AI-related skills now appear in 15.4% of technology job descriptions posted in India, up from just 0.9% in 2020 — a roughly 17-fold increase over six years, according to the Naukri World AI Day Report 2026, titled "AI at Work: From Adoption to Readiness." The report, based on an analysis of over 300,000 job descriptions and insights from nearly 27,000 professionals across more than 80 industries and 15-plus cities, gives one of the clearer India-specific pictures yet of how deeply AI expectations have moved into mainstream hiring, not just specialist AI roles.

The shift isn't confined to tech postings either. Mentions of AI-related skills in non-technology job descriptions rose from 0.26% in 2020 to 1.59% in 2026 — nearly six-fold growth, smaller in absolute terms but notable because it shows the expectation spreading into functions like marketing, operations, and finance that historically had little to do with AI tooling.

Why this matters more than a simple headcount number

Plenty of reports track how many "AI jobs" exist. This one tracks something arguably more useful for most job seekers: how often AI-related competence is now an expected line item in roles that aren't AI jobs at all. A data analyst posting that once asked only for SQL and Excel is increasingly likely to also mention familiarity with AI-assisted analytics tools. A marketing role may now list prompt-writing or AI content tools as a plus, if not a requirement. The practical implication is that treating AI fluency as optional, even outside a core tech role, is becoming a weaker bet with each hiring cycle.

The report also found that professionals with AI skills earn higher median salaries than peers without them, across both IT and non-IT roles, though the coverage doesn't specify the exact size of that premium.

What to actually do with this

• If you're in a technical role: even a working knowledge of how AI tools fit into your specific workflow — not deep machine learning expertise — is increasingly treated as baseline literacy rather than a differentiator.
• If you're in a non-technical function: the 1.59% figure is small today, but it's the fastest-growing segment in the report. Getting comfortable with AI tools relevant to your function now is cheaper than catching up once it becomes an explicit requirement.
• On your resume: list specific tools and what you did with them, rather than a vague "AI-proficient" line. Recruiters scanning hundreds of postings a day respond to concrete evidence, not buzzwords.

Read more on the findings in this coverage of the Naukri report.