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Report: State of Artificial Intelligence in India – 2020

Report: State of Artificial Intelligence in India – 2020

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a field of Data Science that trains computers to learn from experience, adjust to inputs, and perform tasks of certain cognitive levels. Over the last few years, AI has emerged as a significant data science function and, by utilizing advanced algorithms and computing power, AI is transforming the functional, operational, and strategic landscape of various business domains.

AI algorithms are designed to make decisions, often using real-time data. Using sensors, digital data, and even remote inputs, AI algorithms combine information from a variety of different sources, analyze the data instantly, and act on the insights derived from the data.

Most AI technologies – from advanced recommendation engines to self-driving cars – rely on diverse deep learning models. By utilizing these complex models, AI professionals are able to train computers to accomplish specific tasks by recognizing patterns in the data.

Analytics India Magazine (AIM), in association with Jigsaw Academy, has developed this study on the Artificial Intelligence market to understand the developments of the AI market in India, covering the market in terms of Industry and Company Type.  Moreover, the study delves into the market size of the different categories of AI and Analytics startups / boutique firms.

Here is our last year’s study.

Overview of the Artificial Intelligence Market in India

As a part of the broad Data Science domain, the Artificial Intelligence technology function has so far been classified as an emerging technology segment. Moreover, the AI market in India has, till now, been dominated by the MNC Technology and the GIC or Captive firms. Domestic firms, Indian startups, and even International Technology startups across various sectors have, so far, not made a significant investment, in terms of operations and scale, in the Indian AI market. Additionally, IT services and Boutique AI & Analytics firms had not, till a couple of years ago, developed full-fledged AI offerings in India for their clients.

The AI market has, however, started to transform. As revealed in the Computer Vision Market study and the AI and Analytics start-up investment study, the Data Science space in India, specifically the AI function, is evolving into an innovative enterprise segment. MNC Technology, Domestic, Advanced Engineering, Healthcare, and Semi-conductor firms, to name a few,are now developing advanced Artificial Intelligence capabilities in India and providing top-notch AI services to firms across various industries and geographies.

AIMResearch has developed this study to research the development and scope of the AI market in India.

The AI market has been analyzed on the basis of various segments, including the sector the enterprises fall under and the type of companies.

AIMResearch has gone a step further to determine the market size of the Boutique AI and Analytics firms providing specialized AI services. These include the following types of firms:

  • End-to-end Analytics Products & Services
  • Artificial Intelligence / Computer Vision
  • IoT / Logistics
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Robotics

As covered in the AIMResearch Emerging Technologies report, the AI function in India has felt the effects of the recessionary environment, which has been caused by the unfortunate Covid pandemic. While the effects of the downturn have resulted in some contraction in the overall addressable AI market and in AI jobs, the India AI market is still extremely resilient – the contraction in AI salaries and advertised open jobs are all expected to recover over the next quarter or so and register marginal year-on-year growth in 2020-2021 over the corresponding 2019-2020 figures.

Scope and Methodology of Report

The scope of the report covers the total addressable market in India within the Artificial Intelligence domain. The companies and enterprises considered cover the firms that have operations based in India, regardless of the geography and/or the clients the firms are servicing.

The firms include Indian corporations (domestic conglomerates and domestic IT firms), MNC firms (including Technology and Engineering firms), Hi-tech Electronic / Chip & Semiconductor firms, Communications & Media enterprises, Banking & Financial (Public Sector, Private Sector, and Captives) firms, Energy, Industrial, Mobile Payments (Fintech), eCommerce, and Healthcare firms.

The market size has been categorized by Company Type and Industries or Sectors. The research also studies the salaries of AI personnel and the salaries advertised for AI open jobs.

The reference period of the data in the report is July – August 2020. The source of the data in this report includes all secondary sources in the public domain and some primary sources as well through discussions with hiring managers and domain leaders.

Market value figures are represented in USD while salary figures are represented in INR across the research report.

Key Highlights

  • The Indian Artificial Intelligence market is valued at $6.4 Bn as of July – August 2020. As mentioned, this covers the revenues from all AI operations originating from India regardless of stakeholder or client type, type of firm providing AI services, and geography of client.
  • The AI market share and size in relation to the Types of Companies is the highest across the broad MNC IT / Technology / Electronic category, which includes High-end Software and Hardware technology, IT Services, Semi-conductor, and Electronics firms. The combined market share is 36.2%
  • The market size by Industries or Sectors is the highest across the IT Services sector, followed by the Technology sector (including Software and Hardware firms), with a market share of 41.1% and 23.3% respectively.
  • Apart from the IT and Technology sectors, the BFSI sector has a market share of AI services at 9.6%.
  • There are close to 91000 Artificial Intelligence personnel working across enterprises in India, with a median salary of INR 14.7 Lakhs.
  • The highest median salaries are drawn by AI professionals in Mumbai, at INR 16.7 Lakhs.
  • Close to 16500 open positions related to AI are currently available to be filled in India, as of July 2020. Bengaluru, just as it does for other Data Science and IT services roles, tops the location for the highest proportion of open jobs.

Artificial Intelligence Market Size by Company Type

The Artificial Intelligence market size in India covers the companies providing Artificial Intelligence services from the India geography, regardless of the geographical market and type of industry the services are provided to. The Indian Artificial Intelligence market has been valued at $6.4 Bn.

MNC IT | Technology | Semi-conductor | Electronics

In terms of Company Type, the broad based MNC IT, Technology, and Electronics category has the highest share of the AI market at 36.2% in percentage share, and $2314.3Mn in terms of Market Value. The large share of this category is logical given the broad-based firms that fall under this category, all which have significant AI operations in India. Accenture has the largest AI operations base in India across the broad MNC IT and Tech category.

