In 2024, these roles were either experimental, niche, or bundled into other job descriptions. By 2025, they have become clearly defined, high-paying positions, driven by artificial intelligence, climate shocks, regulatory changes, and shifts in how people learn and work. Many of them now offer salaries starting at Rs. 1 lakh per month or more, especially in urban India and global-facing roles.
What’s striking is not just the pay but how quickly these careers emerged.
AI ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE SPECIALIST
Until early 2024, concerns around AI bias, copyright violations, and data misuse were largely academic. That changed rapidly as governments and companies began enforcing AI governance frameworks.
AI Ethics and Governance Specialists now work with legal, tech, and product teams to ensure AI systems comply with data protection laws, reduce algorithmic bias, and offer transparency in automated decisions.
- Who’s hiring: Tech companies, banks, healthcare platforms, and consulting firms
- Pay range (India): Rs 1.5-3 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Law, public policy, computer science, data ethics
This role became mainstream only after AI regulations and enterprise risk frameworks gained teeth in late 2024.
CLIMATE RISK ANALYST
Climate change stopped being a sustainability issue and became a financial risk in 2024, following extreme heatwaves, floods, and supply-chain disruptions across India.
Climate Risk Analysts assess how climate events impact real estate, infrastructure, insurance, agriculture, and logistics. Their insights now directly influence lending decisions, insurance premiums, and urban planning.
- Who’s hiring: Insurance companies, infrastructure firms, ESG consultancies, banks
- Pay range: Rs 1-1.5 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Environmental science, economics, data analysis
In 2025, this role is no longer optional-it is built into corporate risk teams.
AI PRODUCT MANAGER
Product managers existed earlier, but AI-specific product management emerged as a distinct role only after generative AI tools entered core business workflows.
AI Product Managers bridge the gap between engineers, data scientists, and business leaders. They decide how AI models are deployed, monitored, and improved-while balancing performance, ethics, and cost.
- Who’s hiring: SaaS firms, fintechs, enterprise tech companies
- Pay range: Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Engineering, product management, analytics
This role expanded sharply in 2024-25 as companies moved from AI pilots to full-scale deployment.
Learning Experience Designer (AI-Driven)
The collapse of the “recorded video” edtech model forced companies and universities to rethink learning. Learning Experience Designers now create adaptive, AI-powered learning journeys that personalise content while retaining human mentoring.
This role blends instructional design, behavioural science, and technology.
- Who’s hiring: Universities, corporate L&D teams, upskilling platforms
- Pay range: Rs 1-1.6 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Education, psychology, UX, instructional design
It gained prominence only after learner fatigue and low completion rates became impossible to ignore in 2024.
PROMPT ENGINEER (ENTERPRISE CONTEXT)
Prompt engineering existed earlier as an informal skill. In 2025, it has become a structured enterprise role focused on building prompt libraries, testing AI outputs, and ensuring accuracy, safety, and repeatability.
Large organisations now treat prompts like code-versioned, audited, and secured.
- Who’s hiring: Tech companies, consulting firms, large enterprises
- Pay range: Rs 1-1.8 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Engineering, content strategy, data analysis
The role matured only after companies realised poor prompts could lead to costly errors.
VERNACULAR UX DESIGNER
As India’s next half-billion internet users came online, English-first design proved inadequate. Vernacular UX Designers specialise in building digital products for users who think, read, and transact in Indian languages.
This role requires cultural understanding, language sensitivity, and UX expertise.
- Who’s hiring: Fintech, govtech, agritech platforms
- Pay range: Rs 1-1.4 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Design, linguistics, social sciences
Demand surged in 2024 as platforms expanded aggressively into Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets.
CYBERSECURITY THREAT INTELLIGENCE ANALYST
With AI-driven cyberattacks increasing, cybersecurity teams now rely on analysts who track emerging threats, ransomware patterns, and geopolitical cyber risks in real time.
This role goes beyond IT support-it feeds into national security, finance, and critical infrastructure.
- Who’s hiring: Banks, IT services firms, global enterprises
- Pay range: Rs 1-2 lakh per month
- Backgrounds: Computer science, cybersecurity, data analytics
The role scaled rapidly after a spike in AI-enabled cybercrime in 2024.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS
The common thread across these jobs is clear: they didn’t emerge from new degrees but from new problems. In 2025, careers are forming at the intersection of technology, policy, climate, and human behaviour.
For students and working professionals alike, the message is blunt-future-proof careers will belong to those who adapt faster than syllabi can change.