As of October 27, 2026, 78% of data scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask you to use AI tools or work on AI. Out of 1,098 postings, 667 are Builds AI, 146 are Works on AI, 39 are Uses AI, 246 are Little AI. Up from 65% in the 90 days before that: 78% of data scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask for AI, 12 points more.
AI in Data scientist jobs
78% of data scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask you to use AI tools or work on AI.
Updated Oct 27, 2026
1,098 data scientist jobs, by AI level
Jobs posted in the last 90 days, grouped by how much AI is in the work the person hired would do.
| Level | Share of postings | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 61%667 jobs | ||
| 13%146 jobs | ||
| 4%39 jobs | ||
| 22%246 jobs |
Up from 65% in the 90 days before that: 78% of data scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask for AI, 12 points more.
The job is building AI systems.
The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
An ordinary role that requires AI tools.
AI is not part of the work.
AI skills named in data scientist jobs
- NLP17% (192 jobs)
- PyTorch17% (192 jobs)
- MLOps16% (172 jobs)
- scikit-learn14% (153 jobs)
- RAG13% (141 jobs)
- TensorFlow13% (139 jobs)
Starting pay by AI level
Among data scientist jobs that publish a salary range in US dollars, the median starting salary is $148,000 for Builds AI, $170,000 for Works on AI, $175,000 for Uses AI and $159,000 for Little AI.
- $148,000 (161 jobs with a salary)
- $170,000 (82 jobs with a salary)
- $175,000 (21 jobs with a salary)
- $159,000 (115 jobs with a salary)
Recent data scientist jobs that ask for AI
$136k-$184kUS, TX, Austin18h ago
sagemaker
$153k-$208kUS, NY, New York23h ago
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Questions about AI in data scientist jobs
How many data scientist jobs ask for AI?
Which AI skills do data scientist jobs name?
As of October 27, 2026, the AI tools and skills named most often in data scientist job postings are NLP (17% of postings), PyTorch (17% of postings), MLOps (16% of postings) and scikit-learn (14% of postings).
Do data scientist jobs that ask for AI pay more?
As of October 27, 2026. Among data scientist jobs that publish a salary range in US dollars, the median starting salary is $148,000 for Builds AI, $170,000 for Works on AI, $175,000 for Uses AI and $159,000 for Little AI. Only postings that publish a salary range count, and the figure is the lower end of the range.
What do the four AI levels mean for a data scientist job?
Builds AI: The job is building AI systems. Works on AI: The daily work is on AI products, without building the model. Uses AI: An ordinary role that requires AI tools. Little AI: AI is not part of the work. Each posting is rated on what the person hired would do day to day, not on what the employer sells.
Method: every job posted on Level in the last 90 days under this title is counted once, open or closed, on its posting date. Each job is rated on the work the person hired would do and placed at one of four levels, see our method. AI skills come from a fixed list of tools and skills named in the posting. Pay is the lower end of published salary ranges in dollars, median per level, shown only with at least 10 jobs. Postings change with coverage and sources, so comparisons with the earlier period describe postings, not the job itself.
Cite this page
Level (jobsbylevel.com), "AI in Data scientist jobs". Share of job postings at each AI level, last 90 days. Data measured on October 27, 2026. License CC BY 4.0. https://jobsbylevel.com/ai-in-your-job/data-scientist