The enterprises that fall under this category include:

  • MNC IT Services firms, such as Accenture, IBM, and Capgemini, among others, which provide AI services, as part of the larger Analytics & Digital service offerings, to their international and domestic clients.
  • Software Technology firms, such as Microsoft, Google, SAP, Oracle and AWS, among others – Microsoft has the largest AI operations in India across this sub-category. These firms are pioneering AI across all technology services, including Intelligent cloud, AI-as-a-service, and Edge Computing (developed along with Network & Telecom firms).
  • MNC Hardware Technology, Networking Equipment, and MNC Telecom firms, including Cisco, Juniper, Nokia, Verizon, and AT&T, among others. The AI technologies, adopted by these firms, are pioneering next generation 5G Networks (developed along with the Electronic and Semi-conductor firms), Edge Computing, and overall Connectivity / IoT platforms. 5G / Telecom network equipment leader, Ericsson, has the largest AI operations in this sub-category.
  • Electronics and High-end Semi-conductor firms, such as Samsung, Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD among others, which develop AI technologies for Smart Phones, Processing Units, Chips, Memory Devices, Servers, Data Centres, and other sensor-driven technologies. This includesAI technologies for Camera sensors, Facial Recognition devices, Driverless vehicles, Automation, and Cloud and IoT platforms. Samsung and Intel have the largest contribution in this sub-category.

The scope and range of firms across the MNC Tech category exemplifies the depth of the AI market in India across various specializations, including Intelligent Cloud, Edge Computing, IoT, and 5G Networks, to name a few. Most of the firms under this category are operating specialized AI Research centres in India that service the global AI and Data Science initiatives and capabilities of these firms.

Domestic IT

The broad MNC Tech company type is followed by the Domestic IT company type, which has a 25.4% AI market share at a value of $1619.3 Mn.  This category covers the Domestic IT and ITES firms, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, among others. Just like the MNC IT Services firms, these firms provide AI services within the broader Analytics and Digital offerings to international and domestic clients.  Within this category, TCS has the highest AI market share contribution across all Domestic IT and ITES companies, just as it had in the CV market.


The Domestic IT category is followed by the broad category of Captive firms. The Captive category has an 8.8% AI market share at a value of 564.1 Mn. This category includes both Captive Banking and Healthcare companies. The MNC Banking and Pharma & Healthcare companies that have Global In-house Operations (GIC) in India constitute this category. AIMResearch has further broken-down this category in the sub-section below. JP Morgan Chase has the highest market share contribution across the Captive category.

Domestic Firms

The Captive company type is followed by the category of Domestic firms. This category of firms, which are headquartered in India, includes the Telecom, Oil and Gas, Pharma, Private Banks, Automotive, and Cross-sector conglomerates. The Domestic firms have a collective AI market share of 7.1% at a market value of 451.9 Mn. The Reliance group has the largest market share contribution across this category, with AI operations across its Oil & Gas, Retail, Jio Infocomm, and other segments. Other firms in this category include industry leaders like Airtel, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Communications, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, and the Aditya Birla Group.

The market value of the AI services of Domestic firms is indicative of the focus of organizations to leverage Data Science for Operational Efficiency, Sales and Marketing, Customer acquisition, and overall growth, all while reducing time to market for products and services.

AIMResearch has separately assessed the market contribution of Indian PSU firms and Government Research institutes.

MNC Engineering

The MNC Engineering company type follows the category of Domestic firms. The MNC Engineering category has a market contribution of $371.6 Mn, with a market share of 5.8%. This category includes Multinational Engineering, Industrial, and Automotive firms. These companies include, Bosch, Siemens, Honeywell, ABB, GE, Hitachi, Delphi, Volvo, Ford, and GM, among others, that incorporate AI technologies across their high-end industrial, automation, IoT, and automotive products and services.

These includeMachine-to-Machine platforms, Optical sensors, Industrial devices, IoT sensors, Driverless technologies, and other Machine-based technologies. Bosch and GE have the highest market shares in this category. The range of companies in this category highlights the strength of the AI market in India across capabilities, talent, skills, and technology infrastructure.


The category of eCommerce company follows the MNC Engineering category, with a 4.8% market share and $ 305.1 Mn market value. The companies represented in this category include Flipkart and Amazon, which service the eCommerce and Retail markets through the AI services; Tesco, Target, and Walmart, which solely service the AI segments of their International eCommerce divisions; and Travel & Hospitality portals that facilitate tickets and hotel bookings.

AI capabilities are leveraged across almost all functions eCommerce. From Product Targeting, Market Segmentation, Pricing, Digital Platforms, Quality, Merchandise Classification, and Shipping & Logistics. AI and Machine Learning applications are utilized across the entire value chain of eCommerce and Retail; the AI market within the eCommerce category has the potential to grow to $2.75 Bn within the next decade.

Boutique AI & Analytics

The eCommerce company type is followed by the broad category of Boutique Analytics & AI firms, which have a market share of 3.4%, at a market value of $215.1 Mn. This category of largely domestic firms includes Analytics firms that provide AI services as part of the larger Analytics offering, and specialized AI firms that utilize AI, Machine Learning, and Robotics services as part of their Data Science offerings. The former companies include Ugam, Fractal Analytics, Automation Anywhere, Tiger Analytics, and MuSigma, among others. While the latter companies include such specialized AI & Robotics firms as Cellstrat, Wobot Intelligence, Mad Street Den, AgNext, Niramai Health, and Sigtuple, among others.

PSU & Government Research

The broad category of Public Sector Undertaking firms and Government Research Institutes are next in the list with a market share of 3.4% at a market value of $214.4 Mn. The PSU firms include the Maharatna corporations of ONGC, Indian Oil, HPCL, and BPCL to name a few. The institutes include Government-funded Scientific Research & Development organizations, including DRDO, ISRO and HAL.

