IT may add 35-45% more AI roles in FY26 as deployments rise

AI jobs are expected to expand as fast as 45% in FY26, bucking the broader circumspect trend in technology hiring, as deployment of artificial intelligence gathers further momentum across user industries, data sourced by ET from Quess IT Staffing showed.

Roles in AI, expanding lately at 15% annually, will continue to face a talent shortage, however, experts said.

Roles such as machine learning engineers, generative AI developers, data scientists, NLP engineers, AI research scientists, and AI product managers have seen a surge in demand, with many seeing up to 50% year-on-year growth, said Kapil Joshi, CEO, Quess IT Staffing.


“This growth is driven by the industry's AI-first vision, increased client investment in AI, and the rapid adoption of technologies like GenAI and cloud,” Joshi said.

Overall, 2.3 million AI jobs are expected in India by 2027.

ET reported on April 17 that IT services companies are slashing their hiring mandates amid the tariff wars, with demand falling nearly 20% sequentially in the January-March quarter. Experts said however that hiring selectively for niche roles such as those in AI will grow. IT CEOs have said the demand for AI presents an opportunity as clients will look to leverage the technology to streamline operations amid inflation and recession fears.

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“Growth will be driven by demand for AI-led automation, cost takeout programs, and AI-first delivery models,” said Krishna Vij, vice president, Teamlease Digital, which also saw AI roles grow 12-15% YoY and foresees this accelerating in FY26. “We're seeing a clear uptick in client-facing AI consulting, domain-integrated AI roles, and pre-sales solution architects with AI expertise.”

“Despite the broader slowdown, there is consistent and even growing demand for AI and cloud-based roles,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD and CEO of CIEL HR, which saw a 10% increase in the demand for these niche skills in January to March 2025 over the previous quarter.

“Clients are looking to invest in productivity-enhancing capabilities, and Indian IT services companies are aligning their talent strategies accordingly,” Mishra said. "This shift is also contributing to higher offer dropouts, as professionals with premium skills evaluate multiple competing opportunities."

Niche profiles like Gen AI specialists are seeing up to 50% hikes while lateral AI/ML engineering hires are seeing 20-30% hikes, as per Teamlease Digital. Companies are shelling out Rs 35–60 lakh for AI solution architects, one of the highest paid AI roles.

“While hiring for AI is a necessity, it is also an expensive undertaking that may not go with the conservative stance on operating costs,” cautioned Kamal Karanth, cofounder, Xpheno, which sees the AI hiring outlook for the IT services players as low to moderate in the current scenario.

Moreover, there is a significant talent gap.

The overall active demand for AI linked roles currently, including the services spectrum, is over 20,000 and right fit talent for these roles are either just getting built, or not available and accessible, Karanth said.

GCCs are expected to significantly outpace IT services companies in experienced AI hiring in FY26, adding nearly 180,000 professionals and offering 20–25% higher salaries for AI roles, said Quess’s Joshi. AI/ML roles grew over 42-43% YoY in FY25, while data engineering roles grew over 60% and data governance roles grew 42%, Quess data showed.

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