Hiring: AI and data first

Indian companies are adding tech jobs selectively, with hiring shifting toward artificial intelligence and data work instead of broad budget expansion. (business-standard.com) Persistent Systems chief executive Sandeep Kalra told Business Standard that client tech budgets are set for only modest growth, with spending aimed at artificial intelligence, data readiness and “high-impact” digital projects. Persistent reported $1.654 billion in revenue for the year ended March 31, 2026, up 17.4% year on year, and said it is still targeting $2 billion by fiscal 2027. (business-standard.com) (persistent.com) That caution is showing up in job demand. The Economic Times reported in April 2025 that artificial intelligence roles in Indian information technology could grow 35% to 45% in fiscal 2026 even as overall hiring stayed restrained, with demand centered on machine learning engineers, generative artificial intelligence developers and consultants. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) “Data readiness” means getting company data clean, connected and usable before artificial intelligence tools can do much with it. Persistent has been pitching that work to clients too, and the company says its artificial intelligence-led strategy helped lift fourth-quarter revenue to $436 million and order bookings to $600.8 million. (business-standard.com) (persistent.com) That points hiring toward practical roles rather than headline-heavy “AI” titles. Jobs that can pull data with Structured Query Language, clean it in Excel or Python, and turn it into dashboards are closer to current employer demand than open-ended experimentation. (indeed.com) (naukri.com) Sports employers fit that pattern because many teams, leagues and vendors need reporting before they need advanced models. Job listings in India for sports data analysts and sports analytics roles were live this week, while broader listings for analytics, Structured Query Language and dashboard-heavy roles ran into the tens of thousands across the market. (glassdoor.co.in) (jobted.in) (shine.com) Persistent is also using artificial intelligence to change how work gets delivered. In a January interview with CNBC-TV18, Kalra said the company’s internal platforms were improving productivity across software development and helping it deliver projects with fewer people, a sign that automation can raise demand for narrower specialist roles even when total hiring does not surge. (cnbctv18.com) The near-term signal for job seekers is narrower than a general “learn AI” message. Employers spending carefully are still paying for people who can make messy data usable, build repeatable reports and show business teams what is happening in numbers they can act on. (business-standard.com) (indeed.com)