These organizations utilize AI technologies and Machine Learning models across the Defence, Space, and Aeronautics Research & Development segments respectively. The research institutes also include engineering and technology research institutions, such as IISc and IITs. Many of these institutes have in-house AI incubation units, providing consulting and mentoring services to start-up AI firms and AI services to other science and technology institutions (both public and private). The Education Research Institutes and DRDO have the maximum contribution across this category.


The market share of Consulting firms is next in the list at 2.1 % at a market value of $ 132.6 Mn. The AI market of these firms is restricted to specialized AI services as part of the broader IT consulting services that some of these firms provide their clients.

MNC Other

The remaining international corporations, classified as MNC Other, including MNC FMCG and Automotive firms, are next in the list. This category, in terms of AI market size and value, has a 1.8% market share and $111.9 Mn market value.

Aggregator Startups

Aggregator Startups complete the list of the type or category of firms. These startups include Zomato, Ola, and Swiggy, which utilize AI to expand their customer base. These firms utilize data models and analytics for customer acquisition, product curation, tracking, and recommendation engines. The AI contribution of this category of firms has a market value of $85.2 Mn and a market share of 1.3%.

The wide scale of companies that have set-up Artificial Intelligence operations in India indicates not just the promise that AI provides for the Indian market, but also the confidence that enterprises and organizations have in the AI capabilities of the Indian ecosystem and workforce.

AI Market Share of Captive Firms

The Artificial Intelligence Captive market covers MNC firms that have set-up GICs or Global In-house Centres, which handle all their non-core operations, including the Artificial Intelligence operations. These firms typically fall under one of two sectors – Banking and Healthcare.

The entire Captive market for AI in India is valued at $564.1 Mn.

The Captive Banking firms include Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and International Banks. These firms have their AI operations serviced from the India GIC for their global operations and have the majority share of the Captive market at 83.6%, at a market value of $471.5 Mn. The Captive Healthcare firms have a market share of 16.4%, at a market value of $92.6 Mn – the Captive healthcare sub-category includes healthcare, health insurance, and pharma companies.

JP Morgan Chase has the highest market share across the entire Captive category, including the Captive – Banking sub-category. The AI operations of HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Wells Fargo follow the AI operations of JP Morgan Chase in terms of market share size in the Captive – Banking sub-category.

UnitedHealth Group (including the healthcare and health insurance operations) and Novartis (Pharma operations) have the highest market share in the Captive – Healthcare sub-category.  

Artificial Intelligence Market Size by Sector / Industry

AIMResearch has analyzed the AI market by sector or industries.

The sector-wise distribution of AI services, covers:

  • Firms that are exclusively associated with a sector or industry – such as Flipkart with eCommerce
  • Firms within another segment, such as Boutique AI and Analytics, but provide exclusive services to a particular function within an industry – such as Mad Street Den providing Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence services to the Retail sector.

AI in IT Services

In terms of Sector or Industry, the broad-based IT services industry or sector has the highest share of the AI market at 41.4%, and $2625 Mn in market value.The contributors to the IT services’ sector market value include Domestic and MNC firms:

  • Domestic firms: TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies, to name a few.
  • MNC firms: Accenture, IBM, and Capgemini

The market size and market share highlight the impact of the IT services industry (both Domestic and MNC) on the AI offerings serviced from India. The AI services within the IT services sector typically fall within the broad Digital and Analytics segment – these services are provided as part of the larger IT consulting, delivery, and platform integration offerings of the IT companies.

TCS and Accenture are the largest contributors of market share in this industry category. This sector includes contribution from the Boutique AI & Analytics firms that provide AI services to domestic and international clients. These firms were referenced in the previous section and include Fractal Analytics, Ugam Solutions, AbsolutData, and LatentView Analytics, among others.

AI in Technology – Software & Hardware Technologies | Chip & Semi-conductors | Electronic Devices

The contribution from the Technology sector, which includes Software & Hardware technologies, follows the IT services sector. The contribution of the Technology sector covers a 23.3% market share and $1488 Mn market value. This sector covers Software, Cloud Computing, Semi-conductor, Database technologies, Server platforms, and Networking solutions, to name a few, technology segments. The companies contributing to this sector largely cover MNC firms, and include the following firms servicing various sub-verticals:

  • Software, and Cloud Computing: Microsoft, Google, Oracle, AWS, SAP, Adobe
  • Social Media: Facebook
  • Computer and Server Hardware: Dell, HP Enterprise, VMware
  • Network Hardware: Cisco, Juniper
  • Telecom Equipment: Ericsson, Nokia, Broadcom
  • Semi-conductors & High-End Electronics: Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Research, NXP, Texas Instruments, AMD
  • Medical Technology and Devices utilized for AI-driven medical diagnosis: Philips, GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, Carl Zeiss

The vast array of firms and sub-verticals demonstrates the level of contribution of this sector in the AI space. Most of the firms in have set-up exclusive Data Science Research Centres of Excellence that drive significant innovation for these firms in the area of AI.

