Published on 24 Aug 2026

16 mins

AI & ML Salary in India 2026: Complete Breakdown by Role, City & Experience

Explore AI & ML salary in India in 2026 with a breakdown by job role, experience level, city, skills, and company type.

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AI and Machine Learning are no longer just emerging technologies. As businesses across diverse industries continue to adopt generative AI, artificial intelligence, intelligent applications, predictive analytics, and automation, professionals with relevant skills can explore highly rewarding career opportunities. Get a complete breakdown of AI and ML salaries in India right here in our blog.

Factors that Determine Your AI/ML Salary in India

Job title is not the only factor determining AI/ML salaries in India. Experience, specialization, company type, etc., are other important drivers.

1. Experience level — The Biggest Single Salary Driver

Experience remains one of the most significant determinants of AI and ML salaries.

Freshers and graduates can secure competitive packages.
Professionals with several years of experience earn higher salaries since they demonstrate ownership of complex models, projects, and systems.
Senior professionals typically move into strategic, architectural, and managerial roles, where decision-making and leadership responsibilities command the highest salaries.

Combine experience with hands-on AI/ML production-grade skills for significant salary growth.

2. Specialization: GenAI vs. MLOps vs. NLP vs. Computer Vision Pay Gap

Different specializations can result in noticeable pay gaps within the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:

Gen AI and LLM engineering offer the strongest salary upside at present, especially if you can build and deploy production-ready applications.
MLOps offers lucrative packages to professionals with experience in scaling, infrastructure, and deployment.
NLP combined with search, LLM, and conversational AI can help you earn well, too.

3. Company type: IT Services vs. Product Company vs. FAANG India

How can the company type influence the pay gap? Let’s explore below:

IT companies usually start with lower average salaries that can go up gradually through established salary bands.
Product companies have better opportunities for professionals who can build AI systems.
FAANG and other significant global companies offer the highest average salaries, especially to professionals with specialization and strong technical skills.

4. City and Location: Bengaluru vs. Tier-2 Gap

Bengaluru remains one of the best-paying cities for AI and ML professionals.

Bengaluru has possibly the highest concentration of IT and product companies offering higher average packages.
Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi NCR are next in line.
The Tier-2 cities, in comparison, have fewer high-paying opportunities.

5. Education: IIT/IIIT Premium vs. Private College Offers

More than brands, it’s the combination of academic qualification, skills, and practical exposure that determines long-term earning potential:

IIT/IIT premium graduates can usually access better opportunities through stronger recruitment networks, peer groups, and research exposure.
Candidates from private colleges can particularly benefit from strong machine learning, programming, mathematical, cloud, and deployment skills.

6. Portfolio and GitHub Projects: More Impactful than Certificates Alone

Beyond coursework and certifications, a strong portfolio can boost your earning potential significantly in the fields of AI and Machine Learning.

Your portfolio should showcase your model preparation, data representation, APIs, deployment, cloud, and real-world problem-solving skills clearly and concisely.
Your GitHub profile should contain meaningful projects, documentation, clean code, and reproducible results.
Relevant certifications can help you demonstrate exposure to technology and a commitment to learning.

AI/ML Engineer Salary in India by Experience Level

Experience is a major determinant of AI/ML salaries in India. Freshers can increase their earning potential through upskilling, stronger technical exposure, and experience.

Fresher AI/ML Engineer Salary (0–2 Years)

Fresh AI/ML graduates or engineers with 0-2 years of experience can expect average salaries that depend heavily on technical fundamentals and the company making the offer.

Data preparation, analytics, model deployment, and testing are common entry-level responsibilities.
The average annual salary can range from INR 9.3 LPA to 12.8 LPA.
Kaggle work, strong GitHub repositories, and internships can boost earning potential.

Source: Ambition Box

Mid-Level Salary (3–6 years)

Mid-level AI/ML professionals with 3- 6 years of experience move beyond basic model deployment to complex project ownership. At this level, you can earn INR 12.8 LPA – 18.1 LPA (INR 1, 06,667/month –INR 1, 50,833/month).

