AI is becoming a requirement across a broader range of jobs, but companies are not always updating job descriptions, pay or hiring practices at the same speed. Oyster’s 2026 Global AI Talent Report examined approximately 15,000 job descriptions for roles filled through its platform between 2022 and the first half of 2026, alongside a survey of more than 1,000 HR and People leaders and interviews with experts in AI and employment.
The report found that approximately 15% of roles filled through Oyster in the first half of 2026 explicitly required AI skills, compared with about 5% in 2022. Engineering roles led at 23%, but AI requirements also appeared in 17% of marketing coordinator roles, 15% of recruiter roles and 10% of operations coordinator roles.
According to the survey, 95% of HR and People leaders said employees at their companies use AI tools daily in roles where AI is not included in the official job description. Among organizations that added AI requirements to existing roles during the past year, 62% said the change brought neither a new title nor higher pay. In addition, 46% of companies extending AI expectations to non-technical positions said those expectations were not formally communicated to employees.
AI requirements were also more common in individual contributor positions than in senior leadership roles. The report recorded them in 11% to 13% of individual contributor roles, compared with 8% to 9% of Director, VP and C-suite roles.
When companies identify AI skill gaps, 53% said they prefer to train existing employees. Around one-third combine internal training with external hiring, while 14% primarily recruit from outside the organization. Companies focused on external AI hiring were nearly twice as likely to have recruited internationally after failing to find suitable candidates domestically: 34%, compared with 18% among companies prioritizing internal development.
The markets with the highest shares of filled roles requiring AI skills included Switzerland, at approximately 21%, Poland at 20%, Portugal at 19%, Romania at 17% and the Netherlands at 16%.
The report recommends that companies first assess AI capabilities already present among their employees, then update outdated job descriptions, determine whether AI fluency should affect compensation and clearly communicate changing expectations. Its findings suggest that AI adoption is already altering day-to-day work, even where formal job structures have not yet been revised.
Sources: HR Dive.