The MNC firms across this sector are driving Research & Development in India to train AI models, which was, till now, carried out only in the regional hubs of these firms across US, Western Europe, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Finally, the advancements in AI across the Technology sector are spanning other sectors as well:

  • AI in Edge Computing across Cloud Computing and Telecom Service Provider firms
  • AI in 5G, Smart Homes, and Connected Devices across Telecom Equipment, Semi-conductor, and Telecom Service Provider firms
  • AI in IoT & Smart Cities across the Semi-conductor, Engineering & Industrials, Automotive, and Government enterprises


The contribution from the BFSI sector follows the Technology sector – the BFSI contribution is $615.3 Mn in market value and 9.6% in market share. The firms in the BFSI sector were one of the first to utilize Data Science services to derive insights on consumers.  The BFSI sector is now employing AI across various functions:

  • Digital Services to gain a competitive advantage, drive efficiencies, and improve customer experience
  • Robotics and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to enhance on-demand customer experience and satisfaction
  • Adoption of algorithms in Investments to increase portfolio returns and reduce risks, both for institutional and retail investors
  • AI-based financial management tools to deliver personalized financial management advice and alerts to customers
  • Smart transaction analysis programs and tools to detect fraud and money-laundering transactions

These examples are just a few of the instances in which AI delivers innovation across the ss areas of investments, financial advice, and overall BFSI operations.  The BFSI sector includes Domestic Private, PSU, and MNC Captive BFSI firms. These include ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra, and Aditya Birla Finance; JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Citibank, American Express, Barclays, Standard Chartered, and Nomura, to name a few.

AI in Engineering | Industrials | Automation

The Engineering and Industrial sector follows the BFSI sector. The contribution of this sector is $382.9 Mn in market value and 6% in market share. The Engineering and Industrial sector covers International and Domestic firms that integrate AI and Deep Science models in their Engineering, Manufacturing, and Automation services. AI is utilized in design, simulation, quality analysis, and maintenance:

  • AI-driven design and blueprinting enables the development of digital prototypes before the production phase
  • AI in conjunction with IoT sensors / platforms facilitates real-time predictive tool maintenance to reduce unplanned machine downtime
  • AI used in tooling and machine manufacturing detects the slightest of anomalies and can carry out real-time tracking and recall of defective equipment
  • AI in Infrastructure, combined with IoT and 5G connectivity, is facilitating the development of solutions for smart cities and smart utilities
  • AI, combined with navigation systems, robots, and drone systems, is used across defence, aviation, surveillance, topography mapping, and forestry and farm / crop management

The organizations across this sector include Bosch, Siemens, Honeywell, GE Engineering, ABB, and Johnson Controls, to name a few. These organizations also develop optical products for use in camera technology, security, and facial recognition. This sector includes Domestic companies utilizing and developing AI solutions, such as Larsen & Toubro Engineering, and Government-funded Defence and Science Enterprises, including DRDO, ISRO, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This sector also includes exclusive Boutique AI & Analytics firms that provide solutions for the Engineering and Industrials sectors, such as Netradyne, The Hi-Tech Robotic Systemz, and Wobot Intelligence.

AI in Retail – eCommerce | Big-Brand Retail | Retail Aggregation

The broad eCommerce and Retail sector (which includes the Retail Aggregation sub-sector) follows the Engineering and Industrials sector with a contribution of $317.8 Mn in market value and 5.0% in market share.  The contribution of AI across this broad sector is significant, considering the instances AI technologies are utilized and the scope of growth over the next decade:

  • AI is utilized across the entire supply-chain for the eCommerce and Retail sector, starting with merchandise procurement and classification, and quality, billing and payments, logistics tracking, delivery, and even managing and tracking customer feedback and complaints.
  • From a portal and platform perspective, AI is utilized in product recommendations for consumers, across the digital and online platforms – enhancing the shopping experience of customers, by pushing required product recommendations and suggestions to shoppers.
  • AI is utilized by Marketplace and Retail Aggregator firms serving as a conduit between Consumers and small-box retail stores, including kirana shops. Herein, AI is utilized across the supply-chain by the Aggregator firms.

The companies utilizing AI across this broad sector include:

  • Domestic eCommerce Players: Flipkart, Myntra
  • Domestic Retail Players: Trent Retail (Tata Group), Reliance Retail (incl Reliance Digital, AJIO, and Jio Mart), Aditya Birla Retail
  • International Retail and eCommerce Players / Operations: Amazon (India and International), Walmart Labs, Walmart Retail, Target, Tesco, Lowe’s
  • Marketplace and Retail Aggregators: BigBasket, Grofers, Olx
  • Boutique AI and Analytics: Firms, such as Mad Street Den, that provide AI services to the Retail sector

The potential for AI in the entire Retail sector, which includes eCommerce and Retail Aggregators, is tremendous. With the entry of new players in this space, such as JioMart, and the expansion of Hospitality and Food Aggregators, such as Swiggy and Zomato, into Retail Aggregation, AI services across the entire Retail sector (including eCommerce) in India are expected to value $5.25 Bn within the next decade. The growth will be driven by the shift to eCommerce for almost all the retail players, greater adoption of digital and online shopping by consumers, and a need to strategically and functionally deliver value to consumers and gain market share by the various firms and enterprises.

AI in Energy | Mining & Metals

The Retail sector is followed by the Energy | Mining & Metals sector that contributes 2.3% of market share and $145.9 Mn in terms of value. AI operations across this wide-ranging sector cover numerous industries and sub-verticals, across PSU, Domestic Conglomerates, and International firms, including:

  • Energy / Oil & Gas – Reliance, Shell, BPCL, IOCL
  • Steel and Metals – Tata Steel and JSW Steel

While the size of the AI operations of the Domestic conglomerates, especially Reliance Oil & Gas and Tata Steel, make up the majority of the market share, the scale of operations across the MNC firms is significant. Shell has the highest contribution of the MNC firms in this Energy | Mining & Metals sector.

