AI proficiency already moves pay at about a quarter of financial firms, a recruiter's survey finds
Nearly a quarter of financial firms tie raises, bonuses or promotions to AI proficiency, according to a Selby Jennings survey of 500 respondents. Whether pay formulas for it are defined by next year rests on one Selby Jennings executive's forecast.
The Investor · Invest desk
Key figures: 42% of respondents have introduced formal criteria to evaluate employees' AI skills; 30% of firms require employees to disclose AI use in formal performance reviews; Selby Jennings polled 500 executives across the finance industry, a figure marked disputed.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Respondents with formal criteria for AI skills | 42% | 2 | |
| AI use disclosed in reviews | 30% of firms | 1 | |
| Finance executives polled | 500 executives | disputed | 10 |
What happened
- Separately, 30% of firms require employees to disclose their use of AI tools in formal performance reviews.
- Formal criteria for evaluating employees' AI skills have been introduced by 42% of respondents.
- Dedicated teams or roles to track whether AI investments pay off exist at 30% of respondents in Reuters' account, and at nearly a third of firms in Semafor's.
- Semafor reports that applicants' AI skills count nearly four times as much in hiring decisions as where they went to college.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint A quarter cannot be converted into a firm count: Reuters says 500 executives were polled and Semafor says 500 companies.
- What it costs cost Scoring AI use costs time before it costs pay, since Semafor reports the monitoring falls to managers in many organizations.
- Who has to decide decision Firms with formal AI criteria but no pay link must decide whether to attach money to scores they already keep, a gap of more than 17 points of respondents if the groups nest.
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Semafor describes the 500 as companies [11]; Reuters, as carried by CNA, describes them as executives [10]. The difference decides what a quarter means. On the company reading, a quarter is at most 125 firms and the 30% that require AI-use disclosure in reviews is 150 [6][7]. On the executive reading, those are answers from people, and a large employer with several respondents would be counted several times.
The pay link is the narrowest of the measures reported. Formal criteria for evaluating AI skills exist at 42% of respondents [2], so the pay-linked group, at under a quarter [9], trails that by more than 17 points [8]. A firm in that gap has paid for the scoring and not yet for the consequence. Dylan Gomez, executive director at Selby Jennings, told Reuters: "While currently there is no established formula on how much compensation is getting tied to AI usage and performance, we expect this to become more defined by next year." [13] It is a forecast from one executive, and neither account sets it against an earlier survey.
We think the direction holds and the date is soft. A disclosure line costs an employee a form field. A formula costs someone the work of measuring output, and 30% of respondents, per Reuters, have created dedicated teams or roles to track whether their AI investments are delivering [3]. The firms that have built that apparatus could write a formula by next year. The rest would be writing one blind.
The counter-thesis is that formulas arrive sooner, because the cheapest version, a fixed modifier on the bonus, needs no measurement system. Possible. But Jacob Summers, Selby Jennings' head of tech recruiting, told Semafor the practice is more common among fintech startups and smaller firms than brand-name banks and trading houses [5], and a formula that moves a lot of money would have to come from the large banks. We would be wrong if the next survey shows the pay-linked share still under a quarter, or if the 30% that require disclosure are still only disclosing [1].
What to watch
- Selby Jennings' next survey: whether the pay-linked share passes a quarter and whether any respondent states a set formula for raises or bonuses.
- Any brand-name bank or trading house adding AI proficiency to review or bonus criteria, since the practice is less common there today.
- A respondent breakdown from Selby Jennings that settles whether the 500 are executives or firms.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption24
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives60
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Another 30 per cent of firms require employees to disclose their use of AI tools in formal performance reviews.
- [2]
42 per cent of respondents had introduced formal criteria to evaluate employees' AI skills.
- [3]
30 per cent of respondents had created dedicated teams or roles focused on tracking whether their AI investments were delivering results.
- [4]
Nearly a third of firms surveyed have created new roles or departments to track AI use.
- [5]
Jacob Summers, Selby Jennings' head of tech recruiting, told Semafor the practice is more common among fintech startups and smaller firms than brand-name banks and trading houses.
- [6]
If each of the 500 respondents is one firm, a quarter is at most 125 firms (the survey says 'nearly' a quarter, so 125 is an upper bound).
- [7]
If each of the 500 respondents is one firm, the 30% that require AI-use disclosure in reviews is 150 firms.
- [8]
The 42% with formal AI-skill criteria exceeds the pay-linked share, which is under 25%, by more than 17 percentage points.
- [9]
Nearly a quarter of financial firms tie raises, bonuses or promotions to employees' proficiency with AI, according to a survey by recruitment firm Selby Jennings.
- [10]
Selby Jennings polled 500 executives across the finance industry.
- [11]
Semafor describes the Selby Jennings survey as covering 500 companies, and says a quarter of US financial firms have tied raises, promotions and bonuses to AI proficiency.
- [12]
CNA's headline on the Reuters story reads: Wall Street firms tie bonuses, promotions to AI skills, survey finds.
- [13]
Dylan Gomez, executive director at Selby Jennings, told Reuters: "While currently there is no established formula on how much compensation is getting tied to AI usage and performance, we expect this to become more defined by next year."
- [14]
Applicants' AI skills are nearly four times as important in hiring decisions as where they went to college.
- [15]
In many organizations, monitoring AI work falls to managers.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- channelnewsasia.comWall Street firms tie bonuses, promotions to AI skills, survey finds
1 article · October 14, 2026
- semafor.comA quarter of financial firms tie pay and promotions to AI proficiency: survey
1 article · October 14, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- AI in the workplace
- Compensation and hiring
- AI in financial services