India's AI talent pool crosses 4 lakh in 2025: Report

The report by Quess Corp, a staffing and workforce solutions company, showed that India's AI talent pool has reached 416,000 professionals.

However, it comes with a 51 per cent demand-supply gap, indicating an urgent need to build future-ready capabilities.

AI hiring has expanded 8 times since 2017, marking a clear shift from generalist roles to capability-aligned hiring, the report said.

Job descriptions increasingly emphasise stack fluency, production readiness, and tool-specific proficiency -- reflecting the enterprise's move from experimentation to scaled deployment.

"The emergence of AI isn't just a talent shift -- it's a generational opportunity. Between March 2024 and March 2025, demand for AI and data talent in India surged by nearly 45 per cent," said Kapil Joshi, CEO - of Quess IT Staffing.

"In emerging fields like GenAI engineering, there's just one qualified professional for every ten open roles -- a gap that signals not just a hiring challenge, but a strategic one. 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 added.

Further, the report revealed a surge in the salary of AI experts.

Entry-level professionals earn Rs 8-12 LPA, while specialists in NLP and GenAI with 5-8 years of experience command Rs 25-35 LPA. Senior professionals are drawing over Rs 45 LPA in product firms and Global Capability Centres (GCCs).

The BFSI sector accounts for 24 per cent of the total AI demand in India, followed by IT Services, and Healthcare.

Roles in demand include data scientists, ML engineers, AI developers, and AI researchers. Demand is also rising for AI product managers and business analysts who can translate models into business impact.

While Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad anchor India's GenAI hiring, emerging Tier-2 cities now contribute 14-16 per cent of total AI demand. Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Coimbatore alone account for 70 per cent of this Tier-2 momentum, highlighting the rise of distributed AI talent hubs beyond the metros.

GCCs account for 23 per cent of India's AI hiring, playing a pivotal role in shaping India's GenAI-ready workforce.

The report calls for strategic academia-industry partnerships, tailored upskilling programmes, and bold policy interventions to equip India's workforce for the AI-driven future.