AI startups across India boost hiring 21% year over year
AI startups across India are hiring like crazy, leaving the rest of the tech world behind.
With generative AI and automation in high demand, companies are quickly adding engineers, product developers, researchers, and customer-focused roles.
In fact, hiring at AI startups jumped 21% year over year as of May 2026, almost double the growth seen in other startups.
AI professionals see 15-40% salary hikes
Thanks to a talent crunch, skilled AI pros are seeing bigger paychecks—midlevel folks earn 15-20% more than regular software engineers, while senior specialists with generative AI skills get 20-40% hikes.
Leadership roles can hit â‚ą1.5 crore and more per year.
Startups aren't just hiring coders: they're also bringing on consultants, product managers, and salespeople to help take their AI products mainstream.