- According to data provided by Aspen Technology Labs, U.S. AI job openings expanded by 21.3% in Q2 2026 to 69,539 active roles, fueled by a strong broader labor market and the rise of non-tech employers like Booz Allen Hamilton into the top three.
- Hiring shifted heavily toward operationalizing AI, driving explosive demand for specialized integration roles including AI Enablement, AI Governance, and Agentic AI.
- AI opportunities are rapidly decentralizing beyond traditional tech hubs, with South Carolina, Arizona, and North Carolina leading regional growth.
The U.S. AI job market is continuing to boom while showing clearer signs of its evolution into a core enterprise function. According to the latest data from Aspen Technology Labs, the second quarter of 2026 saw a significant expansion of AI jobs, and for the first time, a non-tech company cracked the top three AI employers in the U.S. This development, along with the sustained growth of specialized, high-value roles for architecting and managing deep enterprise AI integrations, is a telling sign of the technology’s maturation.
On the heels of its dramatic expansion to open the year, the market added more than 12,000 new AI-related positions in Q2 2026, bringing the total number of AI-related openings to 69,539. This amounts to a 21.3% increase from Q1 and a remarkable 84.9% rise from the same period last year, indicating the long-term demand for AI expertise remains robust and companies across all industries are joining the fold in seeking talent to architect and manage trustworthy multimodal and agentic systems.
AI employment expands along with U.S. labor market
The AI sector’s accelerating growth mirrors the broader U.S. labor market, which has remained strong following a volatile close to 2025. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payroll employment grew in Q2 2026, adding 334,000 jobs. This parallel upward trajectory indicates that as companies confidently expand their overall operations in a healthy economy, they are prioritizing AI talent as a fundamental pillar of their broader growth strategies.
This prioritization is on display in the AI employer leaderboard. While Amazon expanded its postings by an impressive 65.2% to reclaim the top spot, the most noteworthy movement was by Booz Allen Hamilton. The consultancy rose from fourth on the list in Q1—its first time appearing in the top 10—to third place, a sign of the expanding operational scale of AI in large enterprises. The enterprise giant list also features prominent names like Walmart and JPMorgan Chase, reinforcing the deep integration of AI across retail and finance.
The top three AI employers in Q2 2026 were as follows:
- Amazon: 1,175 live roles (+464 from Q1)
- Google: 998 roles (+296)
- Booz Allen Hamilton: 848 roles (+304)
For the second consecutive quarter, a startup company outpaced all employers for the most active AI job postings. Military technology company Anduril Industries posted more than 2,000 live roles in Q2—a remarkable figure for a company with fewer than 10,000 employees. Joining Anduril on this list are several prominent AI leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, along with a host of other rising companies built around the technology.
The top three startups for AI roles in Q2 2026 were as follows:
- Anduril Industries: 2,130 (not ranked in Q1)
- Databricks: 775 (-67 from Q1)
- OpenAI: 722 (+66)
The rise of agentic AI and enablement roles
The shift from foundational data science to scaled AI deployment has accelerated, with hiring trends in Q2 pointing toward a focus on more advanced and specialized functions. While the AI/ML Engineer remains the most in-demand position with 22,056 vacancies (a 28.1% quarterly increase), the most dramatic growth occurred in roles geared toward operationalizing AI across the enterprise.
Demand for talent in Agentic AI roles skyrocketed by 56.5% quarter-over-quarter, with a staggering 680% growth year-over-year. This surge underscores a market-wide push to develop autonomous systems that can execute complex tasks.
Similarly, AI Enablement roles, which focus on integrating AI tools and workflows, grew by an explosive 94.5% in Q2. This indicates that companies are moving beyond building models and are now heavily invested in empowering their entire workforce with AI capabilities.
At the same time, demand for AI/ML Architects and roles in AI Governance & Compliance also saw significant increases of 35.9% and 58.3%, respectively, reinforcing the focus on building scalable, responsible AI frameworks.
Compensation remains stable as geographic diversification continues
Unlike the number of AI roles, the compensation for these positions has remained relatively stable. The median salary for AI positions in Q2 was $158,080, a slight 2.7% decrease from the previous quarter. Despite this modest dip, AI talent continues to earn a significant premium, with salaries approximately 21.6% higher than the median for non-AI IT roles ($130,000). The premium is also evident in specialized roles, with AI Software Developers earning a median salary of $156,000 compared to $140,005 for their non-AI counterparts.
Maintaining the trend from quarters past, the geographic landscape for AI talent continued to broaden in Q2 2026. While California remains the epicenter of AI hiring with over 14,000 vacancies, other nontraditional geographies are experiencing rapid growth. South Carolina (+56.5%), Arizona (+50.4%), District of Columbia (+48.1%), and North Carolina (+44.7%) all posted strong quarter-over-quarter gains in active AI job postings, pacing the pack among territories with at least 250 openings. This ongoing diffusion is further evidence of AI’s ascent as a core component of business operations across all industries.
A maturing market signals the era of enterprise integration
The Q2 2026 data paints a picture of a technology that is well on its way to maturity. The sustained surge in overall AI hiring, highlighted by the ascent of non-tech organizations like Booz Allen Hamilton to the top of the employer leaderboard and the aggressive scaling of specialized startups, illustrates a decisive shift from experimentation to execution.
As organizations move to operationalize these advanced capabilities, they are driving explosive demand for highly specialized roles in Agentic AI, AI Enablement, and Governance. Coupled with the rapid spread of high-paying AI opportunities across non-traditional geographies, these sweeping developments are undeniable indicators of AI’s increasingly central role in the everyday operations of businesses across all industries.
Learn more about Broadbean by Veritone.
About the Data
The insights in this report are derived from data provided by Aspen Technology Labs (Aspen), a global leader in recruitment technology, labor market analytics, compensation intelligence, and web data management services. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Aspen, Colorado, the company supports clients across the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. As of January 1, 2026, Aspen collects job posting data from over 350,000 companies worldwide, including more than 225,000 in the United States, spanning both public and private employers.
We thank Aspen Technology Labs for their invaluable data and partnership in bringing these market trends to light.
