A pay premium is emerging in tech for people who can tell a story. Companies are increasingly seeking storytellers, and the trend is clearest in AI and media. One reported pay range at Netflix reached $775,000, while communications roles at OpenAI were reported to pay above $400,000.
Behind the trend is what AI does to production. Building products, releasing features and publishing content all get easier and faster. A team can release ten features in a day, but customers still need context, relevance and a clear reason to care. That speed does not increase people’s appetite for more information. So the market fills up with more garbage, which raises the value of people who can explain what deserves attention.
The premium goes to the person who understands the product, the business and the customer, then connects all three in a message others can understand and act on. Writing well is only part of that job. Netflix’s own job posting asked for someone who could work closely with executive leadership and shape the story around product and technology. It also wanted someone who could bring complex products to life for broad audiences.
That kind of strategic storytelling rewards range. It suits the developer who can tell the story, the salesperson who understands the code and anyone who makes senior strategy concrete for customers, partners or internal teams. People whose careers have crossed industries, functions or roles may already be ahead, because they have seen more than one side of how value is created.
The same mix of skills explains why these roles are rarely called storytellers. They sit inside communications, product marketing and content teams, and sometimes in chief-of-staff offices. They also appear in developer relations, where teams help outside software builders understand and use a company’s tools.
Even the companies building AI models still want human judgment at the point where explanation, trust and positioning meet. OpenAI’s job listings for communications roles show how close this work sits to the centre of an AI company. In May 2025, Anthropic’s head of communications said the company planned to triple its communications team.
