AI jobs in India by city and sector, where the postings are in 2026

Bengaluru has the largest share of AI job postings in India, at 26% of foundit's 2025 count, ahead of Delhi-NCR at 18%, Hyderabad at 12% and Pune at 8%. Tier-1 cities together held about 80% of AI jobs that year. Growth is faster elsewhere: Naukri's May 2026 JobSpeak had Hyderabad leading AI hiring growth at 44%, with Delhi NCR at 34% and Chennai at 31%.

Which Indian cities have the most AI job postings?

Two sources give city shares, and they do not agree on size. foundit's December 2025 tracker counted 290,256 AI job postings in India in 2025, and its city split put Bengaluru at 26%, Delhi-NCR at 18%, Hyderabad at 12% and Pune at 8%.

A PIB backgrounder of 12 February 2026, citing the World Bank South Asia Development Update, says 5.8% of India's white-collar job listings in 2025 required AI expertise, led by Bangalore with an 11% share of AI jobs, then Hyderabad at 9.57%, Pune at 6.95% and Chennai at 6.62%.

The two lists measure different things with different postings, so only the order should be compared, not the percentages. On both, Bengaluru is first, and Hyderabad and Pune appear behind it in each list.

The World Bank figures say 5.8% of white-collar listings asked for AI expertise, about one in seventeen, which is a useful reminder that AI roles are still a minority of all postings.

The table sets the city figures side by side. Growth is measured against the previous year for foundit and against the same month a year earlier for Naukri, and "Not reported" means the source does not report that city.

Which cities are growing fastest in 2026?

Hyderabad, on the evidence of both trackers. It already grew 35% in foundit's 2025 count, faster than Bengaluru at 32%, and Naukri's May 2026 JobSpeak put it first at 44%. In the same release, AI/ML roles overall were up 22% year on year, and AI/ML roles paying above Rs 30 LPA grew 27%. That 27% is a posting-growth rate for a pay bracket, not a statement of what anyone earns.

City rankings by growth are unstable. Naukri's March 2026 release had Kolkata first, at 56%, so a single month should be read as a snapshot rather than a trend. A smaller base also flatters growth. The national picture is steadier: Naukri's AI/ML hiring index was up 32% in April 2026 and 20% in September 2026, still ahead of overall white-collar hiring at 2% that month, while IT and software services fell 4%.

foundit projects about 381,846 AI job postings in India in 2026, a 32% rise on 2025. That is a projection, and postings are not the same as filled jobs.

Are Tier-2 cities a real option for AI jobs?

Tier-2 cities are a real but small option. foundit's 2025 data says Tier-2 cities such as Jaipur, Indore, Mysuru, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad grew 30 to 40%, while Tier-1 cities together still held about 80% of AI jobs. Growth of that size from a small base may mean a handful of employers, so one hiring decision could move the percentage.

For a fresher outside the big metros, that suggests two things. Remote or hybrid roles with employers in Bengaluru or Hyderabad are one route, though no published figure here shows how common remote AI work is. And a Tier-2 city with a growing local employer can be worth watching, but the postings are fewer and the choice of employers narrower.

Which sectors post AI roles beyond IT services?

IT software and services is still the biggest source. In foundit's 2025 industry split it held 37% of AI postings, growing 32%. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) held 15.8% of postings but grew fastest, at 41%, and manufacturing held 6% with growth of 34%.

BFSI is the faster-growing sector, not the larger one, and manufacturing is a small share growing quickly. Neither makes IT services irrelevant. Naukri's September 2026 JobSpeak found AI/ML hiring within the IT sector up 11% year on year, even as IT hiring overall fell 4%, so AI demand inside IT held up while the sector as a whole shrank.

Is AI now ordinary office work outside tech firms?

Increasingly, though mostly as a skill inside other jobs. Indeed Hiring Lab found that in September 2025 AI was mentioned in 39% of data and analytics postings on Indeed India, 23% of software development postings, 18% of insurance postings and 17% of scientific research postings. Indeed cautions that its India data leans towards technology, management and sales, so these are shares of one platform's postings in one month.