As a mid-level professional, you are expected to carry out the following tasks independently for significant career growth:

Improve model performance
Select algorithms
Build APIs or pipelines

Source: AmbitionBox

Senior-Level Salary (7–10 Years)

AI/ML professionals with 7 to 10 years of experience are expected to demonstrate sound decision-making capabilities impacting model architecture and engineering.

They typically earn INR 30 LPA (INR 2, 50,000 a month) on average. Prominent job responsibilities include:

Designing Machine Learning Systems
Managing Production Deployments
Reviewing Models and Code

Source: AmbitionBox

Leadership / Principal Level (10+ Years)

AI/ML Engineers, Architects, and Engineering Managers with 10+ years of experience are responsible for designing large-scale AI systems, leading teams, setting technical directions, and vendor communications.

At this stage, depending on your skills and the company you’re working for, you can expect an average salary of INR 43.5 LPA – 69.4 LPA (INR 3,62,500/month – INR 5,78,333/month). The total compensation may also include:

Stock Options
Bonuses
Restricted Stock Units

Source: AmbitionBox

AI & ML Salary by Job Role in India

Average AI/ML salaries may vary based on different job roles and responsibilities. A few salary ranges for various roles are defined below.

AI/ML Engineer Salary

An AI/ML engineer can earn approximately INR 5 LPA- INR 12 LPA based on their experience, technical skills, company, and upskilling capabilities. Typical responsibilities include:

Development of Machine Learning
Extensive Statistics
Predictive Modeling

Source: AmbitionBox

AI Developer Salary

An AI Developer earns an average of INR 3 LPA- INR 7 LPA in India based on their skills, education, and experience.

They fulfill the following job responsibilities:

Integration of AI capabilities into software products
Work with Machine Learning Models, AI APIs, Recommendation Systems, and Natural Language Processing
Lead Production Deployment at senior levels

Source: Glassdoor

Data Scientist Salary

A Data Scientist in India can earn approximately INR 3 LPA – INR 11 LPA. They use statistical methods, programming, machine learning, and data analysis to perform a range of responsibilities, including:

Building predictive solutions based on data-driven insights
Feature engineering
Forecasting, recommendation, classification, and optimization of models

Source: Glassdoor

AI Analyst Salary

An AI Analyst earns INR 6 LPA – INR 10 LPA in India, with variations based on experience, company, education and certifications, skills, and complexity of responsibilities. Major job responsibilities include:

AI use-case analysis
Evaluation of Data and Model Outputs
Spotting automation opportunities

Source: Glassdoor

NLP Engineer Salary

An NLP engineer can earn an average salary of INR 6 – INR 12 LPA in India. Specializing in technologies that help computers comprehend human language, these engineers perform a range of responsibilities like:

Text classification
Information Extraction
Sentiment Analysis

Source: Glassdoor

Computer Vision Engineer Salary

Computer vision engineers develop AI systems that can interpret videos and images. They earn INR 5–INR 11.4 LPA on average. Job responsibilities include:

Implementation of deep learning
Experimentation, optimization, and deployment of computer vision models
Work with capabilities like retail analytics, manufacturing systems, object detection, and convolutional neural networks.

Source: Glassdoor

MLOps Engineer Salary

MLOps engineers develop, deploy, monitor, and maintain machine learning systems at scale. Their average annual salary ranges from INR 8 – INR 20 LPA.

Responsibilities include:

Model Versioning
Cloud Infrastructure
CI/CD Pipelines

Source: Glassdoor

Gen AI/LLM Engineer Salary

Gen AI and LLM Engineers focus on technologies that can generate and understand code, text, and images, etc. Their average annual salary range is INR 5 – INR 15 LPA.

Major job responsibilities include:

LLM Applications
Prompt Engineering
Model Evaluation

Source: Glassdoor

AI Expert/Architect Salary

AI experts and architects design the technical frameworks of advanced artificial intelligence systems. On average, they earn INR 19 – INR 43 LPA.

