India is facing a massive demand-supply gap in artificial intelligence talent as enterprises accelerate adoption of the technology across sectors, with only about half the professionals equipped with the right skills, according to a new report.
The report, ‘Decoding the AI Talent Landscape in India’ by staffing firm Quess Corp, pegged India’s current AI talent pool at 416,000 professionals. However, with demand surging, particularly in areas like Generative AI, natural language processing and computer vision, companies are struggling to find qualified talent, especially for mid- to senior-level roles. As per the report seen by ET, the AI talent pool meets just 49% of the demand.
“Between March 2024 and March 2025, demand for AI and data talent grew nearly 45%. But in emerging fields like GenAI, there’s just one qualified professional for every ten open roles,” said Quess IT Staffing chief executive Kapil Joshi. This is no longer just a hiring challenge; it’s a strategic bottleneck, he said.
There is also a scarcity for roles such as specialists in machine learning operations, cloud data architects and AI governance experts.
“India has the scale, capability and potential to lead the global AI revolution. But to truly seize this moment, businesses, educators and policymakers must act with urgency,” Joshi said.
Companies are offering salaries that are 15–20% higher for GenAI roles than traditional AI/ML roles, even at the same experience level, creating a new compensation tier.
Also Read: Now locating: Human talent for AI agents
GCCs-GenAI go hand in hand
Global capability centres (GCCs) are driving much of the demand for AI talent. They are no longer just operational support arms, but are also scaling GenAI platforms and building governance frameworks within the country for global clients.
Last year, GCCs, system integrators and product firms together accounted for more than 70% of all AI and data-related hiring in India, with GCCS accounting for 22.5% of the demand, the report said. “Sectors like BFSI, retail, healthcare and manufacturing — especially through GCCs and captives — are scaling their GenAI capabilities, creating demand for specialised infrastructure, orchestration and governance roles,” Quess said in its report.
Also Read: AI roles fetch up to 40% more pay as GCCs open purse strings
Now that GCCs are setting up bases in tier-2 cities, talent demand has also moved there for analytics delivery, cloud engineering and early-stage experimentation. Around 14–16% of India’s AI/ML hiring demand is coming from small cities and towns, the talent landscape report highlighted.
Tier-2 cities led by Kochi, Ahmedabad and Coimbatore make up nearly 70% of tier-2 AI hiring and are extensively being leveraged by midsize GCCs and system integrators, with cost flexibility being one of the major factors.
Also Read: AI jobs command premium pay as companies fill specialised roles
The report, ‘Decoding the AI Talent Landscape in India’ by staffing firm Quess Corp, pegged India’s current AI talent pool at 416,000 professionals. However, with demand surging, particularly in areas like Generative AI, natural language processing and computer vision, companies are struggling to find qualified talent, especially for mid- to senior-level roles. As per the report seen by ET, the AI talent pool meets just 49% of the demand.
“Between March 2024 and March 2025, demand for AI and data talent grew nearly 45%. But in emerging fields like GenAI, there’s just one qualified professional for every ten open roles,” said Quess IT Staffing chief executive Kapil Joshi. This is no longer just a hiring challenge; it’s a strategic bottleneck, he said.
There is also a scarcity for roles such as specialists in machine learning operations, cloud data architects and AI governance experts.
“India has the scale, capability and potential to lead the global AI revolution. But to truly seize this moment, businesses, educators and policymakers must act with urgency,” Joshi said.
Companies are offering salaries that are 15–20% higher for GenAI roles than traditional AI/ML roles, even at the same experience level, creating a new compensation tier.
Also Read: Now locating: Human talent for AI agents
GCCs-GenAI go hand in hand
Global capability centres (GCCs) are driving much of the demand for AI talent. They are no longer just operational support arms, but are also scaling GenAI platforms and building governance frameworks within the country for global clients.
Last year, GCCs, system integrators and product firms together accounted for more than 70% of all AI and data-related hiring in India, with GCCS accounting for 22.5% of the demand, the report said. “Sectors like BFSI, retail, healthcare and manufacturing — especially through GCCs and captives — are scaling their GenAI capabilities, creating demand for specialised infrastructure, orchestration and governance roles,” Quess said in its report.
Also Read: AI roles fetch up to 40% more pay as GCCs open purse strings
Now that GCCs are setting up bases in tier-2 cities, talent demand has also moved there for analytics delivery, cloud engineering and early-stage experimentation. Around 14–16% of India’s AI/ML hiring demand is coming from small cities and towns, the talent landscape report highlighted.
Tier-2 cities led by Kochi, Ahmedabad and Coimbatore make up nearly 70% of tier-2 AI hiring and are extensively being leveraged by midsize GCCs and system integrators, with cost flexibility being one of the major factors.
Also Read: AI jobs command premium pay as companies fill specialised roles
