The artificial intelligence industry continues to reshape how technology companies build their go-to-market (GTM) teams. While the hottest roles in tech for 2025 established new benchmarks for technical GTM hiring across the sector, AI companies face distinct challenges that influence which positions they prioritize and how they compensate top talent.
Artificial intelligence startups and enterprises alike are competing for a limited pool of candidates who combine technical depth with sales, marketing or customer success expertise. The complexity of AI solutions – and the sophistication of the buyers evaluating them – demands experienced go-to-market professionals who can credibly discuss technical product concepts while translating capabilities into business outcomes. Major players like Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, IBM and NVIDIA are also actively hiring for these same titles, intensifying competition for available talent that fit these requirements while also aligning with the specific sales motion of each company.
Below are the top 10 GTM roles driving growth for AI startups, with job definitions, compensation rates and what makes each critical in this space:
Top AI Sales, Marketing and Customer Success Roles for 2026
1. Sales Engineer
What is a Sales Engineer?
A Sales Engineer operates as a hybrid between sales and product, helping customers understand technical capabilities through demos, proof-of-concepts and detailed solution discussions. In many AI companies, SEs even often serve as the primary customer-facing sales representatives rather than functioning purely in a support capacity. They bridge the gap between technical depth and business outcomes, troubleshooting complex use cases and validating product fit in real time.
With AI products requiring buyers to understand machine learning concepts, data infrastructure requirements and integration complexity, Sales Engineers reduce deal risk and accelerate close rates. Many AI companies have elevated this role to lead customer conversations rather than support them.
Sales Engineer salary: $160K to $250K base, $210K to $325K OTE. 30% variable.
2. Enterprise Account Executive
What is an Enterprise Account Executive?
Enterprise Account Executives manage large, complex deals with major organizations. They work with multiple decision-makers across lengthy sales cycles, negotiating contracts that can reach into the millions. These sellers act as strategic partners to C-level executives, shaping multi-year agreements that directly impact company growth.
AI solutions often require significant organizational change management, security reviews and procurement complexity. Enterprise AEs who can navigate these dynamics while articulating technical value to both business and technical stakeholders command premium compensation.
Enterprise AE salary: $300K to $350K OTE, with top performers surpassing $400K.
3. Forward Deployed Engineer
What is a Forward Deployed Engineer?
Forward Deployed Engineers work directly with customers, tailoring AI products to unique workflows for mission-critical use cases. They embed within client teams, acting as both builders and advisors to ensure adoption in highly specialized environments. Pioneered by companies like Palantir, this role has expanded rapidly across the AI sector.
AI implementations rarely work out of the box. Forward Deployed Engineers bridge the gap between what was sold and what can actually be delivered within customer constraints, writing code, building integrations and creating custom solutions that address specific business requirements.
Forward Deployed Engineer salary: $175K to $260K base, $230K to $360K OTE. 30-35% variable.
4. Solutions Architect
What is a Solutions Architect?
Solutions Architects design and implement tailored technical solutions for customers, often spanning both pre-sale validation and post-sale deployment. They collaborate closely with customer success and product teams to align technology with long-term customer needs, ensuring smooth integrations across complex environments.
AI deployments involve intricate data pipelines, model integrations and infrastructure considerations that require architectural expertise. A strong Solutions Architect reduces churn risk by ensuring customers achieve time-to-value faster, while also identifying expansion opportunities within existing accounts.
Solutions Architect salary: $170K to $260K base, $220K to $340K OTE. 30% variable.
5. GTM Engineer
What is a GTM Engineer?
A GTM Engineer supports sales motions by customizing demos, building proof-of-concepts and adapting product capabilities to customer needs. They bring engineering skills directly into customer conversations, allowing sales teams to offer tailored solutions at speed without pulling resources from core product development.
AI products often require customization to demonstrate value for specific use cases. GTM Engineers shorten sales cycles by connecting technical depth with business outcomes, building working demonstrations that prove feasibility before contracts are signed.
GTM Engineer salary: $180K to $240K base, $230K to $310K OTE. 25-30% variable.
6. Customer Success Engineer
What is a Customer Success Engineer?
Customer Success Engineers combine product engineering knowledge with a client advocacy approach. They function as technical problem-solvers who ensure customers extract maximum value from complex AI implementations, handling troubleshooting, optimization and configuration challenges that exceed traditional customer success capabilities.
Traditional customer success approaches often lack the technical depth required to support AI implementations. CSEs fill this gap by debugging real-world issues, optimizing deployed systems and channeling technical feedback back to product teams based on actual customer usage.
Customer Success Engineer salary (Technical/AI): $120K to $175K base + $25K to $70K variable.
7. Product Marketing Manager
What is a Product Marketing Manager?
Product Marketing Managers serve as the primary translators between complex AI technology and market-facing messaging. They own product positioning, competitive differentiation and go-to-market alignment across sales, customer success and product teams.
The proliferation of AI-enhanced products has created a critical expertise gap. Organizations struggle to find Product Marketing Managers who can credibly articulate how artificial intelligence delivers customer value beyond generic automation claims. PMMs who understand AI functionality deeply enough to position it meaningfully for different buyer personas command premium compensation.
Product Marketing Manager salary: $140K to $200K base, $150K to $230K OTE (varies by region).
8. Demand Generation Manager
What is a Demand Generation Manager?
Demand Generation Managers drive pipeline creation through integrated campaigns, leveraging data orchestration, account-based marketing techniques and increasingly AI-powered attribution models. They combine analytical capabilities with creative campaign execution to generate qualified opportunities for sales teams.
AI companies selling to technical audiences require demand gen professionals who understand both the technology and the buyers evaluating it. The ability to build reliable data workflows, leverage intent signals and execute account-based strategies for high-value targets has become mission-critical rather than nice-to-have.
Demand Generation Manager salary: $110K to $180K base, OTE depends on experience.
9. Enterprise Customer Success Manager
What is an Enterprise Customer Success Manager?
Enterprise Customer Success Managers own relationship management and retention for large accounts, focusing on adoption, expansion and renewal outcomes. They work across multiple stakeholders within customer organizations, translating business objectives into product usage strategies while identifying growth opportunities.
AI deployments require CSMs who can engage credibly with data science teams, IT leadership and business stakeholders simultaneously. The technical complexity of AI implementations means Enterprise CSMs must understand product capabilities at a deeper level than in traditional SaaS environments.
Enterprise CSM salary (Technical/AI, $500K-$1M accounts): $175K base + $50K variable.
10. Implementation Consultant
What is an Implementation Consultant?
Implementation Consultants ensure smooth customer onboarding and deployment, managing the technical and operational details required to move from contract signature to production usage. They develop detailed implementation roadmaps, coordinate across internal and customer teams, and troubleshoot deployment challenges.
AI system deployments are inherently more complex and costly than traditional software implementations, requiring specialized support to guarantee ROI for all stakeholders. Implementation Consultants set deals up for long-term success by ensuring customers achieve value realization on schedule.
Implementation Consultant salary (Technical/AI): $120K to $180K base + $20K to $35K variable.
Lets Betts Recruiting Help You Build Your AI GTM Team
Finding candidates who combine deep technical knowledge with proven GTM execution remains the core challenge for AI companies in 2026, but Betts Recruiting will help you build your right-fit team at scale. With our extensive network of pre-vetted candidates, unique talent acquisition model, proprietary toolset, and focused experience in the tech startup space, we can provide your hiring managers with the support and resources you need to secure the right talent at the right time.
Contact Betts here to discover how our specialized approach to AI recruiting can help you build the team you need to scale successfully.