AI in Telecom

The Energy | Mining & Metals vertical is followed by the Telecom sector, which contributes $138 Mn to the AI market, with a market share of 2.2%. The Telecom vertical includes MNC firms such as Verizon and AT&T thatare developing AI capabilities for use in IoT, Connected Devices, and other 5G connectivity solutions. The sector includes Domestic Telecom providers, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Airtel, and Tata Communications, that are also developing AI solutions for the 5G and existing 4G connectivity services. AI is adopted by the Telecom firms across the Telecom value-chain and various industry use cases:

  • Telecom Networks: Telecom firms are collaborating on AI in Core Networks with Network Equipment firms – Ericsson and Nokia
  • Edge Computing: AI in Telecom is adopted in Mobile Edge Computing and Network Virtualization. The telecom firms are collaborating on AI with technology firms, MS (Azure) and AWS (Wavelength), to name a few
  • Connectivity Solutions: AI in Telecom is adopted in Connected Cars, Smart Devices, Smart Homes, Private Networks, IoT Platforms, and Smart Cities
  • Consumer Plans and Customer Services: AI is adopted by Telecom firms to identify the best plans for consumers, and provide intelligent customer service through SMS, App, and Push Notifications

AI in Automotive

The Telecom vertical is followed by the Automotive sector, which contributes $133.9 Mn in terms of value and 2.1% in terms of market share. This sector includes automobile manufacturers that are developing in-house AI and CV solutions for driverless technologies, including AI-driven Sensor, Radar, Lidar, and Optical solutions. AI is also adopted by the Automobile firms for predictive maintenance, not just at factory floor and machinery equipment, but also for the vehicles and cars.  The firms that are utilizing AI for the Automotive segment are:

  • MNC Automotive firms: Hyundai, Ford, Volvo, and Honda
  • Domestic firms – Tata Motors (Jaguar / Land Rover), Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, TVS Motors
  • Automotive Navigation and Mapping Technologies firms: Here Technologies

AI in Education and Public Research

The Automotive sector is followed by the Education and Public Research sector, which contributes $126.7 Mn to the Indian AI market, with a market share of 2%. In terms of overall value, this sector is significant as it covers the prestigious IIT, IISc, and other engineering institutions. The market value covers the AI contribution across research, patents, AI consulting to government and private enterprises, and incubator firms supported by these institutions. The prestigious IIT institutes are the largest contributors of value in this sector.

AI in Pharma & Healthcare

The Research and Education sector is followed by the Pharma & Healthcare sector, with a contribution to the Indian AI market of $120.3 Mn and a 1.9% market share. While this sector is dominated by the Captive units of the MNC Pharma & Healthcare firms, including Novartis and UnitedHealth Group, the Indian pharma firms of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Sun Pharma, and Cipla, among others, provide a significant contribution to the AI market within the Pharma & Healthcare sector.

AI in Other Sectors

There are other sectors that contribute to the AI market in India. These sectors have a small but significant and steadily expanding market size and share. The following are the remaining sectors that contribute to the AI market:

  • Travel & Hospitality – The contribution to the AI market of this sector is $92.6 Mn in market size and 1.4% in market share. The combined sector includes platforms that enable ticket booking and hotel reservations, and aggregator apps that enable online food ordering and delivery. AI is used to connect the consumer with the service providers over an online or digital marketplace platform. The firms across this sector that are utilizing AI include Domestic firms – Zomato, Ola, Oyo, Makemytrip, and MNC firms – Expedia. AI is increasingly utilized to cut costs across this sector during this period of severe contraction in business and operations.
  • Digital Media – The contribution to the AI market of this sector is $73.9 Mn in market size and 1.2% in market share. The Digital media sector is adopting AI for targeted content and advertising across all platforms, including digital, online, and mobile. This sector includes Domestic and International partnerships across Content Production and Distribution, Advertising, and Digital Marketing. The AI market in this sector also includes Boutique Analytics and AI firms that develop AI solutions across Digital and Media platforms. WPP is the largest contributor to the AI market in this sector. Within this sector, the content distribution services include TV, Box Office, and Streaming (OTT) distribution:
    • Content: Star India (including Disney+ Hotstar), Sony Entertainment (including SonyLiv), Viacom Network18 (including Voot), Zee (including Zee5), among others
    • Advertising & Digital Marketing: WPP (all divisions and units), Nielsen
    • Boutique AI and Analytics firms: Uncanny Vision and Snap2Insights
  • FMCG: The contribution of the FMCG sector to the AI market in India is $55.2 Mn in market size and 0.9% in market share. This sector covers both Domestic and FMCG companies. Unilever is the largest contributor to this sector. Other contributors to the AI market include MNC firms such as Kraft, Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble (P&G), and Coca Cola, to name a few, and Domestic FMCG players, such as ITC.
  • Fintech: The contribution of the Fintech sector has been listed separately from the BFSI sector as the Fintech vertical is rapidly emerging as key adopter of AI and ML platforms and technologies. With an exponential increase in adoption in digital and online payments, especially after the lockdown caused by the pandemic, the contribution to the Indian AI market of the Fintech sector $54.9 Mn at just under 0.9%. While this may seem small as of now, it is expected to grow almost ten-fold in the in the next 5 years. The firms in the sector include the domestic fintech startups, PayTm, PhonePe, the MNC fintech players of Mastercard and Visa, and Boutique Analytics players as well.
  • Cross-Sector (including Agri-Tech): Other firms that contribute to the AI market across several sectors, including the Agri-tech sector, have a market share of 0.2% and a market size of $15.2 Mn. The Agri-Tech sector is dominated by start-ups that are providing AI services to the Agriculture vertical; these include AgNext and Intello Labs that are seeking to revolutionize the Agriculture space by combining AI, robotics and drone systems

Domestic Boutique Start-ups Artificial Intelligence Market Break-up

The Boutique Start-up company type / category has a market value of $215.1 Mn.

