AI job boom: India leads global hiring as demand for tech skills soars

AI-related job listings have been increasing steadily since 2010, with a significant rise in recent years, according to the 2025 Artificial Intelligence Index Report.

The report by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) shows there has been a sudden jump in demand from around 2017, with both AI and machine learning jobs growing rapidly.

Generative AI, in particular, experienced a nearly fourfold increase in demand over the past year, indicating a rising appetite for creative AI skills across various industries.

Source: Stanford's 2025 AI Index report

India leads global AI hiring growth

Globally, India led the way in AI hiring growth in 2024, recording a year-over-year increase of 33.39%. Data from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph reveals that emerging markets are now driving the AI job boom, with Brazil (30.83%) and Saudi Arabia (28.71%) also recording substantial increases.

Eastern European nations such as Slovenia and Romania, as well as countries like Finland and Argentina, also showed strong growth.

Source: Stanford's 2025 AI Index report

Surprisingly, traditional tech leaders like the US experienced a more modest increase in AI hiring (24.8%), reflecting how rapidly emerging economies are narrowing the gap, even overtaking the leaders, in AI talent acquisition.

Skills in high demand

The report also highlights the most sought-after technical skills. In the US, Python emerged as the top skill, with 199,213 AI-related job postings in 2024, marking an impressive 527% increase compared to the 2012-2014 period. Computer science followed closely with 193,341 job listings.

There has also been a significant rise in demand for data-related roles, with job postings for data analysis and data science increasing by over 800%, reaching 128,938 and 110,620 postings, respectively, in 2024.

In addition, Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw a remarkable 1,778% growth, highlighting the growing importance of cloud infrastructure for AI systems. Other skills, such as SQL, automation, and agile methodology, also showed considerable upward trends in the report.