What Non-AI Industries are Hiring the Most AI Experts?

Welcome to 2022, where AI is currently transforming every industry from what’s right in front of our faces to what happens behind the scenes. So what non-AI industries are hiring the most AI experts according research from Burning Glass (AI Index report)? The information followed by professional, scientific, and technical services? The least interested field? Construction. Let’s explore why.

What Non-AI Industries are Hiring the Most Experts?

The Appeal of Information in Non-AI Industries

Information is big money. Telecoms, for example, are using AI to provide better, more responsive customer service and keep communications running through predictive maintenance. You might complain about your cell phone’s service in a tweet, but a bot is watching somewhere, ready to respond. And monitoring miles of cable now resides in the hands of programs far better than humans are at monitoring at that kind of scale.

The information sector holds a massive amount of data from customers — data ripe with insights. Through AI, Information can process for deeper insights, allowing them to pivot decisions quickly and efficiently. Everyone from multinational publishing and telecoms to online newspapers now has access to the rich insights of unstructured data.

Even more critical, AI is creating a layer of security over this treasure trove of information, providing the information sector with ways to reduce fraud and reduce security loopholes. As a result, information hires 2.3% of jobs posted, a number far ahead of every other industry needing AI.

Finance, Science, and Insurance are Catching Up

Science is using AI to solve a host of problems in areas like research and drug discovery, propelling the need for knowledgable AI engineers and developers in the field. Professional, Scientific, and Tech services occupy the number two spot, at 2% of jobs posted, but could catch up to the field of information.

Biotech and Pharmaceuticals are looking for ways to reduce liability from putting risky drugs and treatments on the market and provide more cost-effective ways to discover those new treatments. It can cost billions to even get a new treatment to clinical trials, just to experience horrendous success rates. AI is changing all that with easier materials discovery, genomic medicine, and cost-saving research.

Coming right behind are Finance and Insurance, two places where the demand for instantaneous decisions combined with difficulty verifying identities online have rocketed the need for AI’s capabilities.

In these sectors, much like Information, the problem is in the scope of maintenance. Large financial institutions like JP Morgan, for example, may process 12,000 new contracts per day. With security breaches costing in the billions and the amount of loss through defaulted contracts hanging over their heads, corporations are looking for ways to reduce these costs without taxing their human capital.

As a result, FinTech is using AI to provide instant customer service, better detect fraud with fewer false positives, and make less risky underwriting decisions. Insurance is right behind, providing faster and more accurate risk assessments. 

Two Surprising Fields Not Taking Advantage

Construction occupies the smallest hiring field for AI despite the long-term implications. One issue with the construction industry could be the lack of overall digitization. Machine and deep learning require large amounts of data, but without the proper training sets, full adoption can’t happen. 

McKinsey reports a lack of industry-wide realization for the benefits. Construction exists largely in the physical world, which may account for failure. Still, aspects of AI – everything from Building Information Modeling to compliance to materials and even reputation management – are compelling.

Another category is accommodation and food service. Tides could change with companies like McDonald’s acquiring tech startups to provide NLP models for faster drive-through service, or Hilton employing Connie, a concierge robot. However, the industry-wide adoption we were promised hasn’t panned out quite yet.

Granted, the travel planning industry is certainly getting better at using AI for things like smart push notifications or troubleshooting travel plans. As the hospitality industry begins to understand the full scope of data intelligence, we may see a jump in AI adoption in the coming years.

What Does This Mean?

AI is still an underserved field itself, with companies scrambling to find the talent they need. Even in industries like construction, there’s an enormous untapped potential for developers and SaaS startups to provide those answers.

If you’re planning to work in AI in the next few years, the field you want could still be open to you. One overall takeaway from this study is that while human labor isn’t expected to decrease in the face of AI adoption, AI is coming for a large chunk of automated and mundane job tasks, providing humans with higher-order, creative positions with problem-solving. 

AI developers will be responsible for keeping the framework going and building tailored solutions to the specific industry. Learn the ins and outs of those particular pain points, and you could be the driver for a spike in AI hiring in that industry.

[Related Article: Data Science in Manufacturing: An Overview]

For an up-to-date look at just the type of non-AI industries hiring for AI engineers, meet us at ODSC East 2022, where you’ll hear from speakers in all these industries. Plus, the AI Career Lab and Expo can introduce you specifically to 30 plus confirmed hiring partners in a variety of industries. Join us!