{ "name": "AI Skill Index of India", "edition": "July 2026 edition", "data_reviewed": "2026-07-30", "publisher": "Fireblaze AI School", "url": "https://fireblazeaischool.in/ai-skill-index/", "license": "CC BY 4.0 for this compilation. Underlying figures belong to the sources named in each row.", "how_to_cite": "Fireblaze AI School. (2026). AI Skill Index of India, July 2026 edition [Data set]. https://fireblazeaischool.in/ai-skill-index/. Data reviewed 30 July 2026.", "meta": { "title": "AI Skill Index of India", "tagline": "A sourced review of what published research actually says about AI skills, hiring and pay in India.", "last_updated": "2026-07-30", "editorial_policy": [ "Every number on this page names its source, its date, and the population it was measured on.", "We do not publish a composite score. The underlying figures come from surveys, job-posting indices, platform data and company announcements, which cannot be responsibly weighted into one number.", "We separate what was measured from what was projected. A forecast is always labelled as a forecast.", "Where we could not find a credible source, we say so instead of estimating. The gaps list is published alongside the data.", "Vendor-announced numbers are labelled as self-reported. Where a source has a commercial interest in the thing it measures, we disclose it." ], "gaps": [ { "item": "Prompt Engineer salary in India", "why": "No survey-grade source exists. The only platform figure had a sample of 11 people, which is too small to publish. Figures circulating on training-company blogs have no stated methodology." }, { "item": "Power BI skill demand", "why": "No authoritative, dated, methodologically transparent source measures it. Live job-board listing counts are snapshots that include duplicates, not a demand index." }, { "item": "Deep Learning as a distinct skill", "why": "Not tracked separately by any major source. It is absorbed into wider AI and machine learning categories." }, { "item": "LangChain adoption rate", "why": "No independent survey measures it. Available figures are vendor marketing or GitHub stars, which measure popularity, not adoption." }, { "item": "MCP adoption rate", "why": "The count of published servers is citable. Every percentage adoption claim we found traced only to statistics-aggregator sites that contradicted each other." }, { "item": "Bolt adoption", "why": "No independent survey covers it. The best vendor claim is over a year old and counts signups, not active use." }, { "item": "India-specific figures for Python, SQL, Docker, AWS and Azure", "why": "Stack Overflow does not publish a per-country technology breakdown. We show its global figures and label them global." }, { "item": "A current measured AI demand-supply gap for India", "why": "The widely-quoted gap traces to a 2022 baseline. The primary 2024 report states no gap percentage at all. We do not repeat the number." }, { "item": "AI hiring data for Nagpur, Indore and Ahmedabad", "why": "The city-level AI listing data we could source covers seven metros and does not disaggregate these cities." }, { "item": "Healthcare and retail AI demand in India", "why": "The occupation and sector cuts we could source cover IT, BFSI, manufacturing, insurance and engineering only." } ] }, "sources": { "so2025": { "org": "Stack Overflow", "title": "2025 Developer Survey", "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025", "date": "2025-07", "scope": "global", "type": "independent survey", "population": "About 49,000 self-selected respondents across 177 countries. Not a random sample of developers.", "denominators": { "technology": "all respondents", "ide": "26,143 respondents", "agent_tools": "8,323 respondents who use or develop AI agents as part of their work" } }, "octoverse2025": { "org": "GitHub", "title": "Octoverse 2025", "url": "https://github.blog/news-insights/octoverse/octoverse-a-new-developer-joins-github-every-second-as-ai-leads-typescript-to-1/", "date": "2025-10-28", "scope": "global", "type": "platform activity data", "population": "Public and open-source activity on GitHub, 1 Sep 2024 to 31 Aug 2025." }, "linkedin_sotr2026": { "org": "LinkedIn", "title": "Skills on the Rise 2026 (India)", "url": "https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/linkedins-skills-on-the-rise-2026-identifies-top-skill-stacks-reshaping-indias-workforce-90556.htm", "date": "2026-02-24", "scope": "india", "type": "platform data", "population": "LinkedIn member skill-acquisition and hiring data in India. Published as a rank order only, with no growth percentages or denominators." }, "wef_fojr2025": { "org": "World Economic Forum", "title": "The Future of Jobs Report 2025", "url": "https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_Report_2025.pdf", "date": "2025-01", "scope": "global", "type": "employer survey", "population": "Over 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers, across 22 industry clusters and 55 economies." }, "naukri_jobspeak": { "org": "Naukri (Info Edge)", "title": "JobSpeak Index", "url": "https://www.naukri.com/blog/", "date": "2026-07-03", "scope": "india", "type": "job-postings index", "population": "Job listings posted on Naukri.com. Covers the formal white-collar segment that recruits via Naukri, not the whole Indian labour market." }, "stanford_aii2026": { "org": "Stanford HAI", "title": "AI Index Report 2026", "url": "https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report", "date": "2026-04-13", "scope": "india", "type": "independent academic report", "population": "AI skill-penetration metrics derived from LinkedIn member profiles, by country." }, "coursera_jsr2026": { "org": "Coursera", "title": "Job Skills Report 2026", "url": "https://blog.coursera.org/introducing-courseras-job-skills-report-2026-the-most-critical-skills-the-worlds-learners-need-this-year/", "date": "2026-01-21", "scope": "global", "type": "platform data", "population": "About 6 million professionally-motivated enterprise learners across 7,000+ institutional customers. Learners whose