AI talent gap: Savvy freshers bag 4x more pay
BENGALURU: Technology companies are facing a significant shortfall in AI-specialised talent, with just 15-20% of the workforce trained in artificial intelligence. This has prompted a shift in hiring strategies across the sector.
From major IT services firms like HCLTech to digital engineering players like Publicis Sapient and emerging AI startups such as StaqU, the message is consistent: the available talent pool is struggling to match the rapidly growing demand. "There just aren't that many people in the market with AI skills," said Shefali Sharma Garg, chief people officer at Publicis Sapient. "Our approach is to hire agile talent who can evolve as AI matures.
It's moving fast, and adaptability is key."
The most sought-after roles include engineers skilled in building, training, and deploying AI models, as well as professionals capable of working alongside intelligent systems to drive business outcomes. As a result, compensation for individuals with specialised AI expertise has spiked. HCLTech reports offering up to four times the standard entry-level salary for freshers with niche AI competencies.
"We focus on quality over quantity," said Ramachandran Sundararajan, chief people officer at HCLTech.
"Roughly 15-20% of our campus intake this year will be specialised hires, and we're happy to expand that if more candidates meet our benchmark."
AI skilled freshers
At Gurugram-based AI startup StaqU, the recruitment model revolves around hiring young, self-taught engineers - even before they graduate. "We don't hire based on years of experience," said Atul Rai, CEO and co-founder.
"We evaluate GitHub contributions, community feedback, and research output. Someone with two years of hands-on GitHub work in AI is more valuable to us than someone with two decades in Java."
Yet, sourcing such talent remains a challenge. Rai highlights a broader issue: India's limited research infrastructure and funding prevent it from building foundational AI models on par with countries like the US and China.
"We're not building LLMs. We're building applications on top of them - and for that, we need adaptable AI engineers, not just coders," he added.
The shortage is also evident at E2E Networks, a cloud-native company empanelled by MeitY. "AI has no fixed curriculum. What's in demand today didn't exist two years ago," said Mohammed Imran, CTO of E2E. "Only two out of 10 candidates clear our AI hiring process."
This gap is mirrored in broader industry data. According to a recent Bain & Company report, AI-related job postings have grown at an annual rate of 21% since 2019, with salaries rising by 11%. Still, the supply of skilled professionals hasn't kept pace. Bain projects that India's AI industry will generate 2.3 million jobs by 2027. However, the talent pool is estimated to reach just 1.2 million-leaving over a million positions to be filled through upskilling and training initiatives.
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