Synopsis
Nearly one in five AI learners comes from Tier II cities such as Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Chengalpattu and Coimbatore, according to Scaler's India AI Workforce Report 2026, a study of career outcomes among India's AI-skilled workforce.Listen to this article in summarized format
Nearly one in five AI learners come from tier-2 cities such as Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Chengalpattu and Coimbatore, said the ‘India AI Workforce Report 2026’, the edtech firm's study of career outcomes among the country’s AI-skilled workforce.
Bengaluru led the metro pack with a 19% share of the AI learner base, as per the report. Pune followed at 7%, while Mumbai and Hyderabad each made up 4% and Chennai accounted for 3%.
The findings are based on a study of 11,444 AI learners across India. The report tracked their career paths after upskilling — the industries and organisations they moved into, and the roles and salaries that followed. AI learners analysed in the study included employees from Google, Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia, said the report.
It comes amid increasing demand for AI-led upskilling for jobs in various industries. “The number of people asking what AI courses we offer and what they would learn from them has increased massively,” Abhimanyu Saxena, cofounder of Scaler, told ET.
Google searches for keywords like ‘AI courses’ have surged almost fivefold to tenfold in the past six-nine months, he added.
Beyond the metros
The report also found that AI is no longer just an engineering story. More than half of all AI-enabled roles now lie outside core engineering, spanning leadership, consulting, human resources and data science.
Women are emerging as one of the biggest gainers from this shift, according to the report. On average, they reported a 145% jump in pay after moving into AI roles, often outpacing men in similar positions, it said.
AI learning is also accelerating the path to leadership, the report further said. One in four learners move into leadership roles after upskilling — nearly three times the share who land dedicated data and machine learning roles. These roles also pay the most, with engineering leadership posts earning an average cost to company (CTC) of Rs 33 lakh after the programme.
Saxena further said that real transformation is taking root in tier-2 cities, among women professionals and across functions far beyond engineering. “At a time when much of the conversation around AI focuses on job displacement, the findings tell a different story,” he said.
The report further said that career gains hold up across experience levels. The average CTC increment stood at 147% overall, with the sharpest jumps among early-career professionals and steady gains even for those with more than a decade in the workforce.
