Prime Highlights:

• AI engineers are earning up to $900 per hour as consultants to help companies adopt and implement AI solutions.
• Their hands-on expertise in building, debugging, and integrating AI systems sets them apart from traditional consultants.

Key Facts:

• Research from MIT shows that 95% of enterprise AI initiatives aiming for rapid revenue growth fail due to organizational learning gaps, not poor AI models.
• PromptQL’s hybrid model of having AI engineers act as both consultants and on-the-ground implementers is reshaping the consulting industry.

Key Background:

As AI changes the way businesses operate, companies are hiring AI engineers as consultants and paying them very high rates. At PromptQL, a San Francisco-based AI platform by Hasura, engineers earn $900 per hour to create and run AI tools that analyze company data using large language models (LLMs).

The premium wage reflects the unique combination of technical skill and “intuition” needed to manage rapidly evolving AI technologies, according to Tanmai Gopal, cofounder and CEO of PromptQL. “MBA types are strategic thinkers, but they often lack an intuition for what AI can do,” Gopal noted, emphasizing the value of engineers who can both advise and execute.

While specific clients were not disclosed, Gopal confirmed that PromptQL works with some of the largest companies across networking, fast food, e-commerce, grocery, and B2B sectors. Oana Iordăchescu, founder of Deep Tech Recruitment, highlighted that enterprises and startups are competing fiercely for senior AI engineers, driving wages “far above even Big Four consulting partners,” who typically earn $400–$600 per hour.

Industry experts agree that AI consulting is highly specialized. Unlike regular consultants, AI engineers can work directly with AI; they can fix models, set up data processes, and link AI solutions to a company’s systems. Rob Howard, CEO of Innovating with AI, said that these skills are rare, which is why companies are willing to pay such high rates.

Research from MIT’s NANDA initiative shows that 95% of enterprise AI projects aiming for fast revenue growth fail, not because the AI is bad, but because companies struggle to use the tools effectively. To avoid these failures, businesses are investing heavily in skilled AI engineers.

PromptQL’s approach of having AI engineers act as both consultants and on-the-ground implementers is changing the consulting industry. According to Gopal, this new type of expert consultant is helping companies adopt AI successfully and reshaping how consulting works.