employer bought Coursera, not the general workforce." }, "nasscom_sr2026": { "org": "NASSCOM", "title": "Technology Sector in India: Strategic Review 2026", "url": "https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/technology-sector-india-strategic-review-2026", "date": "2026", "scope": "india", "type": "industry body report", "population": "India technology sector aggregate employment and revenue estimates." }, "deloitte_nasscom2024": { "org": "Deloitte India and NASSCOM", "title": "Advancing India's AI Skills", "url": "https://www.deloitte.com/in/en/about/press-room/bridging-the-ai-talent-gap-to-boost-indias-tech-and-economic-impact-deloitte-nasscom-report.html", "date": "2024-08-20", "scope": "india", "type": "industry report", "population": "India AI talent pool estimates and projection to 2027.", "staleness_note": "Published August 2024. Its projection window (2027) is now close to current. Date-stamp prominently." }, "payscale": { "org": "PayScale", "title": "Salary research by job title, India", "url": "https://www.payscale.com/research/IN/", "date": "2026-07", "scope": "india", "type": "compensation database", "population": "Self-reported total compensation submitted by employees. Sample size varies by role and is stated per figure.", "measure": "average total compensation" }, "indeed_in": { "org": "Indeed India", "title": "Career salary pages, India", "url": "https://in.indeed.com/career/", "date": "2026-07", "scope": "india", "type": "job platform aggregate", "population": "Self-reported salaries and job-posting data. Sample size varies by role and is stated per figure.", "measure": "average base salary" }, "teamlease_2526": { "org": "TeamLease Digital", "title": "Digital Skills & Salary Primer FY2025-26", "url": "https://business.teamleasedigital.com/digital-skills-and-salary-primer-fy2025-26/", "date": "2025-08", "scope": "india", "type": "staffing-firm salary survey", "population": "Over 30,000 salaries analysed." }, "teamlease_2425": { "org": "TeamLease Digital", "title": "Digital Skills & Salary Primer FY2024-25 (via PTI / ThePrint)", "url": "https://theprint.in/economy/gcc-offers-up-to-20-pc-higher-salaries-than-it-services-driven-by-ai-ml-and-cybersecurity-investments-teamlease-digital-report/2240454/", "date": "2024-08-27", "scope": "india", "type": "staffing-firm salary survey, via wire coverage", "population": "Reached us through wire coverage rather than the primary PDF.", "staleness_note": "FY2024-25 edition. Roughly a year old." }, "aon_2026": { "org": "Aon", "title": "Aon Survey Projects Slight Uptick in Salaries in India From 8.9 Percent in 2025 to 9.1 Percent in 2026", "url": "https://www.aon.com/apac/in-the-press/asia-newsroom/2026/aon-survey-projects-slight-uptick-in-salaries-in-india-2026", "date": "2026-02-24", "scope": "india", "type": "major salary survey with published methodology", "population": "Over 1,400 organisations across 45 industries." }, "openai_wau": { "org": "OpenAI", "title": "ChatGPT weekly active users announcement", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/27/chatgpt-reaches-900m-weekly-active-users", "date": "2026-02-27", "scope": "global", "type": "vendor self-reported", "population": "Company-announced figure. Not independently audited." }, "alphabet_q22026": { "org": "Alphabet", "title": "Q2 2026 earnings, message from the CEO", "url": "https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q2-2026/", "date": "2026-07-22", "scope": "global", "type": "vendor self-reported, in regulated earnings communications", "population": "Company-announced figure." }, "a16z_genai6": { "org": "Andreessen Horowitz", "title": "The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 6th Edition", "url": "https://a16z.com/100-gen-ai-apps-6/", "date": "2026-03-09", "scope": "global", "type": "third-party analysis", "population": "Web ranking from Similarweb unique monthly visits; mobile from Sensor Tower MAU. January 2026 data.", "conflict_note": "a16z is an active investor in this sector." }, "jetbrains2025": { "org": "JetBrains", "title": "The State of Developer Ecosystem 2025", "url": "https://blog.jetbrains.com/research/2025/10/state-of-developer-ecosystem-2025/", "date": "2025-10", "scope": "global", "type": "independent survey", "population": "24,534 developers across 194 countries, fielded April to June 2025." }, "cognition_windsurf": { "org": "Cognition", "title": "Cognition's acquisition of Windsurf", "url": "https://cognition.com/blog/windsurf", "date": "2025-07-14", "scope": "global", "type": "vendor self-reported by acquirer", "population": "Announced at acquisition.", "staleness_note": "Over 12 months old and predates the product's post-acquisition trajectory." }, "lovable_seriesb": { "org": "TechCrunch", "title": "Vibe-coding startup Lovable raises $330M at a $6.6B valuation", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/18/vibe-coding-startup-lovable-raises-330m-at-a-6-6b-valuation/", "date": "2025-12-18", "scope": "global", "type": "verified press reporting", "population": "Funding round. Valuation is not an adoption measure." }, "linuxfoundation_aaif": { "org": "Linux Foundation", "title": "Linux Foundation Announces the Formation of the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF)", "url": "https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-the-formation-of-the-agentic-ai-foundation", "date": "2025-12-09", "scope": "global", "type": "industry consortium announcement", "population": "Foundation claim. Anthropic is a platinum member.", "conflict_note": "Consortium announcement, not an independent count." }, "linkedin_india_feb2026": { "org": "LinkedIn", "title": "India recruiter and job-seeker research", "url": "https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/linkedins-skills-on-the-rise-2026-identifies-top-skill-stacks-reshaping-indias-workforce-90556.htm", "date": "2026-02", "scope": "india", "type": "platform research", "population": "LinkedIn survey of Indian recruiters and job seekers." }, "linkedin_jotr2026": { "org": "LinkedIn News India", "title": "Jobs