India leads AI penetration as retail GCC roles top 7%
AI jobs are growing fast in India's retail Global Capability Centres (GCCs), jumping from 2.1% of the workforce in 2022 to nearly 5% by 2025, and are expected to reach more than 7% this year.
India leads AI penetration ahead of other Global Capability Centre destinations such as Poland, Germany, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Bengaluru majority, senior AI shortfall
Bengaluru holds more than half of all retail GCC AI pros, but there's a real shortage of experienced seniors, just 320 people with eight or more years' experience across 180 centers.
AI/ML talent commands a premium "rising to 2.0x the market median" at the 3-6 year band, while the 10 per cent of talent that possesses both domain and AI skills at the 15-plus year band can earn more than ₹1.2 crore per year.
Most new hires are coming from outside the sector as competition heats up with IT and consulting firms.
TeamLease Digital's CEO Neeti Sharma said, "What happens next depends entirely on how deliberately we build the senior AI bench to match that ambition."