UK Demand for AI Professionals Soars

Demand for data scientists – and other IT professionals with AI and machine learning skills – has soared nine-fold in the UK in just four years, according to a new report by recruiters Robert Walters and lead generation firm Vacancysoft. The specialist recruiter said it has seen demand for AI professionals increase from a humble 445 in 2015, to over 4,000 in 2019. With many enterprises still laying the groundwork for AI – in terms of cleaning and collating data – demand for IT professionals dedicated to data management represented the fastest growing gap in the recruitment market. This was particularly pronounced in large or global entities, where the number of vacancies for data engineer roles increased ten-fold in three years. As the recruiter notes: "This is the most visible sign of the importance firms are placing on improving data quality to enable more effective AI."