Sky-high salary of 345,000 Euro once coveted, now struggle to find takers - the dramatic decline of a buzzworthy AI position
AI Jobs of the Future: A Shift from Prompt Engineers to AI Experts
The buzz surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) also created a stir around new AI-related jobs. Among them, Prompt Engineer stood out as a promising position. With salaries reaching up to €345,000 per year, this job was touted as the next big thing in tech. However, times have changed, and the hype around Prompt Engineers has subsided, according to the "Wall Street Journal."
Microsoft, in a survey of over 31,000 employees across 31 countries, found that in the next 12 to 18 months, other AI positions would be prioritized. Prompt Engineers ranked second to last, while AI trainers, data specialists, and security experts topped the list.
Prompt Engineers, as the name suggests, write prompts for AI tools such as ChatGPT. The idea was that an expert in prompting knows the tricks to get the best results. In 2024, it was supposed to be the next big tech job, with Prompt Engineers being "urgently sought." However, the hype is already over.
The reasons behind this shift are twofold:
- AI's Self-Prompting Capabilities: Recent advances allow AI models to refine their own prompts through iterative feedback, reducing the need for human specialists. Microsoft's Jared Spataro noted that AI now "asks follow-up questions or requests feedback," diminishing the demand for dedicated prompt engineers.
- Broadening AI Workforce Integration: Companies are training existing employees across all functions to use AI tools effectively. This democratization reduces demand for niche roles while increasing reliance on AI-savvy generalists.
As AI adoption grows, the focus is shifting towards data specialists, AI security experts, and AI trainers. Data specialists ensure high-quality, bias-free training data, while AI security experts mitigate risks like model poisoning or misuse. AI trainers fine-tune models for industry-specific tasks, such as healthcare diagnostics.
While prompt engineering salaries reached $95K–$270K+ in 2025, the role’s decline contrasts with the surging demand for NLP engineers, AI ethicists, and MLOps specialists. Companies now prioritize roles addressing the infrastructure, governance, and scalability of AI systems. The transition underscores AI’s evolution from experimental tools to enterprise-grade systems, emphasizing reliability, security, and cross-functional expertise over narrow technical roles like prompt engineering.
- By 2024, it was supposed that Prompt Engineers would be urgently sought, but with AI's self-prompting capabilities, the demand for human specialists has diminished.
- In Microsoft's survey, AI trainers, data specialists, and security experts were prioritized over Prompt Engineers in the next 12 to 18 months.
- The shift in focus from Prompt Engineers to other AI positions can be attributed to the advancements in AI that allow models to refine their own prompts, reducing the need for human experts.
- Companies are broadening the AI workforce integration by training existing employees across all functions to use AI tools effectively, further decreasing demand for niche roles like Prompt Engineers.
- As AI adoption grows, there is a surging demand for NLP engineers, AI ethicists, and MLOps specialists, roles that address the infrastructure, governance, and scalability of AI systems.
- In contrast to the declining Prompt Engineer role, salaries for NLP engineers, AI ethicists, and MLOps specialists are expected to rise, indicative of the shift from experimental AI tools to enterprise-grade systems emphasizing reliability, security, and cross-functional expertise.