on the Rise 2026: 25 fastest-growing jobs in India", "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-jobs-rise-2026-25-fastest-growing-india-jrtnc", "date": "2026-01-08", "scope": "india", "type": "platform data", "population": "Analyses job starts by LinkedIn members in India, 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Jul 2025. Ranks growth rate, not volume. No per-title growth percentage is published for India." }, "linkedin_jotr2025": { "org": "LinkedIn News India", "title": "Jobs on the Rise 2025: 25 fastest-growing roles in India", "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-jobs-rise-2025-25-fastest-growing-roles-india-lnqcc", "date": "2025-01-15", "scope": "india", "type": "platform data", "population": "Analyses job starts by LinkedIn members in India, 1 Jan 2022 to 31 Jul 2024. Same methodology as the 2026 edition, one year earlier." }, "hiringlab_sep2025": { "org": "Indeed Hiring Lab", "title": "September 2025 IN Labour Market Update: Continued Growth in AI", "url": "https://www.hiringlab.org/au/blog/2025/10/25/september-2025-in-labour-market-update-continued-growth-in-ai/", "date": "2025-10-25", "scope": "india", "type": "job-postings analysis", "population": "Job postings on Indeed India.", "caveat": "Indeed's own analysts note that Indeed's India data skews toward the tech sector in a way that is not true of its other markets. These shares are not representative of the whole Indian labour market." }, "indeed_nasscom2026": { "org": "Indeed and NASSCOM", "title": "India's AI Talent Inflection Point: From Skill Gaps to Competitive Advantage", "url": "https://www.cioandleader.com/ai-hiring-is-surging-across-india-but-a-skills-crisis-is-emerging-beneath-it/", "date": "2026-05-22", "scope": "india", "type": "industry report, read via secondary coverage", "population": "Job postings on Indeed India plus an employer and employee survey. The NASSCOM-hosted page was not machine-readable; figures come from CIO&Leader's reporting." }, "cbre_ai_cities": { "org": "CBRE", "title": "AI job demand research, based on Naukri.com listings", "url": "https://www.peoplematters.in/news/ai-and-emerging-tech/only-three-cities-dominate-ai-job-demand-in-india-cbre-report-48487", "date": "2026-02-19", "scope": "india", "type": "commercial research, read via secondary coverage", "population": "Over 64,500 active AI-tagged listings on Naukri.com as of December 2025. A point-in-time snapshot of open listings, not a full-year flow.", "caveat": "CBRE's own page was not reachable. Reported via People Matters, which describes the methodology." }, "zinnov_nasscom_gcc2026": { "org": "Zinnov and NASSCOM", "title": "GCC Landscape in India 2026 (The GCC Value Orbit)", "url": "https://zinnov.com/centers-of-excellence/zinnov-nasscom-india-gcc-landscape-2026-report/", "date": "2026-07-02", "scope": "india", "type": "industry report", "population": "Global Capability Centres in India, data as of March 2026 (FY2026). City breakdown from Zinnov's companion article, 15 June 2026." }, "foundit_2025": { "org": "foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME)", "title": "foundit Insights Tracker, Annual Hiring Trends India 2025", "url": "https://www.siliconindia.com/news/ai-hiring-surges-in-india-with-32-percent-growth-expected-in-2026-nwid-53129.html", "date": "2026-01-13", "scope": "india", "type": "job-postings tracker, read via secondary coverage", "population": "AI-linked roles posted in India during calendar year 2025. A full-year flow of postings.", "caveat": "foundit's own page was not reachable. Reported via SiliconIndia." }, "ansr_emerging2026": { "org": "ANSR", "title": "Emerging Cities: India's Next Frontier for GCC Expansion 2026", "url": "https://ansr.com/ebooks/indias-most-gcc-ready-emerging-cities-for-2026", "date": "2026-05-26", "scope": "india", "type": "industry research", "population": "GCC job openings and hiring across 14 emerging Indian cities." }, "mihan_sez": { "org": "Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Office of the Development Commissioner", "title": "MIHAN SEZ operational units register", "url": "https://www.mihansez.org/Pages/details/operational-units", "date": "undated", "scope": "nagpur", "type": "government register", "population": "Official register of operational units in the MIHAN Special Economic Zone, each listed with its Letter of Approval number and commencement date.", "caveat": "The page carries no publication date." }, "maharashtra_gcc2025": { "org": "Government of Maharashtra", "title": "Maharashtra GCC Policy 2025", "url": "https://industry.maharashtra.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-09/gcc-policy-paraesa-naota-english.pdf", "date": "2025-11-03", "scope": "maharashtra", "type": "government policy document", "population": "State policy targets. These are stated objectives, not measured outcomes." }, "nagpurtoday_factcheck": { "org": "Nagpur Today", "title": "Fact check: MIHAN in numbers, do 90 companies really employ 1.27 lakh people in Nagpur?", "url": "https://www.nagpurtoday.in/fact-check-mihan-in-numbers-do-90-companies-really-employ-1-27-lakh-people-in-nagpur/03052116", "date": "2026-03-05", "scope": "nagpur", "type": "local press fact-check", "population": "Examines official MIHAN employment statements against unit-level reality." }, "jobspeak_cities": { "org": "Info Edge / Naukri", "title": "JobSpeak monthly reports, city annexures", "url": "https://www.infoedge.in/pdfs/News_Events_pdfs/Naukri-Jobspeak-Mar-2026.pdf", "date": "2026-06", "scope": "india", "type": "job-postings index", "population": "Job listings posted on Naukri.com, by city.", "caveat": "Each city is indexed to its own July 2008 baseline of 1,000, so index values are NOT comparable between cities. Only the year-on-year percentage change is comparable. Naukri also added free job listings to the index, which its methodology note says causes a transient uplift from small and medium businesses." } }, "hiring": { "headline": { "text": "AI and machine learning roles were the fastest-growing hiring segment on