Pointer Strategy found that 17% of go-to-market job adverts over the past 90 days listed AI skills as a requirement, based on its latest quarterly index of 8,209 publicly advertised roles.
Ricky Pearl, Co-Founder of Pointer Strategy, said the relatively low share did not signal weaker employer interest in AI. Instead, many businesses are still testing how to use the technology across teams rather than making it a formal hiring requirement.
"Companies are relying on a smaller group of AI-capable employees and expecting existing staff to learn AI on the job rather than hiring specifically for it," Pearl said.
The data covers go-to-market, or GTM, roles across revenue-facing functions including sales, marketing, customer success and presales. Pearl said these roles often provide an early read on business confidence because they sit close to revenue generation.
"Companies can delay hiring in HR, finance or administration, but if they are confident about growth, they usually invest in sales and marketing first. Conversely, when confidence falls, GTM hiring is often among the first areas to slow," Pearl said.
Where AI Appears
AI requirements were concentrated in more technical customer-facing functions. Presales had the highest share, with 51.3% of adverts mentioning AI skills, followed by Enablement at 40.4%, Customer Success at 40.1% and GTM Engineering at 40%.
Growth roles followed at 33%, while Revenue Operations stood at 29.3% and Product Marketing at 27.3%. Lower down the list were Partnerships at 17.7%, Marketing at 17.4%, Sales at 13.4% and Account Management at 10%.
Some of the functions with the highest concentration of AI requirements also saw weaker hiring volumes. Customer Success fell by 555 roles and Presales by 260 over the quarter.
Pearl linked that pattern to the spread of AI features in software products, particularly in roles focused on helping customers adopt and use those tools.
"The results indicate that companies aren't simply looking for people who can use AI tools. They need people who can explain AI to customers, integrate AI into workflows, solve technical implementation issues and advise on governance and best practice," Pearl said.
"In other words, the demand is shifting from using AI to managing AI," he added.
Seniority Split
The index also found that AI requirements increased with seniority. Only 13.3% of entry-level roles mentioned AI skills, compared with 14.2% of mid-level positions.
The figure then rose to 26.9% for senior roles and 29.8% for lead roles. Director-level posts stood at 26.8%, while vice-president roles recorded the highest share at 38.9%, before dropping to 15.5% at C-level.
Pearl said the pattern suggested employers want experienced staff who can decide where AI should be used and oversee how it is introduced into day-to-day work.
"Only 13% of entry-level roles mentioned AI skills and 14% of mid-level roles. But it then jumps to 26% for senior, 29% for lead, 26% for director and 38% for VP before dipping to 15% for C-level. The mandate is definitely top-down, not bottom-up," Pearl said.
He added that the lower figure at the most senior executive level may reflect how those jobs are written and assessed.
"The drop at C-level may simply reflect that executive advertisements focus on broader leadership responsibilities rather than listing specific technical skills," Pearl said.
City Breakdown
Sydney remained the largest market for GTM hiring, with 2,650 active roles at the end of the quarter, ahead of Melbourne with 1,602 and Brisbane with 698. Perth recorded 475 roles, Adelaide 242 and Auckland 257.
AI skills appeared most often in Sydney adverts. About 24.2% of GTM roles in the city mentioned AI, compared with 16.2% in Melbourne, 9.7% in Brisbane, 7.6% in Perth and 6.6% in Adelaide. Auckland stood out among the smaller markets at 19.5%.
The data also showed which employers advertised the most GTM roles during the period. Salesforce topped the list with 232 positions, followed by AWS with 224 and Datacom with 213.
Google ranked fourth with 169 adverts, followed by Amazon with 158, Commonwealth Bank with 157 and Microsoft with 148. Other large recruiters included Southern Cross Austereo, WPP Media, Schneider Electric, Flight Centre and Telstra.
Among the top 30 advertisers were companies from banking, media, healthcare, logistics, software, manufacturing, travel, telecommunications and financial services. That spread suggests AI-related hiring pressure extends beyond specialist technology groups into a wider range of sectors where customer acquisition, retention and product adoption matter.
According to the index, Salesforce was still advertising 32 active roles this week, while AWS had 47.