MUMBAI: The job market is getting a little more artificial but the intelligence employers want is very real. Demand for candidates for AI-related roles in India has risen by around 30 per cent, according to hiring and interview platform InCruiter, as companies increasingly look for professionals who can put AI to work rather than simply build it.
The trend is based on interview activity recorded on InCruiter’s platform over the past two years. The data points to a broader shift in recruitment, with employers assessing candidates on their ability to use AI tools and technologies to solve practical business problems.
That is opening opportunities across Generative AI, AI engineering, AI consulting and AI-enabled business functions, while also creating newer roles such as Prompt Engineers, Generative AI Specialists, AI Consultants, AI Product Managers and AI Automation Specialists.
But the AI hiring wave is not limited to people developing models. Companies are increasingly looking for employees who can weave AI into existing workflows and use it to improve everyday operations.
For software professionals, that could mean working with AI-assisted development tools. Marketers may need to use AI for research, analysis and content workflows, while business professionals could be expected to identify processes that can be automated.
In other words, AI expertise is increasingly becoming an add-on to existing professional skills rather than a separate career lane.
The shift also changes the conversation around AI and jobs. Instead of focusing solely on whether automation will replace existing positions, workers may increasingly need to adapt to roles where AI becomes part of their daily toolkit.
“AI is not simply creating a new category of specialists; it is changing the skill requirements across existing jobs,” said Anil Agarwal, CEO of InCruiter.
For employers, the change could affect recruitment at several stages, from how job descriptions are written and candidates assessed to how interviews and final selections are conducted.
For candidates, meanwhile, domain expertise may no longer be enough. Familiarity with AI tools, workflow automation and the ability to evaluate AI-generated outputs could become increasingly valuable.
The trend could also put pressure on educational institutions and training providers to bring practical AI capabilities into existing courses instead of treating artificial intelligence purely as a standalone discipline.
With India’s large technology and services workforce providing a base for the transition, InCruiter said sustained reskilling will remain important as AI reshapes the requirements of existing jobs.
The emerging picture is therefore less about AI versus workers and more about workers who know how to work with AI turning artificial intelligence into another tool in the professional toolkit.
