing credibility. The role pays $240,000, significantly more than the average of $106,000 for a US communications director, according to Indeed. OpenAI has tripled the size of its communications team. Adobe is looking for a”Enterprise architect and AI evangelist.“The underlying logic is that AI products are too complex and transcendent to sell through conventional marketing. They require people who can explain, demonstrate and build trust in person.
The AI Philosopher may be the most unexpected entry. Anthropic has a resident philosopher. So does Google DeepMind. Both positions focus on ensuring that AI models are aligned with human values. Anthropic publishes a Constitution for Claude, a detailed description of the values it wants its AI to have, and the philosophical work behind it is not decorative. Google DeepMind recently sought an Emerging Impact Manager in AI Ethics and Safety with a base salary between $212,000 and $231,000. Philosophy departments that have spent years defending their enrollment numbers now have a direct channel to technology companies that pay more than twice the median salary for the discipline.
The internal AI accelerator is the function that most directly addresses the tension between AI hiring and firing. Stripe is hiring a “AI accelerator implemented in the future” to integrate into your marketing team and make “AI is the default mode for all jobs.“Box is hiring a”AI Business Automation Engineer” to integrate AI agents into its cloud management platform. These roles exist to push employees who already have jobs to use AI more aggressively, which raises the question of what happens to employees who don’t adapt. GM’s decision this week to lay off 500 IT workers while hiring for 250 AI positions is the clearest illustration of the dynamic: the same company is creating and eliminating jobs in the same quarter.
The vibration encoder is the newest category. The term, popularized by AI coding tools that allow non-engineers to create working software through natural language prompts, has moved from Internet slang to job postings. Lovable, a vibration encoding platform, is hiring professional vibration encoders. TikTok is looking for a product designer who can create prototypes using “artificial intelligence code and tools.“YouTube wants a”AI Solutions Architect“who can”Avoid traditional, slow development cycles by using AI-assisted development (vibe-coding) and low-code solutions.” Engineering leaders are still figuring out how to measure the productivity gains from AI coding tools.but the labor market is already valuing skill as an independent qualification. TikTok’s role starts at $108,000. YouTube pricing starts at $149,000.
At the base of the AI jobs pyramid are the workers who train the models. Companies like Scale AI and Mercor employ workers to evaluate creative writing output, train translation capabilities, and hone AI reasoning. Traditional job platforms, including Uber, DoorDash and Instawork, also offer jobs that pay users to upload photos and videos of tasks and tasks that will be used to train artificial intelligence systems. Depending on experience and complexity of the task, workers earn between $15 and approximately $200 per hour. The barrier to entry is lower than for any other AI role, but so is security.
At the top is the Chief AI Officer. PwC appointed one in July 2024. Accenture created a director responsible for AI the same year. Raymond James established a “Lead AI Architect” in 2025. Local governments are following: Arkansas is hiring a director of artificial intelligence with a starting salary of just over $117,000. Glassdoor estimates the private sector salary for the position to be between $265,000 and $494,000.
Graduates entering this market. They are doing so at a time when AI is simultaneously the most in-demand skill and the technology most cited as a reason for layoffs. Detroit’s Big Three automakers have cut 20,000 white-collar jobs while posting 400 AI positions. Salesforce cut 4,000 support employees and is spending $300 million on Anthropic tokens. The pattern is consistent: the jobs AI creates pay more, require more specialized skills, and are fewer in number than the jobs it eliminates. The net effect on employment is a question that economists will debate for years. What’s not up for debate is that the job titles on name tags at the next networking event won’t look anything like they did two years ago.
