Applied research
Works on problems where the method is not settled yet.
Data scientist is the closest published title for applied research inside a business, and the broad AI reading sits underneath it. Neither reaches frontier-lab research, where compensation is set by equity and is not advertised anywhere this source can see.
The published figures
2 titles stand behind this discipline. They are not the same job as each other, and none is exactly this discipline.
Data Scientist
as the source names it| Basis | Lower (10th) | Middle | Upper (90th) | Sample | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract, per day | £425 | £600 | £788 | 225 rates quoted | strong |
| Permanent, per year | £50,000 | £75,000 | £100,000 | 372 salaries quoted | strong |
Artificial Intelligence
as the source names it| Basis | Lower (10th) | Middle | Upper (90th) | Sample | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract, per day | £400 | £551 | £788 | 2,974 rates quoted | strong |
| Permanent, per year | £40,000 | £71,000 | £111,250 | 5,017 salaries quoted | strong |
The broadest reading available. It covers every advertisement mentioning AI, so it spans research posts and jobs that mention AI in passing. Useful as a floor, useless as a target.
Outside London the permanent middle is £65,000, against £71,000 UK-wide.
As a fractional engagement
Built on £551 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 | £2,204 | £26,448 |
| Two days a week | 8 | £4,408 | £52,896 |
| Three days a week | 12 | £6,612 | £79,344 |
£551 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
Publication record is a signal but not the signal, because the applied question is whether it survives contact with a product.
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.