Introducing Tides Market Intelligence

AI is changing the way businesses build products, structure engineering teams and compete for technical talent. Understanding the hiring market behind that change has become increasingly important, particularly for organisations investing in AI but trying to work out which capabilities they need, where to find them and what it will take to attract the right people.

That is why we’re launching Tides Market Intelligence, a new research and insights platform exploring the trends shaping AI, Data and Engineering talent across the UK and Europe. Our first report, The 2026 AI & Engineering Hiring Market, brings together published labour-market data to examine where demand is concentrated, which technical skills employers are looking for and how the economics of AI talent are evolving.

What does the data tell us about AI hiring?

The UK provides a clear example of how quickly the market is changing. PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer found that UK job postings requiring specialist AI skills rose from 112,000 in 2024 to 180,000 in 2025, an increase of 61%. The research also found that the average wage premium associated with AI skills reached 34.2%, up from 11% in 2024.

These figures reflect a wider shift in the way businesses are adopting AI. Demand is growing for people who can build AI systems, alongside professionals who can apply AI within existing business and technical functions. For employers, understanding the distinction matters when deciding which roles to prioritise and what expertise they need to bring into their teams.

Our report also explores where AI engineering demand is concentrated across Europe. Data from PredictLeads recorded 72,533 AI-engineering openings across its European dataset between June 2025 and August 2026. The UK and Germany accounted for roughly 40% of the openings recorded, with France, Spain and Poland also featuring prominently.

These figures offer a useful view of the market, although vacancy counts alone cannot tell employers where the best candidates are available or how difficult a particular role will be to fill. Salary expectations, specialist experience, language requirements and competition all influence the reality of hiring in each market.

The skills behind the job title

One of the areas we explore is the combination of skills appearing in AI engineering vacancies. Python remains prominent, while cloud platforms and production engineering tools such as AWS, Azure, CI/CD and Docker also feature heavily in the PredictLeads dataset.

This points towards a role that increasingly involves more than developing or experimenting with models. Employers need engineers who can help integrate AI into existing systems, deploy applications reliably and support them once they are in production.

For hiring managers, this has practical implications. A job title may provide a useful starting point, but it rarely captures the full technical requirements of a role. Understanding the work someone will actually be responsible for is essential when writing a brief, assessing candidates and deciding which skills are genuinely necessary.

What the report covers

The first volume of Tides Market Intelligence brings together several areas of research to help technology leaders make sense of the market. It looks at the distribution of AI engineering openings across European countries, the technical skills appearing in vacancies, UK AI hiring growth and the wage premium associated with AI skills.

It also considers what the findings mean for businesses planning their next hires, from benchmarking across markets to assessing practical engineering experience and interpreting salary data carefully.

The report draws on published research from PredictLeads and PwC. We have included the sources and methodology so readers can understand where the figures come from, how the datasets are defined and what conclusions they can reasonably support. The findings should be read in that context: they provide useful market signals rather than a complete count of every AI vacancy or a definitive measure of candidate availability.

Turning market data into better hiring decisions

At Tides, we work across AI, Data and Engineering, helping businesses identify and hire the technical talent they need. We see the importance of understanding the market behind each search, particularly as roles evolve and organisations compete for increasingly specialised capabilities.

Tides Market Intelligence is an extension of that work. Our aim is to make useful market information more accessible to the people making hiring decisions, bringing together data, research and specialist knowledge to provide a clearer picture of what is happening across the technical talent landscape.

This first report is the beginning of an ongoing series. As the market develops, we’ll continue exploring the roles, skills and hiring trends that matter to businesses building with AI and engineering talent.

Download the report: Where AI engineering is growing across Europe

Explore the findings and get a clearer view of the market shaping your next technical hire.