HCM & HRIS

AI-skilled women report 145% jump in pay; 50% AI jobs beyond engineering

June 19, 2026
www.ETHRWorld.com
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Chethan Kumar

< />BENGALURU: </b>Artificial intelligence is becoming everyone’s tool to boost career growth. Women moving into AI-enabled jobs reported an average 145% jump in pay, while more than half of AI-linked career outcomes now lie outside traditional engineering roles, according to the India AI Workforce Report 2026 by Scaler.<br><br><!– PROMOSLOT_M –>The report suggests AI is evolving from a specialised technical skill into a broader capability that organisations are deploying across consulting, finance, marketing, HR, operations and leadership functions. The report, released Thursday, analysed career outcomes of 11,444 AI learnersacross 317 cities and more than 3,000 institutions. However, the report does not specify the period over which the data was collected. The increase in salaries is before and after AI upskill in the same job and role.<br><br><!– PROMOSLOT_M –><div class=” article-detail-ad-slot=”” captionrendered=”1″ data-src=”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/131858926.cms” height=”442″ loading=”eager” src=”https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/images/default.jpg” width=”590″></img></b></p> </div> <p>The findings challenge the perception that AI belongs exclusively to software developers. Nearly one-fourth of learners now come from nontechnical backgrounds, reflecting the technology’s growing relevance across professions. Consulting, in particular, is emerging as a new avenue, with career outcomes in the field nearly doubling after AI upskilling.</p> <p>Women appear to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the shift. Besides reporting average salary gains of 145%, female professionals are expanding AI’s footprint into HR, academia and marketing. Female quality assurance engineers recorded the steepest gains, with salaries rising by as much as 574%.</p> <p>The geography of AI talent is also changing. Bengaluru remains India’s largest AI talent hub, accounting for 19% of learners, followed by Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai. Butnearly one in five learners now comes from Tier-II cities — Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna, Indore, Coimbatore and Nagpur — indicating AI opportunities are spreading beyond the country’s established technology centres.</p> <p>The report found that AI upskilling is delivering career gains across experience levels. Professionals reported an average salary increase of 147%, while early-career employees saw gains of as much as 155%. </p> <p>Senior professionals, meanwhile, commanded the highest absolute salaries, with engineering leaders, vice-presidents andCXOs earning an average post-upskilling compensation of Rs 33 lakh annually.</p> <p>Software engineering remains the single most common AI career outcome, accounting for 34.7% of professionals, followed by engineering leadership roles. Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder of Scaler, said: “At a time when much of the conversation around AI focuses on job displacement, the findings tell a different story. For those who embrace artificial intelligence skills, the technology is proving to be a creator of opportunity, and not a destroyer of jobs.” </p> <div> <div aria-label=

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