Robotics roles drive AI salary growth as traditional jobs decline
Recent data from CV-Library points to considerable shifts within the UK's artificial intelligence job market, as robotics-related positions have recorded strong salary growth while many established AI roles have seen salary declines.
CV-Library analysed job data spanning from 2023 to 2025, taken from a database of more than five million roles, to reveal key salary and job market trends in this evolving sector.
Robotics roles surge
The fastest-growing job in terms of salary is the Robotics Software Engineer, with average salaries rising by 51.7% to GBP £52,779. This position outpaced others in the AI field, reflecting an increasing demand for robotics skills across sectors adopting new automation technologies.
Other roles experiencing significant salary boosts in this period include Principal Data Scientist, up 31.9% with an average of GBP £83,844, and Head of Data Science, which rose 30.1% to GBP £91,993. Data Science Lead (GBP £68,278) and Machine Learning Engineer (GBP £66,505) both observed a 6.5% rise in average salary.
Some roles, including Computer Vision Engineer (GBP £70,133), Data Scientist (GBP £63,073), and Algorithm Specialist (GBP £100,634), also saw increases, although in the case of the Algorithm Specialist, the growth rate was a modest 1.7% - among the lowest for salary growth across the roles reviewed.
Declining salaries across traditional AI jobs
Conversely, several conventional AI positions have seen notable reductions in salary levels. Senior Data Scientist roles experienced a 27.4% drop in salary, averaging GBP £85,368 during the analysis period. AI Engineer salaries also saw a substantial fall, declining by 26.8% to GBP £89,780. Data Science Engineer roles dropped by 19.8% to GBP £53,534 on average.
Other positions to note include MLOps Engineer (down 16.8% to GBP £69,256), Data Science Manager (down 16.5% to GBP £75,975), and Junior Data Scientist (down 12.9% to GBP £42,960). Robotics Engineer salaries slipped by 10.9% to GBP £46,825, Senior Machine Learning Engineer by 9.1% to GBP £88,056, Lead Data Scientist by 5.2% to GBP £85,462, and AI Software Developer by 0.7% to GBP £70,727.
Across all AI-related roles analysed by CV-Library, the year-on-year salary growth declined by 0.5%, indicating an overall cooling in wage growth within the field.
Job market competition and automation impact
More than 6,000 AI-related vacancies have been listed since 2023 on CV-Library, with the average AI salary at GBP £65,636. Factors driving salary declines in traditional AI roles include increases in market competition and the saturation of established job categories, while the rise of automation has expanded demand for robotics and physical AI system expertise in industries such as logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare.
According to CV-Library, the mixed salary trends reflect shifting priorities in the AI market, with rising demand for robotics and data-focused roles and declining wages in oversaturated job categories.
The shift in demand is attributed to the growing implementation of AI and automation technologies in business operations. Increased investment in physical AI systems has also led to a greater need for engineers to deploy and maintain intelligent machines, leading to field service engineer salaries rising by 0.5%.
Guidance for job seekers
CV-Library has outlined several steps for professionals seeking to advance their AI careers in this shifting landscape.
The organisation recommends that job seekers specialise in emerging areas such as robotics programming or develop expertise in real-time computing. Staying current with industry developments by monitoring journals, newsletters, and attending webinars is also encouraged.
Continual upskilling through courses and certification programmes, networking within professional communities, and maintaining an up-to-date portfolio that demonstrates real-world applications of AI skills are all seen as valuable strategies for those navigating the AI employment market.