Naukri in June 2026, up 25% year on year, while overall white-collar hiring rose 6% and IT services hiring fell 3%.", "source": "naukri_jobspeak", "type": "measured", "period": "June 2026 vs June 2025" }, "ai_posting_share": { "title": "Share of Indian job postings that mention AI", "note": "The clearest trend line available for India. Indeed's analysts caution that Indeed's India data skews toward the tech sector, so these shares are higher than the whole labour market.", "unit": "percent of postings", "series": [ { "period": "Sep 2024", "value": 8.2, "source": "hiringlab_sep2025", "type": "measured" }, { "period": "Jan 2025", "value": 8.9, "source": "indeed_nasscom2026", "type": "measured" }, { "period": "Jun 2025", "value": 10.6, "source": "hiringlab_sep2025", "type": "measured" }, { "period": "Sep 2025", "value": 11.7, "source": "hiringlab_sep2025", "type": "measured" }, { "period": "Jan 2026", "value": 14.0, "source": "indeed_nasscom2026", "type": "measured" } ] }, "occupation_penetration": { "title": "Share of postings mentioning AI, by occupation", "period": "September 2025", "source": "hiringlab_sep2025", "type": "measured", "unit": "percent of postings in that occupation", "rows": [ { "occupation": "Data and analytics", "value": 38.6 }, { "occupation": "Software development", "value": 22.8 }, { "occupation": "Insurance", "value": 18.2 }, { "occupation": "Scientific research", "value": 17.0 }, { "occupation": "Industrial engineering", "value": 17.0 }, { "occupation": "Mechanical engineering", "value": 11.0 }, { "occupation": "Electrical engineering", "value": 9.2 } ], "gap_note": "Healthcare and retail are not broken out by this source." }, "growing_roles": { "title": "Fastest-growing jobs in India", "note": "LinkedIn ranks these by growth rate, not by volume, and does not publish a growth percentage for India. The rank shift between two editions of the same methodology is the meaningful signal.", "sources": [ "linkedin_jotr2026", "linkedin_jotr2025" ], "type": "measured", "rows": [ { "role": "Prompt Engineer", "rank_2026": 1, "rank_2025": null, "movement": "New entry at number 1" }, { "role": "AI Engineer", "rank_2026": 2, "rank_2025": 12, "movement": "Up 10 places" }, { "role": "Manager of AI", "rank_2026": 4, "rank_2025": null, "movement": "New entry" } ], "honesty_note": "Only three AI roles appear in India's top 25. Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Data Analyst and Machine Learning Engineer do not appear on India's list at all. A fast-growing job title is not the same as a high-volume one." }, "declining_sectors": { "title": "Sectors where hiring fell", "period": "June 2026 vs June 2025", "source": "naukri_jobspeak", "type": "measured", "unit": "percent change year on year", "rows": [ { "sector": "Banking and financial services", "value": -12 }, { "sector": "Education", "value": -4 }, { "sector": "IT and software services", "value": -3 }, { "sector": "Hospitality", "value": -3 } ], "honesty_note": "IT and software services hiring fell 3% in the same month AI and machine learning hiring rose 25%. The AI growth is a narrow band inside an otherwise flat sector, not a general IT hiring boom." }, "experience_bands": { "title": "Hiring change by experience level", "period": "June 2026 vs June 2025", "source": "naukri_jobspeak", "type": "measured", "unit": "percent change year on year", "rows": [ { "band": "0 to 3 years", "value": 8 }, { "band": "4 to 7 years", "value": 2 }, { "band": "8 to 12 years", "value": 7 }, { "band": "13 to 15 years", "value": 12 }, { "band": "16 years and above", "value": 9 } ], "honesty_note": "Mid-career hiring at 4 to 7 years was the weakest band." }, "volume": [ { "label": "AI-linked roles posted in India during calendar 2025", "value": "290,256", "source": "foundit_2025", "type": "measured", "note": "A full-year flow of postings." }, { "label": "Active AI job listings on Naukri, December 2025", "value": "64,500+", "source": "cbre_ai_cities", "type": "measured", "note": "A point-in-time snapshot of open listings. Not comparable with the full-year figure above and never plotted on the same axis." } ], "sector_context": [ { "label": "India technology sector headcount, FY2026 estimate", "value": "About 6 million, up 2.3% year on year, a net addition of about 135,000", "source": "nasscom_sr2026", "type": "measured", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The NASSCOM page was not machine-readable. Verify against the primary document before quoting." }, { "label": "India technology sector revenue, FY2026", "value": "About 315 billion US dollars, up 6.1%", "source": "nasscom_sr2026", "type": "measured", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Revenue rising 6.1% against headcount rising 2.3% is the more interesting number here." }, { "label": "Employers reporting difficulty finding qualified talent in India", "value": "74%", "source": "linkedin_india_feb2026", "type": "measured" }, { "label": "Indian job seekers who feel unprepared for how fast required skills are changing", "value": "38%", "source": "linkedin_india_feb2026", "type": "measured" } ] }, "skills": { "usage_table": { "title": "Developer tool usage", "subtitle": "Percentage of respondents who used each technology in the past year", "source": "so2025", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "denominator": "All respondents to the Stack Overflow 2025 Developer Survey, about 49,000 self-selected developers across 177 countries.", "warning": "These are global figures. Stack Overflow does not publish a per-country technology breakdown, so we cannot show an India-specific version. Do not read these as Indian numbers.", "rows": [ { "skill": "Docker", "value": 71.1, "delta": "+17 percentage points year on year, the largest single-year move in its category" }, { "skill": "SQL", "value": 58.6, "delta": null }, { "skill": "Python", "value": 57.9, "delta": null }, { "skill": "AWS", "value": 43.3, "delta": null }, { "skill": "Azure", "value": 26.3, "delta": null } ] }, "india_signals": { "title": "India skill signals", "subtitle": "Where