India’s technology workforce is entering a decisive new phase, shaped by a surge in artificial intelligence governance roles, accelerated cybersecurity hiring and the rapid rise of tier-2 cities as emerging digital talent engines, according to the Randstad Digital Technology Skills Insights Report: India.
The data-rich study shows that while foundational skills such as Java, Salesforce and Agile continue to account for nearly one third of information technology roles, the workforce is steadily moving towards high-impact, AI-enabled and governance-focused functions. Demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning engineers, data scientists and AI governance specialists is expected to rise sharply in 2026.
Cybersecurity is also undergoing a significant reset as AI-driven threats force enterprises to rebuild security operations. This shift is creating new opportunities for forensic analysts, AI security experts, ethical hackers and incident responders. The report outlines three distinct layers of AI maturity — assisted, augmented and autonomous intelligence — each requiring different skill sets. Demand is accelerating for professionals specialising in AI governance, ethics and compliance, as organisations seek to manage data integrity, algorithmic bias and evolving regulatory frameworks.
At the same time, skills linked to prompt engineering and generative AI, including large language model orchestration and human–AI interaction, are witnessing double-digit growth to ensure AI systems remain accurate, secure and context-aware. Cybersecurity has increasingly become a data science-led discipline, with rising demand for security engineers, cloud security architects and AI risk analysts. Parallelly, cloud financial operations expertise is gaining prominence as enterprises look to optimise cloud spending within AI-enabled infrastructures.
“We are witnessing the most profound redefinition of work in a generation,” said Randstad Digital India Managing Director Milind Shah. “By 2026, ubiquitous AI and deeper human–machine collaboration will make every role a technology role. AI is no longer a support technology; it is the strategic foundation of business. Organisations today need professionals who can not only build AI systems but also govern and secure them responsibly, balancing innovation with ethics, compliance and trust.”
The report also notes that India’s digital talent landscape is no longer defined solely by its metropolitan centres. While tier-1 cities continue to lead in scale, tier-2 hubs are emerging as concentrated centres for next-generation capabilities. Bengaluru, accounting for 35.88 per cent of demand, along with Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai, continues to dominate roles in AI and machine learning engineering, advanced data science, cloud architecture and cybersecurity.
However, the study highlights a decisive rise in tier-2 cities such as Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur and Kochi, which are increasingly attracting specialised and emerging technology roles. These shifts indicate that India’s next decade of digital growth will be driven by a distributed, multi-city talent ecosystem, with tier-2 markets playing a far more strategic role in innovation and capability building.