How much does AI engineer cost? (per person-day)
A mid-level AI engineer specialist in Turkey costs roughly 15.200 - 22.800 TRY per person-day; the estimate varies with seniority, scope and region.
An AI engineer designs features built on machine learning and large language models; typical deliverables are a model integration, a recommendation or classification system, and evaluation results.
Per person-day rate by level
| Level | Turkey per person-day (hour) | Global per person-day (hour) |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | 11.400 TL ($228) 1.428 TL ($29) / hour |
22.800 TL ($456) 2.856 TL ($57) / hour |
| Mid | 19.000 TL ($380) 2.380 TL ($48) / hour |
38.100 TL ($760) 4.760 TL ($95) / hour |
| Senior | 28.600 TL ($570) 3.570 TL ($71) / hour |
57.100 TL ($1.140) 7.139 TL ($143) / hour |
Global mid-level hourly reference: US 120-200 USD/hour
Derived from: Arc.dev, SecondTalent, A.Team (US 120-200 USD/hour)
These figures are estimates and vary with the market and skill. The exact price comes from experts' proposals.
Sources
Hourly rate ranges were compiled from published data at: Arc.dev, SecondTalent, A.Team, Upwork, eleman.net . Turkey rates are assumed to be 50% of the global rate. Exchange rate: CBRT USD selling, 1 USD = 50,10 TRY.
Last updated: 30.10.2026
How much does AI engineer cost? (per person-day)
A mid-level AI engineer specialist in Turkey costs roughly 15.200 - 22.800 TRY per person-day; the estimate varies with seniority, scope and region.
What is a person-day?
The fee for one person's work in one working day (here 8 hours). Total = rate per person-day × number of days.
Are these figures exact?
No, they are estimates. The exact price comes from experts' proposals and varies with the market and skill.
Why are AI engineer rates high?
The field has few experts and the work needs deep knowledge of model selection, data preparation and evaluation, so day rates usually sit above the general software average.
What adds cost to an AI project besides the rate?
Model and API usage fees, the need for labelled data and the time spent experimenting all affect the budget; ask about them separately in the quote.