India-specific evidence exists", "rows": [ { "skill": "Querying", "signal": "Ranked the number 1 fastest-growing engineering skill in India", "source": "linkedin_sotr2026", "type": "measured", "caveat": "LinkedIn publishes a rank order only, with no growth percentage or denominator." }, { "skill": "LLMOps", "signal": "Ranked number 4 among fastest-growing engineering skills in India", "source": "linkedin_sotr2026", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Rank only." }, { "skill": "Workflow automation", "signal": "Ranked number 5 among fastest-growing engineering skills in India", "source": "linkedin_sotr2026", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Rank only." }, { "skill": "AutoML", "signal": "Ranked number 9 among fastest-growing engineering skills in India", "source": "linkedin_sotr2026", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Rank only." }, { "skill": "Machine learning", "signal": "AI and machine learning hiring rose 25% year on year in June 2026, the fastest-growing segment", "source": "naukri_jobspeak", "type": "measured" }, { "skill": "Generative AI", "signal": "India leads the world on relative AI skill penetration at an index of 3.0, meaning AI skills appear on Indian member profiles at three times the global average", "source": "stanford_aii2026", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Derived from LinkedIn member profiles. The United States is second and Germany third." }, { "skill": "AI agents", "signal": "17% of developers, about 8,323 respondents, use or develop AI agents as part of their work", "source": "so2025", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Global, not India." }, { "skill": "MCP (Model Context Protocol)", "signal": "More than 10,000 published MCP servers", "source": "linuxfoundation_aaif", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "caveat": "An industry consortium claim, not an independent count. No credible adoption percentage exists." } ] }, "no_data": [ { "skill": "Power BI", "why": "No authoritative, dated, methodologically transparent source measures Power BI skill demand, in India or globally. Job-board listing counts are snapshots that include duplicates. A widely-copied claim that Power BI appears in 72% of Indian data analyst jobs has no named dataset, sample or date behind it, so we do not repeat it." }, { "skill": "Deep Learning", "why": "No major source tracks deep learning as a skill distinct from wider AI and machine learning categories. Publishing a number here would mean inventing one." }, { "skill": "LangChain", "why": "No developer survey with a stated population measures LangChain usage. The figures in circulation are the vendor's own marketing or GitHub stars, which measure popularity rather than adoption." } ], "context": [ { "label": "AI and big data ranked the number 1 fastest-growing skill worldwide for 2025 to 2030", "source": "wef_fojr2025", "scope": "global", "type": "projection" }, { "label": "About 39% of workers' core skills are expected to be transformed or outdated by 2030", "source": "wef_fojr2025", "scope": "global", "type": "projection" }, { "label": "Generative AI course enrolments rose 234% year on year, the fastest-growing skill in Coursera's history", "source": "coursera_jsr2026", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Measured among enterprise learners whose employer bought Coursera, not the general workforce." }, { "label": "India's AI talent concentration grew 120% between 2019 and 2025, the second fastest globally", "source": "stanford_aii2026", "scope": "india", "type": "measured" }, { "label": "India recorded a net AI talent outflow of -16.9 in 2025, the largest of any country measured", "source": "stanford_aii2026", "scope": "india", "type": "measured", "note": "Included because a credible index reports what is unflattering as well as what is flattering." } ] }, "salary": { "measure_warning": "PayScale figures are average total compensation, self-reported by employees. Indeed figures are average base salary. They measure different things, which is why they differ. We show both rather than picking one.", "experience_tables": [ { "role": "Data Scientist", "source": "payscale", "measure": "average total compensation", "sample": 1267, "confidence": "high", "note": "Every band reconciles exactly against its stated percentage difference from the role average.", "bands": [ { "band": "Under 1 year", "value": 595255 }, { "band": "1 to 4 years", "value": 1005147 }, { "band": "5 to 9 years", "value": 1837657 }, { "band": "10 to 19 years", "value": 2508304 }, { "band": "20 years and above", "value": 2334782 } ], "all_experience": 1017652 }, { "role": "Business Analyst (IT)", "source": "payscale", "measure": "average total compensation", "sample": 970, "confidence": "high", "note": "The most internally consistent experience table in this dataset.", "bands": [ { "band": "Under 1 year", "value": 458375 }, { "band": "1 to 4 years", "value": 624094 }, { "band": "5 to 9 years", "value": 1098353 }, { "band": "10 to 19 years", "value": 1206283 }, { "band": "20 years and above", "value": 1675832 } ], "all_experience": 742591 }, { "role": "Data Analyst", "source": "payscale", "measure": "average total compensation", "sample": 2389, "confidence": "partial", "note": "Only the early bands have retrievable rupee figures. For the later bands the source publishes a percentage difference from the role average but not an absolute figure, and we do not multiply it out, because that would be our arithmetic rather than the source's.", "bands": [ { "band": "Under 1 year", "value": 413462, "sample": 576 }, { "band": "1 to 4 years", "value": 565999, "sample": 1588 }, { "band": "5 to 9 years", "value": null, "relative": "+46% versus the role average" }, { "band": "10 to 19 years", "value": null, "relative": "+86% versus the role average" }, { "band": "20 years and above", "value": null, "relative": null } ], "all_experience": 577472 }, { "role": "Machine Learning Engineer", "source": "payscale", "measure": "average total compensation", "sample": 