AI roles cross 2.9 lakh in 2025; hiring seen up 32% in 2026

India’s job market ended 2025 on a stronger footing, with hiring activity recording steady growth across sectors, roles and cities, according to the latest foundit Insights Tracker.

Hiring rose 5% month-on-month and 15% year-on-year in 2025, signalling a shift from cautious recovery to measured expansion, the report by the jobs and talent platform foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME) said. Artificial intelligence emerged as the dominant driver of demand, with more than 2.9 lakh AI-linked roles posted during the year. Hiring in AI is projected to grow a further 32% year-on-year in 2026 to nearly 3.8 lakh roles.

“2025 was both a year of expansion and discipline in hiring,” said Tarun Sharma, chief product and technology officer at foundit. “AI is no longer experimental; it is central to workforce planning. In 2026, hiring will be increasingly skills-led, mid-career-focused and spread across both Tier 1 and emerging Tier 2 talent hubs.”

The IT software and services sector accounted for the largest share of AI jobs at 37%, followed by banking, financial services and insurance (15.8%) and manufacturing (6%). BFSI recorded 41% year-on-year growth in AI hiring, while healthcare and pharmaceuticals (38%), retail (31%), logistics (30%) and telecom (29%) also posted strong gains.

Large enterprises and multinational companies accounted for nearly half of AI hiring in 2025, with a 49% share of roles. Mid-sized firms contributed 28% of AI jobs, while startups, including AI-native and SaaS companies, made up the remaining 23%.

Demand for generative AI and large language model (LLM) skills grew nearly 60% year-on-year, driven by the adoption of copilots, chatbots and enterprise GenAI platforms. Python featured in nearly three-quarters of AI job postings, while SQL and data engineering skills were sought in more than half of all roles.

Looking ahead, machine learning roles are expected to maintain a 34% share of AI jobs in 2026, while demand for generative AI and LLM expertise is projected to rise 58% year-on-year. Skills related to MLOps, model deployment and hybrid AI-domain roles are also set to see strong demand, underscoring the need for upskilling and reskilling.

Mid-level professionals continued to dominate AI hiring in 2025. Candidates with four to six years of experience accounted for 28% of AI jobs, followed by those with seven to ten years’ experience at 25%. Entry-level roles requiring zero to three years of experience made up 18% of AI jobs and are expected to rise as remote-first hiring and training programmes expand.

Senior professionals with 11 to 15 years of experience accounted for 17% of AI roles, while those with more than 15 years of experience represented 12%, largely in leadership, governance and enterprise-wide AI programme roles.

Hiring activity remained robust across most Tier 1 cities. Mumbai posted 19% year-on-year growth, Kochi 20%, and Hyderabad 15%. Among Tier 2 hubs, Ahmedabad (13%) and Jaipur (9%) recorded healthy gains. In contrast, Delhi NCR and Kolkata saw year-on-year declines of 11% and 10%, respectively, reflecting sectoral shifts and cost-optimisation strategies.vb