AIMResearch has further segmented this market on the basis of the Data Science services these firms offer:

  • Analytics Products & Services
  • Artificial Intelligence / Computer Vision
  • Robotics
  • IoT / Logistics AI
  • Natural Language Processing

The contribution of the Start-ups covers:

  • Market Value (in $ Mn) across Start-up categories
  • Market Share across Start-up Categories

Start-up Market Break-up

The Analytics Products and Services firms have the largest market contribution at $145.6 Mn, at a share of 67.7% across the Domestic Boutique Start-up space. These firms include firms that provide end-to-end analytics services, including Data Analytics and other Data Science services. The services provided by these firms depend on the requirement of the customer or the client, and some projects include development of exclusive AI technologies and platforms.  

The specialized Artificial Intelligence firms have a combined market value for AI services at $55.4 Mn and a share of 25.8% within the Boutique start-up space.

The contribution of the next segments of start-ups, is significantly lower – the Robotics firms have a market contribution of $6.0 Mn at a 2.8% share. These are followed by IoT / Logistics start-up firms that have a market contribution of $4.8 Mn and a share of 2.3% and the Natural Language Processing firms that have a market contribution of $3.2 Mn and a share of 1.5% within the Boutique Start-up space.

Salaries of Artificial Intelligence Personnel

AIMResearch has researched the salaries drawn by AI personnel and has provided the findings on the basis of

The median salary of Artificial Intelligence professionals is INR 14.7 Lakhs.

Artificial Intelligence is a specialized field and the median salary is higher than the median salary of the professionals across the Computer Vision domain and the highest salary across all Emerging Technologies. Nonetheless, the median salary across AI is a bit lower than expected, as the salaries have been researched at a time when the economy is facing a recessionary outlook, with many firms having temporarily reduced the salaries of employees till the recessionary environment persists.

Distribution of Personnel by Salary

The salary-wise distribution plot of personnel is not the typical curve or slope that is plotted for other Data Science functions. While the highest distribution of personnel is in the 3-6 Lakhs salary bracket, the overall salary curve is flatter.

The largest proportion of personnel is in the 3-6 Lakhs salary level at 25%. This is followed by the 6-10 Lakhs level that has 17.9 % of the professionals within this bracket. This is followed by the entry level 0-3 Lakhs category that has a proportion of 15.1% of the AI professionals drawing salaries within this bracket.

The mid-senior salary category of 15-25 Lakhs has a proportion of salaries at 14.2%. This illuminates the scale of development of the AI domain in India, as the proportion of people across this level is greater than the salaries of the middle category of 10-15 Lakhs, which is at 13.4%. The senior level salary bracket of 25-50 Lakhs has a proportion of personnel at 9.8%. Finally, the leadership brackets with salaries greater than 50 Lakhs have a combined proportion of 4.5% of the personnel, with a break-up of 2.2% in the 50-75 Lakhs bracket, 1.5% in 75-100 Lakhs bracket, and 0.8% in the 1 Crore + bracket.

Hence, almost 30% of the personnel across the AI domain have a salary greater than 15 Lakhs. This exemplifies the maturing nature and the of demand for experienced and qualified personnel across the AI domain.

City-wise Median Salary Levels

The City-wise Median salary levels reveal that Mumbai has the highest median salary for AI professionals at INR 16.7 Lakhs.

Mumbai is followed by Bengaluru and Delhi (NCR) which have closely similar salaries of INR 15 Lakhs and INR 14.9 Lakhs respectively. This is followed by Pune and Hyderabad at salaries of INR 12.3 and 11.6 Lakhs respectively. Chennai completes the list of large cities, with a median salary of INR 11 Lakhs.

The higher median salary of Mumbai is due to the concentration of many International and Domestic banks, financial institutions, and mutual funds across Mumbai. Moreover, many Domestic firms have their headquarters, which include the Data Science functions, based out of Mumbai. The relatively higher median salary of Data Scientists across Investment Banks automatically drives up the median salary of the city.

Moreover, the relatively higher cost of living in Mumbai results in a proportionately higher disbursal of salaries for professionals working in the city.

Experience-wise Classification of Artificial Intelligence Personnel

AIMResearch has researched the experience levels of Artificial Intelligence personnel and has provided the findings on the basis of:

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PARAM Siddhi

  • Experience-wise distribution of personnel
  • City-wise Median Experience Levels

The median experience level of Artificial Intelligence professionals is 7.1 years.

The relatively higher median experience level highlights the maturing nature of the AI domain in India.

Experience-wise Distribution of Personnel

The experience-wise distribution plot reveals the highest distribution of personnel in the mid-junior experience level of 2-5 years, with a proportion of 28.6%. The second highest distribution of personnel, however, reveals the maturing nature of the AI domain. The distribution of personnel is the 2nd highest in the senior experience level of 10-15 years. This is followed the middle experience level of 5-7 years that has a proportion of 13.7% of the personnel, the mid-senior level of 7-10 years at 11.9%, and the leadership level (15+ years) at 11.4%. The lowest concentration of professionals is across the entry, 0-1 years, and junior level, 1-2 years, of experience at 8.8% and 11.2% respectively.

The combined distribution across mid-senior, senior, and leadership levels of experience is – 37.7%. This concentration of professionals across the senior experience level highlights the strengthening state of the AI function in India – programme managers and leaders of many years of experience are leading cross-geography teams of AI professionals.

The Indian AI market is no longer providing back-office services to the global Data Science domain but is driving key Research & Development initiatives of AI platforms and technologies across several sectors and enterprises.

City-wise Median Experience Levels

The city-wise median experience level reveals that Mumbai has the highest median experience level at 8 Years. This is consistent with the type of roles and companies in Mumbai. As mentioned in the previous section on salaries, most of the Investment banks, domestic financial institutions, and international banks have their AI operations based out of Mumbai – Moreover, most of the domestic firms, headquartered in Mumbai, have their AI operations also based out of the city – this drives the median experience level of the city to the highest position.

