Insights

Notes on the Australian AI talent market

Salary movement, capability gaps and hiring patterns we see in banking, insurance and beyond. Written for people who have to make the hire.

Latest August 2026 · 8 min read

The AI governance hire nobody budgeted for

APRA wrote to every bank, insurer and superannuation trustee it regulates on 30 April 2026, calling for a step-change in AI risk governance, while explicitly introducing no new prudential requirements. That combination is what makes this role so hard to resource.

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Salary & benchmarks

What AI engineers actually earn in Australia

Four published sources put the same role between $115,000 and $250,000. The spread is not volatility. It is four incompatible measurements reported in the same unit.

August 2026 · 9 min read

Hiring strategy

Why your AI job ad is filtering out the best candidates

Six requirements that appear on almost every AI brief in Australian financial services, what each one excludes, and what to write instead.

August 2026 · 7 min read

AI governance

The AI governance hire nobody budgeted for

What APRA’s four findings on board literacy, internal audit, supplier concentration and agentic cyber risk actually imply for who you hire, and in what order.

August 2026 · 8 min read