232, "confidence": "partial", "note": "Same limitation as Data Analyst. Early-band samples are small at 39 and 156 respondents.", "bands": [ { "band": "Under 1 year", "value": 596082, "sample": 39 }, { "band": "1 to 4 years", "value": 840657, "sample": 156 }, { "band": "5 to 9 years", "value": null, "relative": "+102% versus the role average" }, { "band": "10 to 19 years", "value": null, "relative": "+184% versus the role average" }, { "band": "20 years and above", "value": null, "relative": null } ], "all_experience": 1022861 } ], "all_experience_base": { "title": "Average base salary, all experience levels", "source": "indeed_in", "measure": "average base salary", "type": "measured", "rows": [ { "role": "Data Scientist", "value": 1198281, "sample": 502 }, { "role": "Cloud Engineer", "value": 1066566, "sample": 167 }, { "role": "Business Analyst", "value": 922588, "sample": 895 }, { "role": "Data Analyst", "value": 655556, "sample": 839 } ] }, "role_ranges": [ { "role": "AI / Machine Learning Engineer", "entry": "7.0 to 8.5 lakh (AI and cloud freshers)", "entry_source": "teamlease_2526", "senior": "43 lakh", "senior_source": "teamlease_2425", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The two editions of this survey disagree on the fresher figure: the FY2024-25 edition put AI/ML entry at 8.2 lakh, the FY2025-26 edition puts AI and cloud freshers at 7 to 8.5 lakh. We show the range rather than picking one. No source publishes mid-career bands for this title." }, { "role": "Senior generative AI and MLOps", "range": "58 to 60 lakh", "source": "teamlease_2526", "confidence": "medium" }, { "role": "Chief AI Officer", "range": "2 to 2.5 crore", "source": "teamlease_2526", "confidence": "medium" }, { "role": "Cybersecurity", "range": "28 to 33.5 lakh", "source": "teamlease_2526", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Included for comparison against AI roles." } ], "no_data": [ { "role": "Prompt Engineer", "why": "No survey-grade salary source exists for India. The only platform figure we found had a sample of 11 people, which is far too small to publish. The figures circulating on training-company blogs (typically 6 to 12 lakh entry, 20 lakh and above senior) trace back to marketing content with no stated methodology, so we do not repeat them. This is notable because Prompt Engineer is simultaneously the number 1 fastest-growing job title in India by LinkedIn's ranking." }, { "role": "AI Engineer, mid-career", "why": "Entry and senior figures exist from one source. No source publishes 2-year, 5-year or 10-year bands for this title." }, { "role": "Cloud Engineer, by experience band", "why": "The one mid-career figure we found came from a sample of 18 and implied an implausible jump over the early-career figure, so we have excluded it as a small-sample artefact." }, { "role": "Salary by city, for any AI role", "why": "No credible source publishes AI salary broken down by Indian city. Every city-by-city AI salary table we found was on a content-marketing blog with no methodology." } ], "market_context": { "title": "Salary movement across the market", "source": "aon_2026", "type": "measured", "population": "Over 1,400 organisations across 45 industries.", "rows": [ { "label": "India average salary increase, 2025 actual", "value": "8.9%" }, { "label": "India average salary increase, 2026 projected", "value": "9.1%", "type": "projection" }, { "label": "Technology consulting and services, 2026 projected", "value": "6.6%", "type": "projection", "note": "The weakest sector in the survey." }, { "label": "Technology platform and products, 2026 projected", "value": "9.4%", "type": "projection" }, { "label": "Global Capability Centres, 2026 projected", "value": "9.3%", "type": "projection" }, { "label": "Attrition, 2025", "value": "16.2%", "note": "Down from 17.7% in 2024 and 18.7% in 2023." } ] }, "talent_gap_note": "We deliberately do not publish an AI demand-supply gap percentage. The widely-quoted 51% figure traces back to a 2022 baseline, and the primary 2024 report it is attributed to states no gap percentage at all. What is sourced: one industry survey describes roughly one qualified engineer available per ten open generative AI roles (TeamLease Digital, FY2025-26)." }, "cities": { "index_warning": "Naukri's JobSpeak index gives each city its own July 2008 baseline, so a city's raw index number says how much it grew since 2008, not how big it is. We therefore publish only the year-on-year percentage change, which is comparable. Naukri also recently added free job listings, which its own methodology note says causes a temporary uplift, particularly in smaller cities.", "ai_posting_share": { "title": "Share of India's AI job postings", "period": "December 2025", "source": "cbre_ai_cities", "type": "measured", "unit": "percent of India's active AI-tagged listings", "note": "Based on more than 64,500 active AI-tagged listings on Naukri. The top three cities account for about 70% of all AI openings.", "rows": [ { "city": "Bengaluru", "value": 25.4 }, { "city": "Delhi NCR", "value": 24.8 }, { "city": "Mumbai", "value": 19.2 }, { "city": "Hyderabad", "value": 12.5 }, { "city": "Pune", "value": 9.6 }, { "city": "Chennai", "value": 6.4 }, { "city": "Kolkata", "value": 2.1 } ], "not_listed": "Nagpur, Indore and Ahmedabad do not appear in this data. They fall below the source's reporting threshold, which means their share is small, not that it is zero." }, "hiring_growth": { "title": "Hiring growth by city", "subtitle": "Year-on-year change in the Naukri JobSpeak index. All roles, not AI-specific.", "source": "jobspeak_cities", "type": "measured", "unit": "percent change year on year", "months": [ "Feb 2026", "Mar 2026", "May 2026", "Jun 2026" ], "rows": [ { "city": "Indore", "values": [ 11, 10, 12, 15 ] }, { "city": "Hyderabad", "values": [ 17, 10, 6, 11 ] }, { "city": "Chennai", "values": [ 9, 11, -0.2, 10.3 ] }, { "city": "Nagpur", "values": [ 11, 7, -2, 9 ] }, { "city": "Bengaluru", "values": [ 12, 9, 2, 7 ] }, { "city": "Pune", "values": [ 13, 