“Salary increases as importance increases” Survey results on the status and salary of corporate data managers

Salaries for those responsible for handling data, data analytics, and AI initiatives in companies are rising at an above-average rate. Currently, the most senior data executives in Europe earn an average of $471,000 in pure cash compensation, including base salary plus bonuses. This is a 23% increase from the average annual salary of $382,000 the previous year. Adding stock shares, the data director’s annual salary is $761,000, an increase of more than 30% compared to the previous year ($565,000).

Heidrick & Struggles will survey more than 400 data executives around the world in the summer of 2024. ‘2024 Global Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Executive Organization and Compensation Survey’ published a report.

“The role of executives with data expertise has become more important than ever, and this applies globally,” said Christine van der Sande, partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ global technology practice. This is a result of the importance of rapid technological development. “Generative AI and multimodal language models have further accelerated this trend.” He also added that the absolute level and income growth of data managers in Europe is remarkable.

Data technology is developing rapidly, and the income of related workers is also increasing accordingly. The annual salary of U.S. data executives is much higher than that of European executives, and according to this survey, U.S. data executives earn an average annual salary of $1.13 million. Of this, $387,000 is fixed compensation, $245,000 is bonus, and $498,000 is stock. However, salaries for U.S. data executives remain stagnant compared to previous years’ reports.

Despite the economic situation in Europe, compensation for data executives is expected to increase further. “The European market still lags behind the US in terms of remuneration, but it is catching up quickly,” says Christine van der Sande. “There is a huge demand for managers and experts in AI and other data-driven topics. “The compensation is already much higher than that of technical workers at a similar level, but income will increase further,” he predicted.

Along with rising salaries, the importance of the topic of data in companies is also increasing. Seven out of 10 data leaders say they have access to the C-suite of their organization. Data leaders have had to fight for a long time to gain recognition from boards and executives. As a result, among the managers who participated in the survey, the number of managers who reported directly to the CEO jumped from 17% to 31% in just one year.
editor@itworld.co.kr