Pave says AI hiring is shifting to governance and security roles

Pave’s Q2 2026 Hot Jobs Index shows AI hiring is broadening beyond builders to the people who audit, govern and secure those systems. Data Governance jumped to No. 2, while SEO landed among the coldest jobs as AI changes how companies build and find information.

Why it matters: - The Q2 2026 Hot Jobs Index points to a new phase of AI hiring. - Companies are not only staffing AI builders. They are also hiring for oversight, trust and security. - The shift suggests enterprise AI is moving from experiments into production systems that affect decisions.

What happened: - Pave released its quarterly Hot Jobs Index on July 7, 2026. - The index draws on real-time data from more than 9,000 companies. - AI Engineer held the No. 1 spot in the Q2 2026 ranking. - Data Governance rose from No. 5 to No. 2. - Information Security Operations and Internal Audit stayed in the top five. - Search Engine Optimization entered the 10 coldest jobs list for the first time.

The details: - The 10 hottest jobs were AI Engineer (+97), Data Governance (+88), Information Security Operations (+76), Field Marketing (+71), Internal Audit (+70), Machine Learning Engineer (+69), Firmware Engineering (+68), Deal Desk (+64), Technical Account Management (+59) and Animation (+59). - The 10 coldest jobs were Web Development (-83), Content Marketing (-80), HR (Generalist) (-69), Marketing Technology Management (-68), Search Engine Optimization (-67), Digital Marketing (Generalist) (-67), Marketing (Generalist) (-64), HR Operations (-62), Media Production (-61) and Graphic Design (-58). - AI Engineering has grown about 11x in prevalence across Pave’s dataset over the past two years. - Pave expects AI Engineering to keep expanding as more companies formalize it as a distinct job family. - The share of companies with a dedicated Field Marketing function rose from 4.83% to 8.35%. - That increase accelerated sharply in late 2025. - Pave says the rise in Field Marketing reflects a higher premium on in-person, high-touch engagement as AI-generated content becomes more common. - Web Development posted the coldest score in the index at -83. - The share of new hires entering web development roles fell from 0.18% in Q4 2023 to 0.07% in Q2 2026. - The decline in web development hiring tracks with the rise of AI-assisted “vibe coding” tools that let non-specialists build and ship web products. - The Hot Jobs Score combines Hiring Momentum at 65% and Workforce Prevalence at 35%. - Pave says both inputs measure growth rates relative to baseline and are converted to percentile ranks across eligible job families. - The company’s full index also tracks Forward Deployed Engineer, AI Transformation Lead, GTM Engineer, AEO/GEO Specialist and AI Product Manager. - The full Hot Jobs Index is available at Pave’s Hot Jobs Index.

Between the lines: - The ranking shows AI demand is spreading from model-building into control functions that manage risk and reliability. - The rise of Field Marketing suggests physical, human-led outreach may be gaining value as digital content becomes easier to automate. - The slide in SEO and web development highlights how AI tools are reshaping entry-level and workflow-heavy jobs tied to online content and site production. - Alex Cwirko-Godycki, Pave’s GM of Market Data, said the market is entering a second wave of AI hiring focused on trust and governance.

What's next: - Pave expects AI Engineer hiring to keep growing as companies define the role more formally. - The company is tracking emerging roles tied to deployment, transformation, growth and AI product management. - The next quarterly update will show whether governance, audit and security roles continue to gain ground.

The bottom line: - AI hiring is no longer just about building systems. It is increasingly about controlling, securing and operationalizing them.