11, -1, 4 ] }, { "city": "Ahmedabad", "values": [ 6, 12, 0.2, 3.9 ] }, { "city": "Delhi NCR", "values": [ 9, 8, -2, 1 ] }, { "city": "Mumbai", "values": [ 6, 4, -6, 0 ] } ], "note": "This is all-role hiring, not AI hiring. No source publishes AI-specific hiring growth by city." }, "gcc_footprint": { "title": "Global Capability Centre footprint", "period": "FY2026, data as of March 2026", "source": "zinnov_nasscom_gcc2026", "type": "measured", "national_context": "India has 2,117 GCCs across 3,728 units employing about 2.36 million professionals. More than 1,200 GCCs have AI or machine learning capability, and about 250,000 GCC professionals work in AI, roughly 28% of the global GCC AI talent pool.", "rows": [ { "city": "Bengaluru", "units": "1,080+", "talent_share": "34%" }, { "city": "Hyderabad", "units": "515+", "talent_share": "14%" }, { "city": "Delhi NCR", "units": "490+", "talent_share": "10%" }, { "city": "Pune", "units": "475+", "talent_share": "13%" }, { "city": "Chennai", "units": "405+", "talent_share": "12%" }, { "city": "Mumbai", "units": "375+", "talent_share": "11%" } ], "not_listed": "Nagpur, Indore and Ahmedabad are not among the six cities that hold roughly 90% of India's GCC units." }, "tier2_trend": { "title": "The tier-2 shift is real, but smaller than the headlines suggest", "rows": [ { "claim": "Emerging cities saw 42% growth in GCC job openings, against 19% in the metros", "source": "ansr_emerging2026", "type": "measured" }, { "claim": "Tier-2 cities now account for about 15% of all GCC hiring, growing at roughly twice the metro rate", "source": "ansr_emerging2026", "type": "measured" }, { "claim": "Attrition runs 8 to 12% in tier-2 cities against 18 to 22% in the metros", "source": "ansr_emerging2026", "type": "measured" } ], "honesty_note": "A widely-copied claim that Nagpur and other non-metro cities recorded over 50% IT hiring growth in the first half of 2025 appears on an industry-body page with no source attribution, and is contradicted by the only measured data available: Naukri's index puts Nagpur between -2% and +11% across the months we checked. We do not repeat that claim." }, "nagpur": { "title": "Nagpur: what the data actually shows", "summary": "There is no published AI or data-science hiring figure for Nagpur, from any source we could find. Rather than fill that gap with an estimate, here is what is verifiable.", "verified": [ { "point": "IT and ITES companies with units operational in the MIHAN Special Economic Zone", "detail": "Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Hexaware Technologies, GlobalLogic India, InfoCepts Technologies, ADCC Infocom, SmartData Enterprises, Altius Customer Services and Sagacious IP.", "source": "mihan_sez", "type": "measured", "note": "From the Government of India's official operational-units register, which lists each unit with its Letter of Approval number. The page carries no publication date." }, { "point": "Hiring growth in Nagpur, year on year", "detail": "+11% in February 2026, +7% in March, -2% in May, +9% in June. Broadly in line with the national average rather than ahead of it.", "source": "jobspeak_cities", "type": "measured", "note": "All roles, not AI-specific." }, { "point": "Maharashtra's GCC Policy 2025 names Nagpur as a target city", "detail": "The policy targets 400 new GCCs and 4 lakh high-skilled jobs statewide, and explicitly names Nagpur, Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar as tier-2 cities it intends to bring into the global GCC landscape.", "source": "maharashtra_gcc2025", "type": "projection", "note": "A stated policy objective, not a measured outcome." } ], "not_available": [ "No IT-sector-specific employment figure for Nagpur exists. The MIHAN employment figures of roughly 1.16 to 1.27 lakh are all-sector, covering aerospace, pharmaceuticals, logistics, food processing and power as well as IT, and include indirect employment. Attributing them to IT would be wrong.", "No AI or data-science hiring figure for Nagpur exists at any level.", "Software export figures cannot be separated out for Nagpur. The government's technology parks body reports only a jurisdiction total covering Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Mumbai together.", "Nagpur does not appear in any of the serious city rankings we reviewed: not in the GCC city breakdown, not in the AI-postings city list, and not in either study of emerging tech cities." ], "credibility_note": "Local press has fact-checked the official MIHAN employment claims and found the widely-repeated figure of 90 operational companies to be inflated, with roughly 30 units functioning inside the SEZ. We reference this because an index that only reports flattering numbers about its own city is not an index." } }, "tools": { "no_ranking_notice": "We do not publish a single AI tool popularity ranking, because one cannot be built honestly. The available figures are weekly active users, monthly active users, survey usage shares and revenue run-rates, drawn from different populations at different dates. Gemini's 950 million monthly actives is not 'more than' ChatGPT's 900 million weekly actives, because monthly and weekly actives are not the same measurement. Instead we publish each source separately, and only compare tools within a single source.", "groups": [ { "id": "so_ide", "title": "Developer environment usage", "subtitle": "Percentage of all survey respondents using each tool", "source": "so2025", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "denominator": "26,143 respondents to the development environment question.", "comparable": true, "rows": [ { "tool": "Cursor", "value": 17.9 }, { "tool": "Claude Code", "value": 9.7 } ] }, { "id": "so_agent", "title": "Tool use among developers who build with AI agents", "subtitle": "Percentage of agent-building developers using each tool", "source": "so2025", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "denominator": "8,323 respondents who use or develop AI agents as part of their work. This is a much narrower group than the table