Builds agentic workflows and retrieval systems that return the right thing.
Proxy only
No published title separates agentic and retrieval work from generative AI generally. Given how differently the two are priced in practice, the proxy is likely to understate specialist retrieval work.
The published figures
One title stands behind this discipline.
Generative AI
as the source names it
Basis
Lower (10th)
Middle
Upper (90th)
Sample
Weight
Contract, per day
£413
£550
£788
815 rates quoted
strong
Permanent, per year
Nothing published for this title.
As a fractional engagement
Built on £550 a day, the lowest advertised middle of the titles above. Lowest, not highest, because the number that matters to a buyer setting a budget is the one they are least likely to be surprised by.
Commitment
Days a month
Per month
Per year
One day a week
4
£2,200
£26,400
Two days a week
8
£4,400
£52,800
Three days a week
12
£6,600
£79,200
£550 a day multiplied by the commitment, and nothing else. No seniority uplift, because any uplift would be invented.
Why this one is hard to judge
Retrieval quality is measurable, but almost nobody measures it. Ask for the numbers and most cannot produce any.
That is the reason a rate alone tells you very little here. Two people quoting the same day rate for this work can be worth wildly different amounts to you, and the difference does not show up in either of their profiles.
Figures from IT Jobs Watch, UK contract rates and IT Jobs Watch, UK permanent salaries, six months to 8 August 2026, read on 2026-08-08. They are rates and salaries advertised, not paid.