Naukri's AI at Work survey, summarised on 16 July 2026, found 77% of professionals use AI at work at least sometimes and 79% are upskilling in AI or plan to start soon, yet only 35% say their employer actively provides AI training. Workplace training mandates are therefore not universal, and plenty of people are learning on their own initiative. The survey covers Naukri's own users and does not state a sample size.

The figures available do not describe the day-to-day tasks inside BFSI, insurance or manufacturing, so no guess is made at them here. What the numbers support is narrower: AI postings in BFSI and manufacturing grew at least as fast as in IT services in 2025.

What does city choice mean for pay and competition?

For pay, only one city split is available, and it covers a single role. Indeed India's Data Scientist page, updated 15 October 2026, reported an average base salary of Rs 11,97,456 across 301 salaries, with city averages of Rs 13,85,762 in Hyderabad and Rs 12,19,290 in Bengaluru. Averages from posted salaries understate senior and product-company pay, and they say little about freshers. A ranked look at the highest-paying AI jobs covers pay by role.

For competition, the figures available carry no count of applicants per posting by city. A larger share of postings usually means more employers to apply to and also more candidates, so a big share is not the same as an easy search.

TeamLease Digital's FY2026-27 primer, built on 37,000 tech and digital roles across 18 cities, says only 16% of IT professionals in India hold AI skills, which suggests the supply of AI-skilled people is limited in every city. A post on whether AI and ML is oversaturated for freshers takes up the entry-level side of that question.

Naukri's AI at Work report says AI hiring growth is strongest in senior bands and higher salary brackets, with 13 to 16 years of experience up 39% and 16+ years up 35%. Mid-career candidates may therefore find that a city move matters less than the experience band they are applying in.

How should this shape where someone applies?

Start from the role, then the city. A machine learning engineer role at a large employer in Bengaluru, a data role in a Hyderabad capability centre and an applied AI role at a bank in Pune are three different searches, and the skills behind them overlap: Python, data handling and machine learning. An entry-level guide to machine learning jobs lists what fresher postings ask for, and a guide to moving from software engineering to machine learning covers the switch for people already employed.

A sensible plan applies in the biggest city that fits, watches the fastest-growing one and keeps one sector outside IT on the list. That is a general approach rather than something the data proves. For broader market context, a report on the 2026 AI job market in India sets these figures next to national hiring trends.

The Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Certification Program is an online programme from E&ICT Academy, IIT Roorkee, run with Masai as the implementation partner, with live sessions and an optional campus immersion, covering Python, data handling, machine learning, generative AI, LLMs and a capstone project.

Frequently asked questions

Which city has the most AI jobs in India?

Bengaluru. foundit's count of 2025 AI postings gave it a 26% share, ahead of Delhi-NCR at 18%, Hyderabad at 12% and Pune at 8%. The World Bank figures cited by PIB also put Bangalore first, at an 11% share of AI jobs. Hyderabad led growth in Naukri's May 2026 JobSpeak at 44%, so the order may change.

Is Hyderabad better than Bengaluru for AI jobs?

Hyderabad is growing faster, while Bengaluru is larger. foundit's 2025 data shows Hyderabad's AI postings growing 35% against 32% for Bengaluru, from a smaller 12% share against 26%. Indeed India's Data Scientist page lists a higher average in Hyderabad, at Rs 13,85,762, than Bengaluru, at Rs 12,19,290, but that is one role and one sample.

Are there AI jobs in Tier-2 cities in India?

Yes, in small numbers. foundit's 2025 data says Tier-2 cities such as Jaipur, Indore, Mysuru, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad grew 30 to 40%, while Tier-1 cities still held about 80% of AI jobs. The growth comes from a small base, so a few employers account for most of the change.

Which industry hires the most AI engineers in India?

IT software and services, by share of postings. In foundit's 2025 industry split it held 37%, against 15.8% for banking, financial services and insurance and 6% for manufacturing. BFSI grew fastest, at 41%. Postings are not the same as hires, and a posting for an AI role does not always carry the title AI engineer.

Do AI jobs in India require relocating?

Often, but not always. Tier-1 cities held about 80% of AI jobs in foundit's 2025 data, so most openings are in a few metros. The figures available carry no number on how many AI roles are remote or hybrid, so the honest answer is that relocation is common and the exact share is unknown.

Next step

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