The AI security specialists on $200k salaries in banks could earn 4x more by leaving
Agentic AI jobs in banks are proliferating. Some are more important than others, but finding the right people to fill those spots is a hard task.
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One senior banking technology headhunter, speaking off-the-record told us that "agentic security is a big thing; each bank has at least five to ten openings in it." The interest goes all the way to the top; Jamie Dimon told the Wall Street Journal this month that AI cybersecurity is "our biggest risk by far" and that companies are currently having to fend off armies of "little persistent agents that try to attack you."
The problem, the headhunter said, is that "people with those skills don't want to work internally for a bank. Their HR systems are so archaic and payment scales don't match what the market is paying." The most senior AI specialists at banks can earn a "minimum of $200k base plus bonus" but many earn less. A lead cybersecurity architect at JPMorgan can earn a salary of $185k working in Chicago, whereas Morgan Stanley is hiring agentic cybersecurity engineers in Baltimore on salaries of up to $195k.
These aren't bad salaries for banking, but given that average wages and salaries at OpenAI in London were $1.04m in 2025, they look a bit paltry. Instead, the headhunter said these cybersecurity specialists are going into (or building) "small consulting firms claiming to be specialized with AI security." Pay in these consultancies can be as much as four times expected compensation in a bank. Internal hires, in comparison, "get paid crap."
The bigger problem, according to the headhunter, is that these consultancies "sound like BS. Nobody can control these things, even heads of AI security companies aren't sure what's happening." The expertise that banks are looking for "never lines up and, if it does, they're already working for Google or Palantir."
This may not be a huge problem for now. Dimon noted that banks (which are heavily regulated) are "rather well protected." However, he said that the bank's external vendors (which may be subject to fewer regulations) could be "huge vulnerabilities" if they fall victim to a cyber attack. Dimon said that all banks should be implementing network segmentation and identity access management while also using "the most powerful AI models you have to look for vulnerabilities."
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