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India’s AI market is entering a hyper-growth phase with a severe talent crunch. For every 10 open GenAI roles, employers are only able to find one qualified engineer, according to a report by TeamLease titled ‘Digital Skills and Salary Primer Report for FY2025-26’. The report projects that the AI market is projected to reach $28.8 billion by 2025 at a 45 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), with AI now central to enterprise value creation. With this ‘hyper growth’, the report expects that India’s digital economy will contribute nearly one-fifth of the nation’s GDP.
By 2026, the AI talent gap is expected to reach 53 per cent, forecast the report, adding that while cloud computing is projected to face a 55-60 per cent demand-supply mismatch. The talent crunch could not be worked on without scaled-upskilling initiatives; enterprise ambitions risk being constrained.
AI adoption is expected to reshape job markets significantly, with up to 40 per cent of global roles expected to be impacted, particularly in IT services, customer experience, BFSI, and healthcare. Enterprises are prioritising AI-first learning models, digital literacy, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure market-ready talent pipelines.
Global Capability Centres (GCC), which are offshore facilities set up by MNCs to manage a variety of business functions and processes for their parent organisations, will contribute over 22–25 per cent of net new white-collar tech jobs in 2025, led by demand in AI and cloud computing.
Of the 4.7 million new tech jobs projected by 2027, over 1.2 million will be generated by GCCs, particularly in GenAI and engineering R&D. GCC hiring is expanding beyond metros, with 130–140K fresh graduates expected to be recruited in FY25; a move driven by outreach to Tier-2 and Tier-3 engineering campuses.
Diversity is also gaining momentum, with women representing 40% of the workforce in the top 20 GCCs, 1.5x the industry average. By 2027, India is expected to host over 2,100+ GCCs, employing 3 million professionals, with 800 new centres being established.
Within GCCs, compensation trends are being reset by new-age roles. Generative AI Engineering and MLOps roles are setting new salary benchmarks, with senior professionals earning Rs 58–60 LPA and annual growth exceeding 18 per cent.
This surge reflects the shift toward AI-native operating models, where LLM integration, autonomous decision-making, and IP-led innovation are becoming standard. Demand is especially strong for specialised AI skills such as Prompt Engineering, LLM Safety and Tuning, AI Orchestration, Agent Design, Simulation Governance, and AI Compliance & Risk Ops—particularly across BFSI, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Cybersecurity and Data Engineering also remain foundational within GCCs, with average salaries expected to rise from Rs 28 to Rs 33.5 LPA (20 per cent growth) and Rs 23 to Rs 27 LPA (17 per cent growth), respectively, by FY27.
At the senior level, Cybersecurity professionals can command Rs 55 LPA, and Data Engineers can command up to Rs 42 LPA, highlighting the premium for expertise in secure, compliant, and scalable data infrastructure. Cloud Computing roles are also advancing, with cloud salaries projected to rise from Rs 24 to Rs 28 LPA (17 per cent growth) by FY27 for GCC talent, and senior Cloud Architects earning up to Rs 45 LPA.
India’s broader economy is experiencing digital acceleration across traditionally non-tech verticals and is expected to rise at a 12 per cent CAGR (2025–28), driven by ERP modernisation, RPA, cloud migration, and cybersecurity investments.
BFSI, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and telecom are emerging as major recruiters for AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and full-stack development talent. The following are the sector-wise details highlighted by the report. With the rapid diffusion of digital capabilities into non-tech industries, the report identifies notable shifts in salary patterns and demand for roles.
In non-tech enterprises, roles in digital transformation are projected to grow from Rs 16 LPA to Rs 19.5 LPA from FY25 to FY27, while Data Analytics is forecasted to increase from Rs 11 LPA to Rs 13.5 LPA over the same period.
Cloud Solutions and Cybersecurity remain the highest-paid functions at senior levels, with professionals having 8+ years of experience earning Rs 30 LPA and Rs 28 LPA, respectively.
Conversely, Legacy Systems Maintenance exhibits complete salary stagnation, remaining flat at Rs 12 LPA from FY25 to FY27, while IT Support demonstrates minimal growth, increasing from Rs 10.5 LPA to Rs 11 LPA over the three years, reflecting a shift toward cloud-native and outsourced service models.
In metro cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, the demand for frontier technology roles continues to command a premium, with mid-level professionals in AI and Generative AI earning between Rs 12 and Rs 12.7 LPA on average, while senior professionals in areas such as AI and Cybersecurity can command Rs 45 to Rs 48 LPA, reflecting the premium placed on innovation-critical talent in high-demand hubs.
In comparison, Tier-1 cities like Pune and Gurgaon are emerging as strong alternatives to metros, with mid-level salaries ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 12 LPA, indicating near parity with their metropolitan counterparts.
However, at the senior level, salaries in Tier-1 cities remain 20–30 per cent lower than metro benchmarks, offering cost efficiencies for employers without significantly compromising access to skilled talent.
The differential becomes more pronounced in Tier-2 cities, including Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, and Coimbatore, where entry-level salaries remain largely uniform across geographies, ranging from Rs 5.7 to Rs 7.8 LPA, indicating that fresher pay has now achieved geographic parity.
Senior-level roles in Tier-2 cities, however, are priced 30–40 per cent lower compared to metros, creating a compelling cost-arbitrage opportunity for enterprises that are increasingly adopting distributed delivery models to balance cost efficiency with access to niche regional talent pools.
