AI Agents (Agentic AI)
UK
The table below looks at the prevalence of the term AI Agents in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited AI Agents over the 6 months leading up to 15 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
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|
6 months to 15 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 182 | 430 | 560 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +248 | +130 | +79 |
| Contract jobs citing AI Agents | 890 | 131 | 3 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 1.61% | 0.39% | 0.008% |
| As % of the Miscellaneous category | 4.62% | 1.09% | 0.026% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 577 | 77 | 2 |
| 10th Percentile | £413 | £363 | £710 |
| 25th Percentile | £500 | £463 | £725 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £575 | £525 | £750 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +9.52% | -30.00% | +36.36% |
| 75th Percentile | £700 | £688 | £775 |
| 90th Percentile | £838 | £738 | £790 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £525 | £560 | - |
| % change year-on-year | -6.25% | - | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | £40.80 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £57.50 | £43.84 | - |
| Median hourly rate | £67.50 | £44.90 | - |
| Median % change year-on-year | +50.35% | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £83.00 | £45.95 | - |
| 90th Percentile | £89.63 | - | - |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £75.00 | - | - |
All Generic Skills
UK
AI Agents falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills | 19,249 | 11,971 | 11,529 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 34.81% | 36.05% | 30.62% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 11,501 | 7,360 | 6,875 |
| 10th Percentile | £320 | £293 | £280 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £406 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £515 | £530 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +1.94% | -2.83% | -3.64% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £638 | £668 |
| 90th Percentile | £750 | £750 | £800 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £493 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.65% | -1.40% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1,363 | 627 | 402 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.81 | £14.33 | £16.30 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.50 | £18.50 | £22.70 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.80 | £27.33 | £46.18 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +30.99% | -40.82% | +2.62% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.50 | £51.25 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £83.49 | £72.50 | £75.16 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £34.00 | £26.50 | £52.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +28.30% | -49.52% | +2.46% |
AI Agents
Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing AI Agents relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
AI Agents
Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing AI Agents.
AI Agents
Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing AI Agents over the 6 months to 15 October 2026.
AI Agents
Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing AI Agents.
AI Agents
Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing AI Agents over the 6 months to 15 October 2026.
AI Agents
Top 16 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing AI Agents within the UK over the 6 months to 15 October 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.
| Location | Rank Change on Same Period Last Year |
Matching Contract IT Job Ads |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | +228 | 748 | £560 | +6.67% | 2,367 |
| London | +154 | 478 | £600 | +14.29% | 1,777 |
| UK excluding London | +118 | 266 | £525 | -6.25% | 697 |
| Work from Home | +89 | 248 | £600 | +26.32% | 839 |
| North of England | +30 | 113 | £538 | +20.79% | 208 |
| North West | +3 | 59 | £500 | +13.64% | 132 |
| South East | -15 | 55 | £600 | - | 151 |
| Yorkshire | - | 54 | £550 | - | 53 |
| South West | -5 | 34 | £500 | -15.25% | 37 |
| Midlands | -19 | 29 | £575 | - | 66 |
| West Midlands | - | 25 | £575 | - | 49 |
| Scotland | -6 | 23 | £588 | +7.80% | 103 |
| East of England | -17 | 11 | £600 | - | 93 |
| East Midlands | -8 | 4 | £605 | +5.22% | 17 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 2 | £650 | - | 33 |
| Wales | - | 1 | £298 | - | 9 |
AI Agents
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:
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