HCM & HRIS

AI upskilling increases salaries by 150% on average in India: Report

June 18, 2026
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  • Published On Jun 18, 2026 at 06:12 PM IST


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< />New Delhi, Artificial intelligence (AI) upskilling is delivering significant career gains in India, with professionals reporting an average salary increase of nearly 150 per cent, while nearly half of AI-enabled career outcomes now lie outside traditional engineering roles, according to a report released on Thursday.<br><br><!– PROMOSLOT_M –>The report by Scaler highlighted how AI is evolving from a specialised technical skill into a workforce-wide capability across industries.<br><br><a id=” captionrendered=”1″ data-src=”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/131831200.cms” height=”442″ href=”http://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/ai+upskilling” keywordseo=”AI-upskilling” loading=”eager” source=”keywords” src=”https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/images/default.jpg” type=”General” weightage=”100″ width=”590″></img>AI upskilling is driving salary growth across experience levels, with early-career professionals reporting average salary growth of 155 per cent, it added.</p> <p>The findings suggest that AI is increasingly becoming a career accelerator for both young professionals and experienced workers.</p> <p>Nearly 50 per cent of AI-enabled career outcomes now extend beyond conventional engineering roles into leadership, consulting, operations, human resources, marketing, finance, academia and other business functions.</p> <p>The report further noted that nearly 25 per cent of learners now coming from non-technical backgrounds, signalling AI’s expanding relevance beyond software and engineering careers. In addition, women are playing a growing role in India’s AI ecosystem. </p> <p>Commenting on this, Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder, Scaler said AI is creating new pathways to opportunity, accelerating career growth and helping professionals achieve stronger compensation outcomes.</p> <p>He said the findings suggest that AI is emerging as a creator of opportunities rather than a threat to jobs for those willing to develop relevant skills.</p> <p>Women reported an average salary jump of 145 per cent after transitioning into AI-enabled careers, while female quality assurance (QA) engineers recorded the highest gains at 574 per cent, according to the report.</p> <p>City-wise, Bengaluru continues to lead India’s AI talent landscape, accounting for 19 per cent of learners, followed by Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai.</p> <p>At the same time, nearly one in five AI learners now coming from Tier-II cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna, Indore, Coimbatore and Nagpur.</p> <p>Among career outcomes, software engineer emerged as the most common AI-enabled role, accounting for 34.77 per cent, followed by engineering leadership at 17.51 per cent.</p> <p>The report showed that AI is opening up new opportunities in consulting, with consulting-related outcomes nearly doubling from 3.1 per cent of learners at entry level to 5.65 per cent of overall professional outcomes.</p> <p>Moreover, VPs, CXOs and engineering leaders reported the highest post-upskilling salaries, averaging Rs 33 lakh per annum. </p> <div> <div> <ul> <li><a href=IANS

  • Published On Jun 18, 2026 at 06:12 PM IST

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