They perform a range of complex tasks including:

Determining model architecture
Leading data strategies
Finalizing technology stacks

Source: AmbitionBox

Salary of Artificial Intelligence Roles — Quick Comparison Table

Depending on your interests, this is how different AI salaries can be compared:

AI/ML Role	Typical Focus	Earning Potential	Salaries (per year)
AI/ML Engineer	Machine learning development and deployment	Moderate to High	INR 5 LPA- INR 12 LPA
AI/ML Developer	AI-powered applications and software	Moderate	INR 3 LPA- INR 7 LPA
Data Scientist	Analytics, modeling, and predictive solutions	Moderate to High	INR 3 LPA – INR 11 LPA
AI Analyst	AI analysis, use cases and business insights	High	INR 6 LPA – INR 10 LPA
NLP Engineer	Language and text-based AI	High	INR 6 – INR 12 LPA

AI/ML Engineer Salary by Company Type in India

The type of company you’re working for (IT, FAANG, and product companies) has different packages in place.

IT Services (TCS, Infosys, Wipro)

Large IT companies like Infosys, TCS, and Wipro employ AI/ML professionals spanning software development, consulting, automation, and client-oriented technologies.

Based on experience, technical know-how, academic background, and job complexity, AI engineers in IT services can earn between INR 12.4 LPA and INR 13.7 LPA.

You can improve your earning potential by moving into specialized roles involving.

Cloud Computing
Machine Learning
Gen AI Applications

Source: AmbitionBox

Product Companies (Flipkart, Swiggy, Razorpay)

Major product companies like Swiggy, Flipkart, and Razorpay pay average salaries of INR 25 LPA – INR 28.2 LPA to AI engineers.

Your job may typically require you to work on:

Fraud Detection
Recommendation Systems
Search

Source: AmbitionBox

FAANG India (Google, Microsoft, Amazon)

AI/ML engineers aiming for top companies like Amazon and Microsoft can demand highly competitive packages, i.e., INR 35 LPA on average.

Candidates have to demonstrate a strong combination of technical and soft skills to crack entry-level positions and progress to more advanced positions:

Machine Learning
Problem-Solving
System Design

Source: AmbitionBox

AI Startups and Unicorns

AI startups and unicorns pay an annual average salary ranging from INR 16.5–INR 18.5 LPA for AI/ML engineers. Compensation may typically vary between startups depending on funding, revenue, maturity, and hiring budgets.

Typical job responsibilities include:

Multiple aspects of the AI lifecycle
Product experimentation
Product development

Source: AmbitionBox

Why the Gap between IT Services and Product Companies Widens Sharply at the Senior Level

The difference in compensation between IT and product companies widens sharply at senior levels because of differences in job responsibilities.

Senior AI/ML engineers in product companies are primarily responsible for systems that impact customer experience, revenue, operational efficiency, and scalability. In IT companies, senior professionals at the same stage focus on management, delivery, and consulting.

AI/ML Engineer Salary by City in India

Different Indian cities offer different packages to AI/ML engineers based on several factors, such as cost of living and competition (more companies mean more competitive packages).

Bengaluru

Bengaluru is one of the most competitive markets for AI/ML engineers. Depending on experience, skills, certifications, and exposure to tech, professionals can demand anything between INR 15.7 LPA – INR 17.4 LPA on average:

The city has the highest concentration of product companies, global tech organizations, fintech, and ecommerce companies.
Professionals with specialized ML skills can seek highly rewarding opportunities here.
Compensation may vary significantly between larger IT and product companies, and smaller startups.

Hyderabad

Hyderabad remains one of the strongest emerging players in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Professionals across multinational companies, established data-driven businesses, and startups can expect to earn average salaries ranging from INR 15.4 LPA – INR 17 LPA:

The city’s tech campuses have created strong demand for AI and ML professionals in recent years.
Find opportunities in software, healthcare, cloud computing, enterprise tech, and FinTech.
Candidates specializing in MLOps, cloud AI, data science, and Gen AI can pursue lucrative opportunities.

Mumbai

Professionals seeking opportunities across diverse tech and business ecosystems can explore career prospects in Mumbai. Expect an annual average salary worth INR 14.2 LPA – INR 16.8 LPA:

Candidates with exposure to specialized financial technology roles can expect significant career growth.
AI expertise and domain knowledge are other important salary drivers.
Compensation may vary with experience and employer.

