World’s most populous country lacks the one thing it needs to become an AI powerhouse: enough talented people

David Wei’s employer, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence start-up, doubled his previous salary and offered share options to entice him to come and work on the company’s AI-powered software for the legal industry.

That was eight months ago. The 27-year-old programmer says he already regrets not asking for more money – he currently earns 400,000 yuan (US$60,000) a year not including options – and is now actively looking for a better-paying gig.

“My friends advised me to stay put and complete at least a full year so that it won’t look bad on my resume,” said Wei, who has a postgraduate degree in applied mathematics from Harbin Institute of Technology, one of China’s best-known universities, along with Tsinghua and Peking University, when it comes to science and engineering.

But with more than 10 recruiters calling him with job offers since the start of the year, the advice from his friends is looking increasingly outdated.

Wei is one of the estimated 300,000 people in the world who have the required skills in advanced computer science that underpin developments from driverless cars to home robots. The global demand for AI experts like this is in the millions, according to a report by Tencent Research, a unit of China’s Tencent Holdings.