Mumbai is followed by Delhi (NCR), with median experience of 7.4 years. Many ITES firms and some IT services firms have their data science operations headquartered in Delhi – this automatically pushes the median experience level of the city.

Bengaluru is in 3rd position with a median experience level of 7.1 years. Bengaluru is the hub of data science and AI R&D, having the highest concentration of data science professionals across the country – covering Technology, Software, Engineering, and Semi-conductor firms. Moreover, the city is the hub of start-ups not just in data science but also other technology functions – the start-ups typically have a relatively lower median experience level. With a large base of professionals across all company types, including start-ups, Bengaluru has a lower median experience level compared to Mumbai and Delhi.

The median experience of Chennai is also 7.1 years – many Technology firms and Semi-conductor firms have set-up AI R&D centers in Chennai and have hired experienced professionals to lead and manage these centers.

Chennai is followed by Pune with a median experience level of 6.8 years. Pune has many IT firms with AI centres based in the city.  

Pune is followed by the cities of Hyderabad and Kolkata that have median experience level of professionals at 6.5 years and 6.4 years respectively.

Artificial Intelligence Jobs Study

AIMResearch has researched the open jobs across the Artificial Intelligence segment and has provided the findings on the basis of the following:

  • Salary-wise Distribution of Open Jobs
  • Experience-wise Distribution of Open Jobs
  • City-wise Distribution of Open Jobs

Salary-wise Distribution of Open jobs

The salary-wise distribution of open jobs reveals that the 6-10 Lakhs salary bracket, offered for jobs, has the maximum proportion of open jobs at 27.9%. This is followed by the salary level of 10-15 Lakhs offered for jobs at 21.2%. This salary bracket is followed by the mid-junior salary – 3-6 Lakhs at 20.6%. This is followed by jobs advertised for the 15-25 Lakhs salary bracket at 17.2% and the entry level of 0-3 Lakhs at 7.5%. The jobs for upper level salaries (greater than 25 Lakhs) have a combined proportion of jobs of 5.6%.

The salary wise distribution of open jobs reveals a flatter curve distribution as compared with other Data Science open job salary distributions. Moreover, the second-highest distribution of jobs in the 10-15 Lakhs salary level reveals the developed nature of job openings or the roles advertised by companies. Similarly, the proportion of jobs advertised in 15-25 Lakhs at 17.2% also reveals the established state of the AI function in India.  

Experience-wise Distribution of Open jobs

The experience-wise distribution of open jobs reveals that the greatest proportion of jobs has been advertised for the experience level of 2-5 years at 22.3%. This is followed by the proportion of mid-senior level of jobs for the experience level of 7-10 years at 21.8%. The middle level experience level of 5-7 years has a distribution of 21% of the jobs.

The higher level of experience of jobs for 10–15 years has a significant proportion of 16.2%. The entry and lower experience levels of 0-1 years and 1-2 years have a distribution of 5.7% and 7% respectively. The lowest proportion of open jobs for the entry level, at 5.7%, signifies the move towards hiring of experienced professionals for a developed AI function in India. Moreover, the proportion of jobs advertised for the experience level greater than 15 years at 6.1% underscores the move to leadership roles across the AI across companies in India, instead of roles focused on delivery or development. This is accentuated by the combined proportion of jobs at 22.3% for senior and leadership positions, greater than 10 years.

Opportunities for Skill Development in the AI Domain

The equitable distribution of prospective hiring from the mid-junior to the mid-senior experience levels indicates that companies across industries are seeking to develop AI capabilities across numerous levels of expertise. This is indicative of the growth of the AI domain in recent years, covering such capabilities as Recommendation Engines, AI in the Cloud, AI in Digital, Computer Vision, Robotics, and Natural Language Processing.

Moreover, the entry-level open job categories also afford opportunities to freshers and junior level professionals, with 5.7% of the jobs advertised for personnel with less than 1 year of experience and 7% of the jobs advertised for personnel with 1-2 years of experience.

In terms of Industry, while the highest proportion of AI jobs advertised are in the IT and ITES sector, the jobs advertised across other industries and sectors indicates the opportunity that job seekers have to develop skills in these sectors and apply for any suitable opportunity as and when it arises. Moreover, the opportunities across the remaining breadth of sectors covering BFSI, Pharma, eCommerce, and even the Government sector indicates the potential that AI offers in terms of industry-specific jobs across other sectors and not just within the IT and Digital sectors.

Jigsaw Academy offers numerous programs for skill development in Artificial Intelligence enabling professionals within and even outside the Data Science domain to upskill across AI technologies.

City-wise Distribution of Open Jobs

The city-wise distribution of open jobs in AI has a typical plot.

Bengaluru, with a proportion of 28.6%, has the highest proportion of open jobs advertised. IT firms, Technology firms, and Start-ups firms, to name a few, all have extensive operations across Bengaluru, and hence the city has the highest proportion of advertised jobs.

Similarly, Delhi (NCR), the hub of ITES firms, has the 2nd highest proportion of open jobs advertised at 21.9%.

Delhi is followed by the hub of Captive Banking, Domestic BFSI, and Domestic firms of Mumbai, that has a proportion of 11.5% of the open jobs.

Mumbai is followed by Hyderabad and Pune that have respective proportions of jobs at 11% and 10.6%. Chennai has a proportion of open jobs at 7%. The cities of Ahmedabad and Kolkata have an open jobs distribution of 2.5% and 1.5% respectively. Other Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities have a combined proportion of open jobs of 5.5%.

Covid Pandemic Effect: AI Market Before and After

The recessionary environment, caused by the unfortunate pandemic, has affected the IT and Data Science sectors. The AI domain or market in India has also been adversely affected to a certain extent. AIMResearch has studied the impact of the slowdown across the Open Jobs Advertised, Salaries of Professionals, and Salaries Advertised for Open Jobs.

