So AIs don't get a VR bonus to dice pools, and if they are hacking, they are probably taking the -2 penalty to dice pools.

Assuming an AI with a maxed attribute of 7, and a max starting skill in Hacking of 6, they have a dice pool of 11 on Hack on the Fly.
A skill specialty in "Device" might get that up to 13 on some targets, and the Codeslinger quality might get that up to 15, but that's capped out, and their other hacking related dice pools will be closer to 10 most of the time.

If the AI is making use of Emulation, the dice pools get smaller. Emulating Sleaze 6? That's -3 to the dice pool.

Or am I missing something? Is there a trick here I could/should be using?

No trick, AI are just Bad™.

It's a badly proofed and balanced book. No surprise a character archetype written in it is the same.

You know in the book they mention that AI's get +3D to all matrix prescription tests, perhaps that was supposed to ball matrix actions? It might be a little much but it would help counteract that emulation cost. Likewise, if i'm a GM, then no drek AI get hotsim bonuses. I don't even think they can switch out of hot sim and if they can I sure missed it.

Wait, what kinds of drugs even effect a computer?

The best kind? Maybe it's just for anti-virus...

AIs do have some advantages, they can't take biofeedback damage, they don't suffer noise from distance, and they can change ownership of devices very quickly.

So, I don't think having slightly lower dice pools is inherently bad, seeing how its a bit of a trade off.

If only that mattered 98% of the time...

Not usually true. AIs need to be inhabiting an device in order to not be slowly killed by the "conditions on the grid." Moreover, to be good at anything they will need to be living in a device able to run cyberprograms, as a fraction of their special abilities are tied to cyberprogram slots. To be a hacker of any ability they will also need that device to have at least a sleaze rating, if not a full on cyberdeck. (Sleaze being a matrix attribute that's not just used for a limit on rolls, and thus can't be completely replaced by emulation.) Lastly, for hacker characters, direct connections are important for getting around host stats on a run, so living in a device means they can get direct connections to door locks or what-not so they can more easily get marks on Hosts.

For all these reasons, a player character AI will probably be using a device to generate it's Persona, and as a result it will suffer from noise issues around that device.

Sure, they can exist directly on the matrix or grid, but I suspect that won't be a thing they do regularly, and probably not as a preferred part of any run.

In theory, they can live in a Host, but most PCs won't be able to do that, and it still doesn't help them on runs, as they would need to leave the host.

Bah. Stupid auto correct.

Somehow, I suspect deliberate intent on the part of the developers, especially after what happened to Technomancers in SR5. Someone wants Hackers to be the top dog in the matrix.