above.", "comparable": true, "critical_warning": "These percentages share a survey with the table above but NOT a denominator. Comparing a number from this table against a number from that one is the single most common error made with this data.", "rows": [ { "tool": "ChatGPT", "value": 81.7 }, { "tool": "Gemini", "value": 47.4 }, { "tool": "Claude Code", "value": 40.8 }, { "tool": "Perplexity", "value": 16.2 } ] }, { "id": "vendor_scale", "title": "Company-announced scale", "subtitle": "Figures announced by the companies themselves", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "comparable": false, "critical_warning": "These are self-reported by the vendors and are not in the same unit. They cannot be ranked against each other.", "rows": [ { "tool": "Gemini", "value": "950 million monthly active users", "source": "alphabet_q22026", "note": "Stated in Alphabet's Q2 2026 earnings communications, July 2026. The freshest first-party figure available." }, { "tool": "ChatGPT", "value": "900 million weekly active users", "source": "openai_wau", "note": "Announced February 2026. Weekly actives, a different measure from monthly actives." } ] }, { "id": "independent_rank", "title": "Independent consumer ranking", "subtitle": "By web visits and mobile monthly actives, January 2026 data", "source": "a16z_genai6", "scope": "global", "type": "measured", "comparable": true, "denominator": "Web from Similarweb unique monthly visits, mobile from Sensor Tower monthly actives.", "disclosure": "The publisher of this ranking is an active investor in the sector.", "rows": [ { "tool": "ChatGPT", "value": "Number 1 on web and mobile, about 2.7 times larger than the second-placed app on web" }, { "tool": "Gemini", "value": "Number 2 on web and mobile" }, { "tool": "Cursor", "value": "Retained a top-50 position on the web list" }, { "tool": "Perplexity", "value": "Present in the top 50 and continuing to grow on web. No user figure disclosed." } ] } ], "single_datapoints": [ { "tool": "Windsurf", "value": "Used by 5% of professional developers", "source": "so2025", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Different denominator again: this is the professional-developer cut, not all respondents." }, { "tool": "Windsurf", "value": "82 million US dollars annual recurring revenue, 350-plus enterprise customers", "source": "cognition_windsurf", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Self-reported by the acquiring company in July 2025. Over a year old and predates the product's trajectory since acquisition." }, { "tool": "Lovable", "value": "Raised 330 million US dollars at a 6.6 billion valuation", "source": "lovable_seriesb", "type": "measured", "caveat": "Verified funding news. Valuation measures investor conviction, not how many people use the product. Lovable publishes no user numbers and appears in no independent developer survey." }, { "tool": "ChatGPT", "value": "Used by 41% of developers, down from 49% the previous year", "source": "jetbrains2025", "type": "measured", "caveat": "24,534 developers across 194 countries. This appears to contradict the 81.7% figure above, but does not: the denominators are entirely different." } ], "no_data": [ { "tool": "Bolt", "why": "No independent survey measures it. It appears in neither of the two major developer surveys. The best vendor claim is over a year old and counts registered signups, which is not active usage." }, { "tool": "Claude, consumer monthly actives", "why": "Anthropic does not publish a consumer user total. A figure circulating on statistics-aggregator sites could not be verified against its claimed source." }, { "tool": "Perplexity, user counts and query volumes", "why": "Every figure in circulation traces only to statistics-aggregator sites with no primary source. One of those sites itself concedes the company has not released a comparable figure. Only the survey percentage above is usable." }, { "tool": "Any composite popularity score", "why": "No source publishes one, and the inputs cannot be responsibly weighted. We did not construct one." } ] }, "forecast_projections": [ { "year": 2027, "claim": "India's AI talent pool exceeds 1.25 million people", "baseline": "Up from 600,000 to 650,000 in 2022", "source": "deloitte_nasscom2024", "type": "projection", "confidence": "high", "note": "The best-sourced India AI talent projection available, taken from the primary release. Published August 2024, so its window is now close to current, which makes it checkable rather than speculative." }, { "year": 2026, "claim": "About 382,000 AI-linked roles posted in India, a 32% increase", "baseline": "From 290,256 in calendar 2025", "source": "foundit_2025", "type": "projection", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Arithmetically consistent with the same source's measured 2025 base. Read via secondary coverage." }, { "year": 2030, "claim": "About 39% of workers' core skills are transformed or outdated", "source": "wef_fojr2025", "type": "projection", "scope": "global", "confidence": "high" }, { "year": 2030, "claim": "170 million jobs created and 92 million displaced, a net gain of 78 million", "source": "wef_fojr2025", "type": "projection", "scope": "global", "confidence": "high", "note": "Global, not India. We could not verify the India-specific figures from this report because the publisher's site blocked automated access, so we do not quote them." }, { "year": 2030, "claim": "AI and big data is the number 1 fastest-growing skill worldwide", "source": "wef_fojr2025", "type": "projection", "scope": "global", "confidence": "high", "note": "Covers the period 2025 to 2030." }, { "year": 2030, "claim": "Maharashtra targets 400 new Global Capability Centres and 4 lakh high-skilled jobs, explicitly naming Nagpur as a target city", "source": "maharashtra_gcc2025", "type": "projection", "scope": "maharashtra", "confidence": "policy target", "note": "A stated government objective, not a forecast derived from data. Included because it is the only Nagpur-relevant forward-looking item with an official source." } ] }