Humans have constructed the concept of employment. Then they built artificial intelligence (AI) to make their tasks easier. A few years later, introduced its revolutionary generative AI feature, ChatGPT, and the world was never the same.
With the advent of many AI applications, humans feared losing their jobs as companies began implementing the technology to streamline their tasks. However, this is not entirely the case.
Zoho Corp boss Sridhar Vembu believes AI will bring a “renaissance of traditional roles”, providing better salaries to local communities.
Companies are hiring for positions that didn’t exist before…AI trainersethical AI architects and Chief AI Officers at the C-suite level, who require new skills and pay a higher salary than a normal tech job.
For example, Akash*, 25, a mid-career software engineer at a healthcare startup in Bangalore, felt unprepared when his company began focusing on AI-based projects. “I knew my existing skills would no longer be enough.”
Soon, he enrolled in an AI specialization course after discussing upskilling with his friends working at large tech companies. In a few months, Akash integrated machine learning (ML) and other models in his projects.
“Upskilling was intimidating, but it was the best decision. The market was not in good shape and changing jobs during this time was difficult. I was barely able to pass the qualifying tests. I had to hone my skills to stay afloat and get better at what I was doing,” he says.
This is the story of many professionals in India in the AI era, where AI-based skills are taking center stage as companies revamp their recruitment process to focus on certain skills and competencies.
According to Gartner, around 80% of engineers will need to upskill due to the growing influence of AI by 2027. Similarly, LinkedIn predicts that 65% of job skills will change by 2030.
Jaideep Kewalramani, COO and Head of Employability at TeamLease Edtech, believes that the demand for AI professionals will grow exponentially over the next five years, with a CAGR of 30-100%, depending on the role held.
He says: “This will mainly be because AI becomes ubiquitous across all sectors and roles. Niche roles such as AI ethics specialists, regulatory compliance officers, governance and security roles will also be sought after.
According to Salesforce, roles such as AI Trainer, Sentiment Analyzer, AI Instructor, AI Compliance Officer and others are some of the most in-demand roles.
New skills for new roles
Milind Shah, managing director of Randstad Digital India, says the net impact of AI on employment is likely to be a shift in job roles, with more emphasis on highly skilled positions including data scientists, AI engineers and AI product managers, which will require significant reskilling. efforts.
Companies can respond to this change by implementing internal learning initiatives while fostering soft skills such as adaptability and problem solving. Partnerships with edtech platforms and universities can also ensure employees gain practical, out-of-the-box expertise.
Earlier this year, Cisco, Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft and SAP Labs launched the Technology-Based Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Workforce Consortium AI to develop professionals in AI. The initiative identifies roles most likely to be impacted by AI, facilitates improvement and reskilling opportunities for workers, and connects businesses with job-ready talent.
Meanwhile, specialist AI roles require a mix of technical and analytical skills as well as an understanding of AI ethics and human-machine interaction.
For example, prompt engineers should have a strong grasp of natural language processing, how AI models are built and refined, and the ability to create training data for AI systems. AI trainers focus on creating data sets, refining AI algorithms, and ensuring that AI systems learn effectively.
And having the right skills for specific roles is essential.
Aditya, a front-end developer at a US tech company, says his role focuses on creating user-friendly interfaces, primarily using AI and ML models rather than working directly with them.
“Recently, I attended an AI workshop from AWS on its SageMaker product, designed for ML on the cloud. While the workshop was useful, it focused on backend workflows… I didn’t see much relevance to my daily tasks as a frontend developer,” he says.
Ajay Trehan, founder and CEO of AuthBridge, tells YourStory: “When it comes to upskilling and reskilling employees to keep pace with advances in AI, businesses need to take a proactive and structured approach to ensure their workforce is not only prepared for the future, but also empowered to excel alongside AI.
Bring your own AI
Today, mastering AI is as essential as traditional learning and will include how employees work with AI tools, says technology strategist Jaspreet Bindra, co-founder of AI&Beyond.
“Not so long ago, literacy was about reading, writing and numeracy… (AI literacy) now goes beyond training or skills: it is a basic literacy in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Employees need to know how to use these tools, write effective prompts, ensure data privacy, and achieve the best results,” says Bindra.
Considering the recent trend of “Bring Your Own AI” (akin to “Bring Your Own Device”), a Microsoft LinkedIn report suggests that 80% of employees bring their own AI tools to work.
Some popular AI tools, according to a report from And title Labor Trends Index Annual Report 2024are Bard, Microsoft Copilot, Grammarly, Claude and Gemini.
“Employees want to learn skills, and 66% of managers will only hire if candidates are proficient in AI and can use these tools for productivity and innovation,” adds Bindra.
This new-age technology is also redefining roles in customer experience (CX), where AI frees employees from repetitive tasks, allowing them to gain cross-functional sales and service knowledge, says Maureen Chong, vice-president Regional President – Asia, Zendesk.
“In the customer experience industry, the roles of agents, administrators and customer experience managers will change… They will partner with AI co-pilots to respond more quickly to business challenges and improve performance. ‘efficiency,’ says Chong.
Lucrative offers and salary trends
AI technology expertise comes with higher salaries, and companies are not shy about offering you compensation. According to Level.fyi, an organization that tracks salary trends, the median salary for AI software engineers in the United States is $300,000, almost $100,000 more than that of non-AI engineers.
In India, professionals with specialized AI skills earn 15-20% more than those with traditional technology expertise, says Shah. High-level positions such as AI directors and data science managers can command salaries 20-40% higher than conventional IT positions.
Non-tech professionals are also benefiting from this trend. For example, Kartik Jolapara, a non-IT degree holder from a Tier III college, landed a senior software engineer job at JP Morgan with a first-year package of Rs 1.64 crore, all thanks to his AI skills.
Charu Malhotra, co-founder and managing director of Primus Partners, predicts that these salary premiums will continue to rise as companies seek specialized talent.
“Positions such as AI engineers, ML specialists and data scientists often earn a premium with salaries 20-40% higher than traditional software developers or IT professionals,” says Malhotra .
According to him, job creation will depend on the availability of qualified talent, which will require educational institutions to integrate not only AI, but also 12 other emerging technologies: IoT, robotics, AR/VR, ML, Big Data, data analysis, cloud computing. , cybersecurity, blockchain, Metaverse, Web 3.0 and 3D modeling – over the next five years.
Lucrative deals or not, engineers are currently struggling to keep up with the AI hype.
While studies suggest that almost 40% of jobs could be affected by automation, AI experts like Deepak Sekar believe that it will not lead to massive job losses.
“Preparing for the AI era requires a commitment to acquiring key skills such as language proficiency, mathematics and AI proficiency,” he adds.
An engineer at TCS says, “We were all asked to take AI courses and take a test to improve ourselves. Management says it’s to keep us informed. But honestly, I can’t help but think that AI will eventually replace what I have. » I’m doing it, it’s just a matter of time.
*Name changed upon request.
(Infographic and featured image by Nihar Apte)