Open Jobs Advertised

The Open Jobs Advertised have contracted 13.4% from March 2020 to the current period of August 2020. This contraction may seem large but is not very significant as this factor covers the open jobs advertised or posted by companies on various job sites. While hiring has slowed down, it has not stopped altogether, and there are ample opportunities across several sectors and sub-domains of the AI market in India. Moreover, given the recessionary environment across the globe, AIMResearch expects a greater number of jobs to be outsourced to India in the coming months and quarters, offering AI professionals in India a wider range of job opportunities and career options. 

Salaries of Professionals

The Salaries of Professionals in the AI market have contracted 5.2% from March 2020 to the current period of August 2020. Here as well, the contraction is not very significant when compared with the entire IT and ITES sector, wherein the contraction in salaries has been a little over 10%.

Salaries Advertised for Open Jobs

The Salaries Advertised for the Open Job positions have contracted 3.3% from March 2020 to August 2020. The contraction in the salaries advertised for open jobs is small, signifying the overall strength of AI market across enterprises and industries in India. companies

Overall, while the impact of the recessionary environment has been negative, the AI market in India has been resilient. The market is expected to grow at 6.6% in 2020-2021. This growth and the projected growth and overall market figures till 2025 are covered in the next section.

Artificial Intelligence Market Forecast

The Artificial Intelligence market is currently valued at $6.4 Bn.

The market has been represented in 2 formats – the first format excludes the contribution of AI services to the AI domain, and the second includes the contribution of IT services to the AI domain.

Hence, the current valuation of the AI market excluding the contribution of IT services across AI is $3.0 Bn, and including the contribution of IT services across AI is $6.4 Bn.

This demarcation has been done as the AI industry is maturing at varying rates across industries and segments. Nonetheless, the average pace of growth is very high.  Moreover, the pace of growth for the period 2020-2021 will be slower than the average pace of growth for the period 2021-2025. This slower growth for upcoming year is so because of the recessionary effects caused by the unfortunate pandemic.

The pace of growth is higher across the segments or sectors that exclude IT services. The pace of growth of the AI domain for the IT services segment is slower, and this reduces the overall growth rate of the combined AI segments, which include IT Services, Technology (Software & Hardware), Captive, Engineering & Industrials, eCommerce & Retails, and others.

As a result, the projections of the market are as follows:

  • In 2021, the entire AI market would value at $6.8 Bn (at a combined 6.6% growth rate). The market excluding IT services will value $3.3 Bn (at a 9.5% growth rate).
  • From 2021 to 2025, the CAGR for the entire AI market is expected at 13.8%, taking the valuation of the entire AI market to $11.4 Bn by 2025. Similarly, the market for the AI domain excluding IT services is expected to have a considerably higher CAGR of 19.5%, valuing the AI market (excluding IT) in 2025 at $6.8 Bn.


The Artificial Intelligence market in India is expected to be the primary growth driver of the Data Science domain and the broader IT industry over the next few years.

While the unfortunate pandemic, and the resulting recessionary environment, has affected the overall growth of the Data Science market, the AI domain across industries and enterprises in India continues to develop in terms of market size, capabilities, and skills.  

The AI function in India has seen significant investments over the last few years, with some of the largest firms across the sectors of Software & Hardware, IT services, Chip and Semi-conductors, Engineering and Industrials, and Captive forms across BFSI and Healthcare setting up Research & Development and AI Centers of Excellence. Moreover, the Domestic firms, specifically in Banking, Energy, and Telecom are driving the growth of AI for the domestic industry segments.

Moreover, given the advancement in next generation technologies across industries – with 5G in Telecom, IoT platforms in Engineering and Manufacturing, Connectivity across the Automotive, Smart cities, and Smart utilities sectors – the scope of collaboration of AI across sectors, even in India, is expected to increase. 5G is bringing Cloud Computing closer to the users and enterprises with the help of Edge Computing, which has been collaboratively developed by leading Telecom and Technology firms, with partnerships between Microsoft and AT&T, and AWS and Verizon. Similarly, in the segments of IoT, Connected Automobiles, and Smart Cities, there is collaboration among the Telecom, Semi-conductor, Engineering, and AI enterprises – this is transforming each of these sectors and bringing real-time analysis and intelligent solutions to clients and customers.

As the research in this report has revealed, cross-industry and segment partnerships are driving AI growth. Moreover, with extensive Planning at the Policy Level, which is expected to drive AI contribution of AI in India’s GDP growth, the potential that India offers to the global growth of AI is remarkable.

Till a few years ago, AI R&D centers across the Ecommerce and Retail, Semi-conductor / Chip / Sensor Devices, and Engineering Technology segments, to name a few, were relatively small in terms of capability and overall contribution. Now, these 3 sectors / segments are expected to drive the majority of the growth in the domestic AI market in the coming years, with AI in Retail (including eCommerce) in India expected to grow in value to $5.25 Bn within the next decade.

Investments in AI from international firms, such as Accenture, Microsoft, Amazon / AWS, IBM, Ericsson, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, WPP, Bosch, Siemens, and GE Healthcare, to name a few, and domestic firms, such as TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro, Reliance Group, Tata Group, Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, and ITC, to name a few, are driving the growth in terms of capabilities, intellectual property, and revenue for the AI domain. Moreover, the prestigious engineering institutes of IITs are developing AI for various government services and serving as incubators for many AI start-ups.

By investing in AI technologies, platforms and services, NITI Aayog, Nasscom, Educational Institutions, the Indian IT firms, and various Technology & Engineering enterprises are transforming India into a hub of AI research and development, and could possibly take the market from $6.4 Bn in 2020 to more than the forecasted level of $11.4 Bn by 2025.

Read the complete report here.


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