Job platform Naukri's AI Skills Report has found that 77 per cent of Indian professionals use AI in their daily work, with the gap in earnings between AI-skilled and non-AI-skilled workers becoming increasingly visible across both technology and non-technology roles.
According to the report, professionals with AI skills earn higher median salaries than peers without them, spanning IT and non-IT functions alike. AI-enabled roles have also recorded stronger salary growth over a multi-year period, reinforcing the business value employers now place on AI expertise.
The salary advantage is not confined to senior levels. Freshers entering AI roles are seeing significant pay premiums, while mid-career and experienced professionals with AI capabilities are also commanding higher compensation than counterparts in traditional roles.
Demand for AI talent is expanding well beyond core technology sectors. Hiring for AI-related roles has grown in banking, BPO, accounting, and other non-tech industries, suggesting that AI fluency is becoming a baseline expectation rather than a specialist credential.
For working professionals, the report's implications are direct: AI skills are increasingly functioning as a salary multiplier. Those who have not yet adopted AI tools or built relevant skills risk falling behind peers who have, regardless of experience level or sector.
The findings land at a time when employer demand for AI capabilities in job descriptions has risen sharply, and recruiters are directing higher salary budgets toward candidates who can demonstrate applied AI knowledge.
