The Market's Temperature
In 2024-2025, AI-related job postings grew 3x+ vs before. Meanwhile "can use ChatGPT" isn't differentiation, and a polarization is underway where high-rate offers concentrate on people who can build AI-using deliverables/products.
Surging Roles
AI Engineer / ML Engineer
Embed LLM/RAG/agents into business systems. Python/TypeScript and LLM API, Vector DB, evaluation-tool experience. US $180K-$500K, Japan 10-25M yen.
ML Ops / AI Ops
Model operation, evaluation pipelines, cost optimization, inference infra. Kubernetes, ML platforms, observability tools (Arize, Weights & Biases, Langfuse).
AI Product Manager
Planning/requirements/effect-measurement of AI-feature products. Demand concentrates on the PM-experience + AI-knowledge hybrid. Salary typically PM + 20-30%.
Prompt Designer / AI UX
UX design of AI features, prompt templates, feedback-loop building. Writing, UX, psychology are useful.
