India's compensation landscape is seeing a sharper divide between high-demand specialist skills and more established roles. Artificial intelligence (AI) recorded 12 per cent year-on-year salary growth, the highest among the categories tracked, followed by computer and network security and semiconductors at 9 per cent each, according to the latest foundit Insights Tracker (fit).

Over two years, the divide is sharper still. AI salaries have compounded 23 per cent between 2024 and 2026 — rising 10 per cent and then 12 per cent — while pay in sectors such as computer hardware and e-commerce has declined, and salaries in IT services have stagnated over two years.

"Companies are getting selective about what they pay a premium for. Experience on its own no longer commands the strongest raises — what matters is whether a skill fills a capability gap the business needs. For professionals, the takeaway is straightforward: salary growth will increasingly follow those who keep deepening and renewing their skills as business needs shift," said Tarun Sinha, chief executive officer of foundit.

For AI professionals with zero to three years of experience, the salary premium starts at the beginning of a career, with pay ranging between Rs 8.87 lakh and Rs 15.41 lakh per annum. This rises to Rs 70.99-89.24 lakh per annum for those with more than 15 years of experience.

Cybersecurity records an even higher salary ceiling of Rs 97.81 lakh per annum, the highest across the categories tracked.

The contrast between AI specialists and mainstream IT roles is stark.

Entry-level pay in information technology and IT services starts at Rs 2.68-5.08 lakh per annum — roughly a third of what AI freshers command — and reaches Rs 57.55-72.13 lakh per annum at 15-plus years, well below the salary ceiling for senior AI professionals. Both categories have also recorded a 1 per cent pay decline over the last year, the report said.

Within IT, there is a clear divergence in salary growth. AI rose 12 per cent, computer and network security 9 per cent, and data mining 7 per cent.

Computer software and computer networking recorded marginal growth of 1 per cent each.

In contrast, information technology declined 1 per cent, internet salaries fell 2 per cent, e-commerce 3 per cent and computer hardware 4 per cent over the last year.

AI compensation also varies sharply by location, reflecting where specialised employers and mature technology ecosystems are clustered.

Bengaluru remains India's highest-paying market, supported by its density of product companies, AI-first startups and global capability centres (GCCs).

Senior AI professionals in Bengaluru earn Rs 61.70-91.25 lakh per annum — roughly 10-15 per cent more than in NCR or Mumbai and up to 40 per cent more than in Chennai at the senior end.

Hyderabad is emerging as the closest challenger, backed by expanding GCC and product engineering investments.

The gap widens beyond the top six metros. AI salaries in Tier-II cities — Coimbatore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Indore — are 28-31 per cent lower than metro pay, with the differential widest at senior levels.

Entry- and mid-level AI talent is becoming more distributed, but experienced practitioners remain concentrated in metros where product companies, AI-first startups and GCCs cluster.

Pune and Chennai, while trailing on overall AI compensation, are building specialist premiums in automotive AI, industrial automation and manufacturing analytics — early signs that AI pay is beginning to differentiate by application domain as well as geography.

Beyond technology, manufacturing and specialised healthcare are leading salary growth.

Source: foundit Insight Tracker