Want to become a Lead AI Engineer? This is a detailed Lead AI Engineer salary guide to understand how much you can make as a Lead AI engineer.
Since the discovery of Artificial Intelligence technology, a lot of good paying job opportunities have been appearing both in the online workspace and the physical workspace.
This article is based on one of the good-paying jobs opportunity that artificial intelligence has created such as Lead AI Engineering.
This job sounds new to some people but that’s fine, as this job is not known to so many people unless you are in the technology field.
I will be discussing about whom a Lead AI Engineer is, what is the importance of a lead AI Engineer in a technological firm, and what is the salary range of a lead AI Engineer starting from the level of no diploma to the level of Ph.D.

Who is a Lead AI Engineer?
A Lead AI Engineer is a professional who designs and develops artificial intelligence systems including the solutions in them.
Lead AI Engineers are very skilled in computer science, machine learning, algorithms, and many other related technological fields.
A Lead AI Engineer carries out research and testing in other to make machine learning algorithms and predictive models.
They have wide experience in designing, implementing, and management of AI-based products and systems.
Also, a Lead AI Engineer performs experiments using massive data computation and storage tools to make prototypes and datasets.
During the experiment, they carry out model training and several evaluations so they can produce good models.
Lead AI Engineers integrate, carry out a series of tests, and tune, and monitor the already-created solutions.

What is the importance of a Lead AI Engineer?
Lead AI Engineers are the people who manage teams of AI Engineers and data scientists, oversee the development of algorithms and ensure that the AI solutions produced are scalable, reliable, and effective.
Lead AI Engineers also ensure that every new update in the development field of AI doesn’t pass them by.
They are responsible for getting up-to-date information on new AI development and also responsible for identifying new artificial intelligence opportunities that will benefit a technological company.
Let’s get to see some outlines on the importance of Lead AI Engineers in a technological company;
- They act as tech leaders of applied and data scientists’ teams in a company by passing information to the team members and also, making sure the vision, purpose, and strategy of the teams are well laid out with consistent progress.
- They have the attributes to work with other data scientists, engineers, product creators, etc. Such that they can turn technological research projects that are not yet developed into developed AI capabilities.
- Lead AI engineers create text, images, and tutorial videos that serve as solutions for other workers so they can gain advantages that can boost the growth of their business.
- They create designs and also develop, validate, implement, and manage new sets of functions attributed to a cash flow forecasting solution.
- They can work hand-in-hand with the company’s Question and Answer team to carry out test automation of new and existing functionalities.
- They develop and deliver to clients who are facing sales presentations at the CEO level.
- Lead AI Engineers partner with other engineers to perform system integration and tests.
- They monitor and troubleshoot any performance issue that comes up on the tech company’s data pipelines.
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Lead AI Engineer Salary In 2023
The work of Lead AI Engineers can’t be underestimated in a technological company. Researchers have made it known that having Lead AI Engineers in technological companies helps the companies to make lots of revenue by the end of the year and also, protects them from making bad decisions that will affect the yearly revenue of the company.
For this reason, the salary of Lead AI Engineers has to be mouth-watering to complement their efforts.
Mind you, it is important to know that the more educational certificate a Lead AI engineer has the more money he or she will get as a salary. Anyways, let’s get to know if their salary matches their efforts.
Lead AI Engineer Salary with No Diploma
Before going to the salary range of Lead AI Engineers that don’t have a Diploma, let me tell you what a diploma means so those who don’t know what it means can at least have an idea.
A Diploma is a document given to an individual by an educational institution such as a college or university to indicate that the individual has completed the courses of studies that he or she applied to study.
This Diploma serves as proof that the individual has fully completed the courses of studies in college or university. Now that you have an idea, let’s get to know the salary range.
Based on my research, if a Lead AI Engineer doesn’t have a diploma certificate he or she can still have access to an annual salary that falls between the annual range of $165,205 – $173,985; this annual salary range is without the company’s benefits.
Now let’s include the company’s monetary benefit in the salary. The annual salary including the bonus calculation falls within the range of $180,209 – $192,843.