Delhi NCR/Gurugram

The Delhi NCR area, especially Noida and Gurugram, is home to many consulting organizations, tech companies, fintech firms, and e-commerce businesses. The average AI/ML engineer’s salary range is INR 11.2 LPA – INR 13.4 LPA:

Explore opportunities in diverse industries such as fintech, e-commerce, retail, SaaS, healthcare, and consumer technology.
Gurugram’s corporate and startup ecosystem provides opportunities across both applied AI and engineering roles.
Combine AI expertise with business knowledge for significant career advancement.

Pune

Pune’s tech and engineering ecosystem is largely supported by its automotive, tech, manufacturing, and software businesses. AI/ML engineers can earn INR 13.8 LPA – INR 15.2 LPA on average here:

Find opportunities across diverse areas such as technology, automation, software development, and analytics.
Besides Bengaluru, Pune offers one of the strongest engineering markets for professionals.
Specialization can attract higher packages.

Chennai

AI/ML professionals can explore lucrative opportunities in Chennai’s manufacturing, automotive, engineering, healthcare, and IT industries. The average salary ranges between INR 7.4 LPA – INR 9.7 LPA:

Skills like computer vision, analytics, predictive maintenance, and intelligent business systems attract higher packages.
You can explore opportunities across both industry-specific companies and big tech companies.
Compensation varies significantly with experience and specialization.

Remote AI/ML Roles

Landing remote roles, especially in global companies can get you the highest average salary, often ranging between INR 9 LPA – INR 22 LPA (approx). However, while global roles promise the highest pay, they also involve other considerations, such as:

Employment structures
Time zones
Specific hiring requirements

Source: Glassdoor

AI/ML Salary by Industry in India

The average salary varies significantly by industry. FinTech and healthcare, for instance, are two of the higher-paying industries.

Fintech / BFSI

AI/ML engineers working in banks, insurance, lending, and fintech companies can earn an average salary ranging between INR 17.4 LPA – INR 25 LPA:

Typical job responsibilities include:

Fraud detection
Customer segmentation
Risk assessment

E-Commerce / Internet

AI/ML engineers working in the e-commerce or internet industry handle responsibilities that significantly impact business outcomes. The average salary ranges from INR 15.1 LPA – INR 18.6 LPA:

A few of the major job responsibilities are:

Dynamic Pricing
Demand Forecasting
Recommendations

Healthcare/Pharma

AI/ML professionals in the healthcare or pharmaceutical industry typically ensure the accuracy, privacy, validation, and reliability of complex datasets. They earn around INR 15 LPA – INR 21.8 LPA on average:

A few important job responsibilities are:

Diagnostics support
Patient analytics
Drug discovery

EdTech and Manufacturing

Both the EdTech and Manufacturing industries are adopting AI rapidly to enhance diverse capabilities. AI/ML engineers in these industries can earn roughly INR 13.3 LPA – INR 18.4 LPA.

Job responsibilities in the EdTech Industry include:

Personalized Learning
Recommendation Systems
Content Generation

Manufacturing Industry:

Quality inspection
Predictive Analysis
Supply Chain Optimization

Which industry offers the fastest salary growth for AI/ML professionals?

Though FinTech and Healthcare remain two of the highest-paying industries for AI/ML engineers, professionals can also see significant growth in the internet industry if they demonstrate skills that directly impact business outcomes.

Source: AmbitionBox

How to Increase Your AI/ML Salary

Some of the top ways to increase your earning potential in the AI/ML arena include:

Building strong tech fundamentals, including Python, statistics, and MySQL
Focusing on strong specializations like NLP, ML, MLOps, and computer vision
Creating a strong portfolio

Top AI/ML Skills That Command the Highest Salaries

Enroll in the Master of Computer Applications from Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ) offered on the Online Manipal platform to learn top skills that can help you earn high salaries in the AI/ML domain. Categorical Data Analysis, Linear Models, and Cryptography are just a few of the skills the program offers to learners aspiring to build a career in India’s evolving AI and ML landscape.

Read our complete blog written on Top AI skills to learn in 2026 that employers value the most

Can a Degree or Course Help You Earn More in AI & ML?

A degree course can definitely provide a structured AI/ML learning pathway. However, make sure you combine your certifications/degrees with the necessary tech skills, domain know-how, and practical experience to improve your earning potential.

Also, Read Complete Details on What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Meaning, Types, Applications, Careers & Future