The Survey Sparking Concern
A July 2026 survey by the anonymous professional platform Blind has sent ripples through India's tech community. It found that 66% of professionals in artificial intelligence and machine learning roles anticipate layoffs or significant headcount reductions
in their teams within the next three to six months. The survey, which included 1,552 India-based professionals, places AI and ML workers nearly on par with sales and marketing staff (68%) in their concern over job security. This sentiment is not necessarily driven by formal announcements, but by signals like hiring freezes and budget cuts, suggesting a cautious mood is settling over a sector once seen as immune to downturns.
Why the Anxiety in a Booming Field?
The irony is stark: the architects of the AI revolution now fear for their own jobs. This anxiety isn't baseless. As AI technology matures, it begins to automate some of the routine tasks involved in its own development and maintenance. Furthermore, after a period of aggressive hiring, some companies are now focusing on efficiency and cost optimisation, leading to workforce restructuring. This creates a paradoxical situation where the very tools these professionals build contribute to a shifting job landscape. The fear isn't just about AI replacing other jobs; it's about the roles within AI itself evolving faster than ever, making some current skill sets redundant if not continuously updated.
The Other Side of the Coin: A Hiring Boom
However, the story of AI and jobs in India is not one of simple decline. Recent data from Nomura suggests that AI is currently creating more jobs than it eliminates. Between 2022 and August 2026, India saw approximately 83,100 AI-related hires, more than double the 31,921 job losses linked to AI-driven changes. This points to a two-track job market. While some roles, particularly at the entry-level, are being automated by tools like chatbots, there is a simultaneous hiring surge for experienced professionals and those with specific, high-demand skills. The country saw the highest year-over-year growth in AI hiring globally, according to a 2025 Stanford University report. The problem, therefore, seems to be less about a lack of jobs and more about a severe skills mismatch.
From Job Loss to Job Transformation
The emerging consensus is that AI is a job transformer, not just a job destroyer. The skills required for AI jobs are changing rapidly, with a greater emphasis on strategic thinking, leadership, and creativity—skills that complement AI rather than compete with it. Companies are desperately searching for talent in areas like AI governance, model evaluation, prompt engineering, and AI systems integration. This has created a significant talent gap, with one NASSCOM report projecting a shortfall of over a million AI professionals by 2026 if upskilling isn't accelerated. For the individual worker, this means the era of stable, long-term roles is giving way to a new reality defined by continuous learning and adaptation. The challenge isn't just to get an AI job, but to stay relevant in a field that is constantly reinventing itself.
