The AI Engineering Talent Report, India 2026.
Salary bands, time-to-hire and where the talent actually sits, for the AI roles that are hardest to fill. Built from 21 published sources, with every figure cited.
Eight sections. Every number sourced.
The demand–supply picture
How big India's AI talent pool really is, how fast demand is growing, and why depth, not headcount, is the constraint.
GCCs: the biggest buyer
2,117 global capability centres, 2.5 lakh AI professionals, and what their AI hiring means for everyone else.
Where the talent sits
AI job openings by city, the GCC hiring map, Hyderabad's rise and the Tier-2 opportunity.
Compensation
AI pay bands from entry level to 15+ years, triangulated across three salary studies, plus city and GCC premiums.
Notice periods and offer drop-outs
Why the notice period sets the calendar, how often accepted offers fall through, and where competition is fiercest.
The hardest roles to fill
GenAI, forward deployed, inference and GPU engineers, plus a seven-point hiring playbook for 2026.
Six numbers from the report.
The full report has pay bands by experience, the GCC hiring map, notice-period data and a hiring playbook, each figure linked to its source.
AI professionals in India, with a 51% demand–supply gap
QUESS CORP · MAY 2025
Growth in AI hiring in 2024, the fastest of any country
STANFORD AI INDEX 2025
Qualified engineers per open GenAI engineering role
QUESS CORP · MAY 2025
Of GCC job openings are AI-linked
FOUNDIT · JUNE 2026
Compounded rise in AI pay, 2024–2026, while IT services pay fell 1%
FOUNDIT · SEP 2026
Rise in forward deployed engineer postings, June 2026
INDEED · OCT 2026
For the people building AI teams.
TA and HR leaders
Benchmark offers, set realistic timelines and make the case for budget.
CTOs and VPs of Engineering
Plan headcount around what the market can actually supply.
GCC site leaders
See how your offers compare with startups competing for the same people.
Founders and investors
Price your next AI hires before the round, not after.
Methodology: built from 21 published sources dated 2024–2026, including Nasscom, Zinnov, Stanford, Quess Corp, TeamLease Digital, foundit, Gartner and Indeed. Every figure is labelled Measured, Surveyed or Forecast. HiringEye's own figures sit in a separate, labelled section.
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