01 · The headline numbers
What data and AI executives earn in 2026
$317.0K
Mean base salary across 243 VP+ data & AI executives — median $300K
$458.8K
Mean total cash — base plus target annual bonus; median $400K
67%
Have equity in their package; median grant $210K at hire
Mean base salary across the cohort is $316,995, against a median of $300,000. Add target bonus and mean total cash reaches $458,828, with a median of $400,000. Two-thirds of respondents hold equity on top of that. Those headline numbers cover a wide spread, and company size explains more of it than title does. 91% say AI expanded their responsibilities over the past year, which is reshaping what these roles are accountable for faster than it is reshaping what they pay.
The 2026 sample comprises 243 executives at the VP level and above — 49% VPs, 28% SVP/EVPs, and 23% C-suite (82% U.S.-based) — surveyed May 20 – August 19, 2026 through the Data, AI & Analytics Executive Benchmark Survey, conducted jointly with CDO Magazine. It skews deeply experienced (76% bring more than 20 years) and enterprise-weighted (63% sit in organizations above $1B in revenue). This is a first edition, so there is no prior year to compare against. Every figure comes from validated respondents and cleaned data. Each table leads with the mean, as our reports always have, with the median and the 25th and 75th percentile beside it; because extreme values are retained rather than trimmed, the median is the safer benchmark wherever the two disagree. Any segment with fewer than five responses is suppressed.
02 · KEY TAKEAWAYS
Six findings that should shape your next offer.
Company scale prices the seat, not the title
Below $1B in revenue, VP, SVP/EVP and C-suite base medians land at $250,000, $250,000 and $255,000. Three levels, one number. Above $10B the same ladder runs $300K to $375K.
The bonus target is the largest cash lever
70% carry a target of at least 21% of base and 22% target 51% or more. Moving from a 21–30% target to 51%+ is worth about $306,000 in median total cash.
Span of control beats reporting line
People managed explains more variation in base salary than executive level, company stage, education or gender. Who the executive reports to barely registers. The market pays for the size of the thing being run.
The gender gap flips by level
Women report a $310K median base against $300K for men. The aggregate hides the pattern: women lead by $37.5K at VP, the two are level at SVP/EVP, and men lead in the C-suite. Women hold 27% of VP+ seats.
Negotiating moves pay. A competing offer does not
Median base is $300,000 whether the executive held no competing offer, one, or several. Those who negotiated and got more report $310,000; those who negotiated and got nothing report $250,000.
AI expanded the job without repricing it
91% say AI expanded their responsibilities this year. Those whose scope expanded significantly are the most confident group about the role surviving — and are not paid more for it.