Sber 3 times increased hiring in areas related to AI

At the same time, the company is developing new professional roles and training employees whose professions are not directly related to technology.

The development of AI creates a demand for specialists of different profiles – from ML engineers and AI specialists to experts in preparing data for training models. In the nine months of 2026, Sber hired 279 ML specialists, 95 for other AI roles and 616 for data markup.

Alexander Isakov, Senior Managing Director, Head of the Center for Macroeconomic Research at Sberbank:

Generative AI is turning from an experimental technology into a working tool of mass professions. It takes on separate tasks: preparation of texts, data processing, search for information. The value shifts to what is more difficult to automate: the ability to set a task, verify the result and take responsibility for the decision. Therefore, AI complements the work of a specialist and increases the return on his qualifications. Hence the request: employers are not looking for a replacement for a specialist, but a specialist who knows how to work with AI.

Thus, the development of AI creates a demand not only for developers and researchers, but also for specialists who provide the creation and training of intelligent systems.

Interest in working with artificial intelligence is also growing. In 2026, the number of responses to a single Middle-level ML Engineer job almost quadrupled and Senior-levels more than five times compared to 2025.

The changes are not just about technology teams. Sber consistently develops AI competencies of employees of mass professions. Basic training to work with artificial intelligence has already passed 47 thousand employees of the first line – about 40% of its number.

Employees themselves perceive AI primarily as a tool that complements human expertise. According to an internal study, 86% of employees agree that AI can offer solutions to work issues, but the final decision should be left to the person. Another 67% are calm about the possibility of transferring part of the AI work tasks.

Similar processes are taking place in the labor market as a whole. According to the analysis of vacancies conducted by the Sber Center for Macroeconomic Research, in September 2026, skills in working with generative AI were required in 4.7 thousand vacancies – almost 20% more than a year earlier, and three times more than in early 2025. Demand is not limited to IT for a long time: seven out of ten jobs where employers most often expect such skills are non-technical. Designers are second only to programmers and ahead of data scientists, followed by marketers, SMM managers and secretaries. Employers call specific tools and Russian solutions among the leaders: GigaChat is among the three most mentioned large language models, and Kandinsky in the third quarter rose to fourth place.

Changes in the labor market under the influence of AI will be one of the topics of the international conference AI Journey 2026, which will be held on November 26-28 in Moscow.