It’s a pretty great time to get a PhD in AI

(Liberal arts grad students, maybe avert your eyes? This one’s gonna hurt a little.)

Every business under the sun, from Istanbul to Sticker Mule, is trying to get in on AI.

That’s good news for one group: the small number of AI experts holding advanced degrees in the field.

And when we say “good,” we mean really good. Like, $500k+-salaries-level good.

The talent wars are on

Top companies are making their presence felt at top universities. Per Insider, the corporate world is “ransacking” academia.

Headhunters are recruiting students so early — even undergrads are in demand right now — that enrollment is dipping for postgrad programs.

• How many college kids you know would stay in school when their classmates are seeing part-time offers exceeding $350k?
• That temptation can only be held in check for so long; computer science programs in North America annually produce ~15k master’s grads but just 1.9k PhD grads, according to Stanford’s AI Index.

Just 10 years ago, that elite class of AI PhD grads were evenly split between continuing in academia or working in the private sector. Today, with corporate enticements so grand, surveys show universities holding onto only ~25% of them.

This is just the beginning

If they weren’t already, every C-suite on the planet is having conversations about AI. Many will increase investments in the space.

• Machine-learning talent collective Tribe AI told Insider demand for AI-related placements doubled from December to March.

More good news? While PhD programs are expensive, student debt only hurts so much when you can pay it off in two paychecks.