AI's biggest winners may be the engineers who don't write code

India's fast-growing artificial intelligence data-centre industry is driving a sharp rise in demand for engineers from mechanical, electrical and industrial disciplines, creating lucrative opportunities in fields that had long been eclipsed by software jobs, as reported by Times of India.

As companies ramp up investments in AI infrastructure, professionals with expertise in power systems, cooling technologies and industrial engineering are increasingly being sought after, with compensation packages climbing significantly.

Also Read: Indian IT firms likely to report muted Q1 growth amid AI spending, macro uncertainty


The hiring momentum spans the entire AI infrastructure ecosystem. Recruiters are seeing demand from colocation operators such as Equinix, STT GDC India, Yotta, CtrlS and NTT, as well as hyperscalers including AWS, Google and Microsoft. Engineering and infrastructure firms such as L&T, Tata Projects, Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Siemens, Honeywell and Johnson Controls are also expanding teams to support the build-out.

The shift highlights how the AI boom is increasingly being powered not just by software and algorithms, but by the physical infrastructure needed to run large-scale computing operations, including substations, cooling plants and power networks.

The hiring spree comes amid rapid expansion in India's data-centre sector. According to Avendus Capital, the country's operational data-centre capacity is projected to increase from around 1.6 GW in 2025 to 5 GW by 2030. More than 3 GW of additional capacity is already under development, requiring investments of nearly $25 billion, while capacity dedicated to AI workloads is expected to quadruple during the period.

Also Read: AI adoption gains momentum, returns emerge but infra lags: Industry executives

Data shared exclusively with TOI by executive search firm Ishwa Consulting shows that a new set of specialised roles is emerging across AI data centres. These include AI infrastructure architects, liquid cooling specialists, power procurement heads and grid resilience managers.

Pay packages for these roles have risen sharply. AI infrastructure architects are earning between Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.5 crore a year, while greenfield site heads can command annual compensation of up to Rs 1.8 crore. Heads of critical facilities and specialist cooling teams are drawing salaries ranging from Rs 50 lakh to more than Rs 1 crore annually.

Mid-career engineers with seven to 12 years of experience are being offered between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 30 lakh a year, while entry-level engineers working in cooling and critical facilities are starting with annual packages of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

Industry executives told TOI that the most intense hiring activity is centred on cooling and thermal management, a crucial requirement for AI-driven data centres that consume significantly more power than traditional facilities.

Companies are aggressively recruiting data-centre cooling engineers, HVAC design engineers, critical facilities engineers, commissioning engineers and liquid cooling specialists. Demand is also rising for building management systems (BMS) and controls engineers as data-centre operations become increasingly automated.

With inputs from TOI