Lead AI Engineer Salary with a High School Diploma or Technical Certificate
As usual for the sake of those who don't know what a High School Diploma and Technical Certificate mean, I will inform you in a moment.
A High School Diploma which is also known as a High School Degree is a diploma given to an individual upon graduating from high school.
This certificate is awarded to an individual upon completing the four years courses of studies, which start from the 9th grade to the 12th grade.
Technical Certificate is a coursework and examination result that allows you to claim mastery of a certain technical skill set like Lead AI Engineers' courses on your resume.
Now that you know what the two educational certificate means, let's get to know the annual salary range of Lead AI Engineers who possess a High School Diploma or Technical Certificate.
Their annual salary fall between the ranges of $166,361 – $175,527, in case you don't know, this salary range doesn't include the monetary benefit that the tech company usually gives to its staff.
The annual salary range including the company's monetary benefit falls within the $180,209 – $192,843.
Lead AI Engineer Salary with Associate's Degree
An associate degree is a college degree that you get after two years. You can obtain this kind of degree either from a community college, online university, junior college, or some four-year institutions in the United States.
When classifying associate degrees with educational degrees, it falls between a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree.
With that said, let's get to know the annual salary range without the company's monetary benefit; the annual salary of a Lead AI engineer having an associate degree falls between the range of $165,899 – $174,602. ‘
The annual salary including the monetary benefit of the company's benefit falls between the ranges of $181,207 – $193,615.

Lead AI Engineer Salary with Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree is called an undergraduate degree. This is the type of degree an individual gets from studying a subject of their choice at an academic institution, and most times it is called a college degree.
Getting this degree increases the tendency of an individual to get a job, exposes the individual to new ideas, and can increase the earning potential of the individuals who possess the degree.
With that said individuals with this degree have an annual salary range of $167,054 – $176,144. With the inclusion of the company's monetary benefit, their annual salary falls within the range of $182,869 – $195,545.
Lead AI Engineer Salary with Master's Degree or MBA
A Master's Degree is an advanced degree that is given by universities all around the world after completing a graduate study in a particular field. It takes one to two years to complete it and it further allows one to become more prepared for a career in their chosen field of study.
While an MBA (Master of Business Administration) is a master's degree that has a wide scope of business education, this degree teaches skills that can help you succeed in any business area including financial management and social responsibility.
Now that you know what degree is Master's Degree and MBA, let's get to know the salary range. The annual salary of individuals with either of these two degrees falls between the ranges of $167,747 – $177,069.
The annual salary calculated with the monetary benefit of the tech company falls between the ranges of 183,866 – $196,704.

Lead AI Engineer Salary with Ph.D. Degree
Ph.D. is a high-level degree that an individual earns after a period of three or more years of graduate-level study.
At the point of getting this degree, the individual has already finished studying all that is related to his or her chosen field of study and has finalized the creation, submission, presentation, and defense of new research.
The annual salary of individuals with this degree falls between the ranges of $168,209-$177,686 without the company's benefit.
The annual salary including the monetary benefit from the company falls between the ranges of $184,531 – $197,476.
Have you seen this guide on Amazon AI Engineer Salary in the US, UK, India and More?
Conclusion
Having a Lead AI Engineer in your tech company has more benefits than harm. Due to how important Lead AI Engineers are to tech companies they collect a higher pay than some AI engineers in tech companies.
And as you have read above, you can apply for Lead AI Engineers position in a tech company without having a diploma in as much as you know the profession.
As regards the salary above, they are all estimated. A Lead AI Engineer can get a salary that's either above or below the amounts written above, but the difference won't be all that far apart from the estimated amounts above.
Having an experience in the Lead AI Engineering field gives you an edge in getting paid a higher salary, so, therefore try to have experience before applying for the job position.
What is your take on this Lead AI Engineer Salary? I would love to hear in the comments!