As the power of AI becomes evident, Indian companies join the race for talent

Demand for AI experts, particularly at mid- and senior-levels, is now at its highest level in the country and many professionals have multiple job openings to choose from, recruitment services and search firms told ET.

Encouraged by the demand, some executives are even seeking a salary hike of up to 50% as an incentive to move to another company, a headhunting expert said, adding that at the leadership level, salary offers even exceed Rs 30 crore per annum. Others are offered fractional leadership roles and flexible work arrangements.

“Profiles like head of AI, head of data science and head of platform engineering are in high demand, and the most recent head of Gen AI is in high demand,” said Jai Ballani, senior partner at Korn Ferry, a search firm that hires leaders across all industries. “Candidates for all of these profiles have at least two or three offers at a time.”

Transearch, another search firm, is committed to multiple mandates for Head of AI/ML and DS for early-stage SaaS and growth-stage unicorns.

“There are a few executives running AI/ML/data science functions at leading tech companies and drawing salaries of $1-2 million including ESOP/RSU,” Ashish Sanganeria, Senior Partner at Transearch told ET. In what can be read as a sign of the growing importance of AI, SAP Labs India recently announced the promotion of two of its executives to global AI roles — Rahul Lodhe as global head of engineering for SAP Gen AI Copilot Joule, and Sudhakar Singh as head of AI security. In April this year, Blackstone appointed Prakhar Mehrotra as the head of AI. He was previously with Walmart Global Tech, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Chakradhara Panda, who was appointed head of data and AI at Adani AI Labs, joined Publicis Sapient in April this year, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Mayank Verma has been appointed Global Head of Data and AI at Xebia. He previously worked at EY India.

Another appointment was Anil Pawar as head of AI at data centre startup Yotta Data Services, part of real estate developer Hiranandani Group, in April.

According to Krishna Vij, IT Staffing Business Manager at TeamLease Digital, the number of senior and leadership AI positions in the country has doubled in the past year. And with demand coming not just from tech companies but from all sectors, the search for talent is only going to intensify.

At the mid-level, depending on experience, annual salaries offered range from Rs 30 lakh to nearly Rs 1 crore, he said.

Meanwhile, the shortage of AI professionals is also forcing many headhunters and recruiting firms to look abroad for talent, according to experts.

Recruitment consultancy Michael Page India has a few multinational clients who are recruiting for both traditional tech roles like developers/programmers and contemporary skills like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, said its regional director Pranshu Upadhyay. “But candidates in the latter segment are getting twice as many offers compared to the former. This is primarily due to a huge gap in demand and supply for this profile,” said Upadhyay.

Due to a mismatch between supply and demand, some companies have even started upskilling their tech workforce. “They are also making efforts to attract mid- and senior-level candidates in AI and cybersecurity by offering higher joining bonuses and attractive retention plans,” he said.

At the leadership level, demand for talent is increasing. “In some large companies, CAIO or AI managers might report to chief digital officers, but they will also have a direct reporting line to the CEO,” said Ratna Gupta, senior partner at ABC Consultants. “This is because their role touches every facet of the organization and spans all areas of work.”

According to TeamLease Digital’s Vij, the person responsible for AI and data science is a chief experience officer (CXO) or a CXO-1 level position, and is gradually becoming recognised as a fully independent role. “Most of the time, this is a strategic role and in some cases, the person responsible is directly from the board of directors,” says Vij.

Experts said companies in cement production, IT products, consulting, technology, healthcare, retail, energy and manufacturing are looking for AI leaders and top-level talent to gain a competitive advantage.

“While there are many professionals entering the AI ​​field, the number of experienced senior executives with a deep understanding of AI, machine learning and data science is relatively limited,” Ballani said.

Senior executives who can successfully integrate AI into business operations, drive innovation and create value are considered key assets, he said.

But there are other tech roles that are similarly gaining traction, such as chief information security officers (CISOs), data architects and cloud strategy/transformation leaders, according to experts. “CISOs are increasingly sought after due to rising concerns around cybersecurity threats, while data architects are needed to manage large amounts of data generated by AI systems,” ABC’s Gupta said.

While the demand for AI experts has been there for the past four to five years, it has only accelerated in the last 18 to 24 months. “The pandemic has played a key role in the exponential rise of digital transformation across industries and hence, increasing the demand for AI experts and wider adoption of AI technologies across industries,” Gupta said.