AI governance, prompt engineering and GenAI emerge as priority tech skills in India: Randstad Digital report

India’s technology job market is undergoing a structural shift, driven by rising demand for AI governance, generative AI, and cybersecurity skills, alongside the growing importance of tier-2 cities as digital talent hubs. These trends are highlighted in the Randstad Digital Technology Skills Insights Report: India, which analyses the country’s evolving technology skills landscape.

The report notes that while foundational skills such as Java, Salesforce and Agile methodologies still account for nearly one-third of IT roles, hiring momentum is increasingly shifting towards AI-enabled, governance-focused and security-led functions. Demand for AI and machine learning engineers, data scientists and AI governance specialists is expected to accelerate through 2026. At the same time, cybersecurity hiring is being reshaped by AI-driven threats, creating demand for roles such as forensic analysts, ethical hackers, AI security specialists and incident response professionals.

Three layers of AI maturity shaping skills demand

The study identifies three broad layers of AI maturity—Assisted, Augmented and Autonomous Intelligence—each requiring distinct capabilities:

• AI governance and ethics: Organisations are increasing hiring for professionals focused on AI governance, ethics and compliance to address concerns around data integrity, algorithmic bias and regulatory alignment.
• Prompt engineering and generative AI: Skills related to large language model orchestration, prompt engineering and human–AI interaction are seeing double-digit growth, reflecting the need to ensure AI systems remain accurate, secure and context-aware.
• Cybersecurity and Cloud FinOps: Cybersecurity is evolving into a more data-driven discipline as enterprises respond to AI-enabled threats. Demand is rising for security engineers, cloud security architects and AI risk analysts. In parallel, cloud FinOps skills are gaining traction as organisations seek better cost control across AI-intensive cloud environments.

A shifting geography of digital talent

The report suggests that India’s digital workforce is no longer concentrated solely in metropolitan centres. While tier-1 cities continue to dominate in scale, tier-2 locations are emerging as important centres for specialised and next-generation skills.

Bengaluru continues to lead, accounting for nearly 36% of demand for advanced roles in AI/ML engineering, data science, cloud architecture and cybersecurity, followed by Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai. However, cities such as Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur and Kochi are seeing increased hiring activity for emerging and niche technology roles.

According to the report, this trend points towards a more distributed, multi-city talent ecosystem, with tier-2 markets expected to play a strategic role in India’s digital growth over the next decade.

Milind Shah, Managing Director, Randstad Digital India, said the findings reflect a broader redefinition of work. He noted that by 2026, AI and human–machine collaboration will increasingly make every role technology-driven, requiring professionals who can not only build AI systems but also govern and secure them responsibly.