MUMBAI: The salary race is getting smarter. Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as the biggest pay winner in India’s technology market, while several established technology roles are seeing limited growth or outright salary declines.
According to the latest foundit Insights Tracker, salaries for AI professionals rose 12 per cent year-on-year in 2026, following 10 per cent growth in 2025. Over two years, AI salaries have increased 23 per cent, the strongest growth among the IT and IT-enabled services categories tracked.
The trend points to a widening divide in India’s technology workforce, with employers increasingly willing to pay more for specialised capabilities that address specific business needs rather than simply rewarding years of experience.
AI professionals are commanding a salary premium from the start of their careers. Those with 0–3 years of experience earn between Rs 8.87 lakh and Rs 15.41 lakh a year, while professionals with more than 15 years of experience can earn between Rs 70.99 lakh and Rs 89.24 lakh.
Cybersecurity is another strong performer. Professionals in computer and network security with more than 15 years of experience can earn up to Rs 97.81 lakh, the highest senior-level salary ceiling among the categories tracked.
The gap is particularly visible against mainstream IT roles. Entry-level professionals in information technology and IT services earn between Rs 2.68 lakh and Rs 5.08 lakh, while those with more than 15 years of experience earn between Rs 57.55 lakh and Rs 72.13 lakh. Salaries in both categories declined 1 per cent over the past year.
“Companies are getting selective about what they pay a premium for. Experience on its own no longer commands the strongest raises. What matters is whether a skill fills a capability gap the business needs, whether that is building AI systems, securing infrastructure, automating factories or delivering specialised healthcare,” said foundit CEO Tarun Sinha.
He added that salary growth is increasingly likely to favour professionals who continue to deepen and refresh their skills as business requirements evolve.
The divergence extends across India’s wider IT and ITeS salary market.
Computer and network security salaries grew 9 per cent in 2026, taking their two-year growth to 19 per cent. Data mining followed with 7 per cent annual growth and 14 per cent over two years, while analytics salaries rose 5 per cent in 2026 and 13 per cent over the two-year period.
Computer software salaries increased 1 per cent in 2026, after rising 7 per cent in 2025. Enterprise software recorded 2 per cent growth this year following 6 per cent growth in 2025. Both categories therefore recorded 8 per cent growth over two years.
Several segments, however, moved in the opposite direction. Internet salaries declined 2 per cent in each of the past two years, resulting in a 4 per cent two-year fall.
Computer hardware salaries dropped 3 per cent in 2025 and another 4 per cent in 2026, while e-commerce salaries fell 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Both categories therefore recorded a 7 per cent decline over two years.
The premium for specialised capabilities is also visible outside traditional technology roles.
Semiconductor salaries rose 17 per cent over two years, with annual growth accelerating from 7 per cent to 9 per cent. Industrial automation recorded 13 per cent growth over the same period, with annual salary growth increasing from 5 per cent to 8 per cent.
Senior professionals in industrial automation can earn up to Rs 58.90 lakh, while the senior salary ceiling for semiconductor professionals stands at Rs 48.49 lakh.
Specialised healthcare roles have also recorded healthy salary growth. Medical practice salaries increased 8 per cent, with senior compensation reaching Rs 56.70 lakh. Medical devices salaries grew 6 per cent and pharmaceuticals 4 per cent.
Real estate and digital marketing each recorded 7 per cent growth, while oil and energy salaries increased 6 per cent.
Within financial services, venture capital and private equity led salary growth at 5 per cent, followed by investment banking at 3 per cent and banking at 2 per cent.
Geography continues to influence AI compensation. Bengaluru remains India’s highest-paying AI market, supported by its concentration of product companies, AI-focused startups and global capability centres.
Senior AI professionals in the city earn between Rs 61.70 lakh and Rs 91.25 lakh. Bengaluru’s senior AI salaries are around 10–15 per cent higher than those in the NCR and Mumbai, while the gap can reach about 40 per cent compared with Chennai.
Hyderabad is also emerging as a major AI market, supported by growing investment in global capability centres and product engineering.
The difference between metro and Tier-2 markets becomes more pronounced with experience. AI professionals with 0–3 years of experience in Tier-2 cities earn around 28 per cent less than their metro counterparts. The gap remains around 27–29 per cent for those with 4–6 years of experience and about 28 per cent for professionals with 7–10 years.
For those with 11–15 years of experience, the gap widens to around 29–30 per cent. Among professionals with more than 15 years of experience, Tier-2 salaries are about 31 per cent lower than metro compensation.
The tracker covers Tier-2 markets including Coimbatore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Indore. While AI talent is becoming more distributed among entry and mid-career professionals, experienced workers remain concentrated in major technology hubs.
Pune and Chennai are developing specialist salary premiums around automotive AI, industrial automation and manufacturing analytics, suggesting that the business application of AI could increasingly influence pay alongside geography.
The salary trends come as India’s overall hiring market shows early signs of stabilisation. Hiring activity increased 5 per cent month-on-month in August, although it remained 10 per cent below the level recorded a year earlier.
Healthcare and pharmaceuticals recorded 16 per cent annual hiring growth, while travel and tourism increased 22 per cent and real estate grew 10 per cent. At the occupation level, medical roles recorded 23 per cent growth, followed by marketing and communications at 20 per cent.
Professionals with 7–10 years of experience saw the strongest hiring momentum, with hiring rising 10 per cent year-on-year. Entry-level hiring fell 9 per cent, while hiring for professionals with more than 15 years of experience declined 11 per cent.
Among major cities, Bengaluru continued to lead hiring momentum with 5 per cent year-on-year growth, followed by Hyderabad and Kochi.
The message from the salary and hiring data is increasingly clear: in India’s evolving jobs market, more years on the CV may not be enough. The biggest rewards are moving towards skills that solve emerging business problems, with AI firmly leading the pay race.
