Technology & Data
AI / Machine Learning Engineer
एआई / मशीन लर्निंग इंजीनियर
Builds, trains and deploys machine-learning models that power features such as recommendations, search, speech and image recognition.
See when you could start working, and what it could payWhat people in India report they earn
See machine learning engineer salaries shared by employees: Glassdoor India(opens in a new tab) · Indeed India(opens in a new tab).
These figures are self-reported on those sites and aren't checked by Edukrish. Pay varies a lot by city, employer and experience.
- Class 11–12 stream
- Science (PCM), Science (PCMB)
- Key subjects
- Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics
- Often valued in this work
- Earning potential, Creativity & independence, Global exposure
What the work looks like
- Preparing training data and choosing a modelling approach
- Training, testing and tuning models, and measuring how well they work
- Putting models into real products and monitoring them for errors and bias
The realities
A fast-moving field where tools change every year; strong programming and mathematics matter as much as AI knowledge. Research-heavy roles often expect a master's or PhD, while many product roles hire on skills and projects.
The usual route in India
B.Tech/B.E. in Computer Science, or Computer Science with AI & ML (4 years); some take a B.Sc in Mathematics, Statistics or Computer Science followed by a master's. Projects, internships and working models matter in hiring.
Entrance exams and tests
- JEE Main — dates and details
- JEE Advanced — dates and details
- State engineering entrance tests
- CUET-UG (for B.Sc programmes) — dates and details
- GATE (for M.Tech) — dates and details
Linked exams open their official dates and sources.
Other ways in
Software engineers and data scientists often move into machine-learning roles after a few years of work.
Colleges with courses for this career
From courses we've collected from official college websites. Not a ranking, and not every college that offers it.
- Chandigarh University
Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) · M.E. Artificial Intelligence · M.E. CSE Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering · Bachelor of Technology in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence · Dual MTech + PhD in Computer Science and Engineering
- Vellore Institute of Technology
B.Tech - Computer Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering) · B.Tech - Computer Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning)
- Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University
M.Tech. (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning)
- Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
B.E. Computer Science
- Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Blended MBA in Business Analytics & AI
- Indian Institute of Management Lucknow
Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence & Business Analytics
- Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
B.Tech + M.Tech Computer Science & Engineering
Sources and checks
Not yet expert-checked: Written by the Edukrish team and not yet reviewed by a counsellor or subject expert. Verify important details with official sources.Written by the Edukrish team and not yet reviewed by a counsellor or subject expert. Exam names, eligibility and routes change, so always confirm with the official body before deciding.
Last updated
Quick answers
- How long does it take to become an AI / machine learning engineer in India?
- On the usual route (B.Tech in Computer Science (AI & ML)), about 4 years after Class 12. A student in Class 12 in 2026–27 could start working around 2031; a student in Class 8 around 2035. A preparation year, a master's or a repeated year moves this later.
- How much does an AI / machine learning engineer earn?
- Edukrish doesn't publish an India salary figure for this career yet, because reliable occupation-level data that can be reused doesn't exist publicly. In the United States, median pay for data scientists was $120,230 a year in 2025; the lowest-paid 10% earned under $67,240 and the top 10% over $199,130 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
- Will AI take over the work of an AI / machine learning engineer?
- The ILO's 2025 index of generative-AI exposure says this occupation group ("Software developers") has significant exposure: of its 8 typical tasks, 6 are moderately exposed and 2 have low exposure; none is highly exposed. Exposure measures what the technology could do today, not job losses; it usually changes which tasks people spend time on.
What official forecasts say
From government and international bodies' reports on jobs, each checked on the official page. Global and US lists are signals, not forecasts for India. All careers in demand
Listed in WEF India: named projected fastest-growing job roles (examples only; WEF does not publish a full India ranking in the web edition): “AI and Machine Learning Specialists”
World Economic Forum(official source, opens in a new tab)Checked on the official site: Our independent check re-opened the official page and found this there.checked 19 Oct 2026
Listed in BLS Table 1.3: fastest-growing occupations, 2025-35 (percent employment change), top 20 (#8): “Computer and information research scientists”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics(official source, opens in a new tab)Checked on the official site: Our independent check re-opened the official page and found this there.checked 19 Oct 2026
Your future as an AI / machine learning engineer
When you could start working, what the work could look like by then, and what it could pay.
Pay data for
- You could start working
- 2033in about 7 years · as junior machine-learning engineer
- Pay in India
- We show India pay only where there's an official public figure, such as government pay scales. This career doesn't have one yet.
Your pay over the career
Shown only where reliable data exists.
No reliable pay data for India yet
- India's official survey data (PLFS) can be used commercially only under a licence, and salary websites don't allow reuse. Rather than show a guess, we leave India pay out until there's a figure we're allowed to use.
Your path from today
Four-year engineering degree with machine-learning projects and internships.
Today
Class 10 · 2026–27
Finish Class 12
May 2029
B.Tech / B.E. (Computer Science, AI & ML or related)
Aug 2029 – Jun 2033
First role: Junior machine-learning engineer
Jul 2033
Growing in the role
2038 (5 years in)
Senior roles, for some
2043+ (10 years in)
A plan, not a promise: a repeated year, a break or a change of course moves these dates.
How the career can grow
Illustrative steps; the years vary by employer and person. Many people stay at a specialist level by choice.
Junior machine-learning engineer
Often 0–2 years in · from about 2033
Learns the work on real projects, with close guidance.
Machine-learning engineer
Often 3–5 years in · from about 2036
Owns pieces of work end to end and needs less supervision.
Senior machine-learning engineer
Often 6–9 years in · from about 2039
Handles complex work, sets direction for a project and guides newer colleagues.
Lead / staff ML engineer or ML manager
Often 10–14 years in · from about 2043
Leads larger areas or teams, or becomes the go-to expert in a specialism.
Head of AI or machine learning
Often 15+ years in · from about 2048
Shapes strategy for a department or organisation. Only some people reach this level.
Demand and how the work may change
Official US outlook, 2025–2035
Employment growth: Much faster than average (7% or higher) · about 24,800 openings a year.
There's no reliable job-postings data for India yet, so these signals come from the US.
Exposure to generative AI (ILO, 2025)
Significant exposure: many of today's tasks could be done or sped up by generative AI, while some still need people.
- Very low
- Low
- Medium
- High
How many of the 8 typical tasks of “software developers” current generative AI could technically do. Exposure is not the same as job loss: it often changes which tasks people spend their time on. By 2033 the tools will be different again, so treat this as direction, not a forecast.
Who hires people in this career
- Product and platform companies
- IT services and consulting firms
- Banks, insurers and fintechs
- Start-ups
- Government and public digital services
Kinds of employers today, written by our team. We name companies only with dated hiring evidence, and never suggest a company will be hiring in 2033.
How we work this out: sources, assumptions and limits
Why “no reliable pay data yet”
- India's official survey data (PLFS) can be used commercially only under a licence, and salary websites don't allow reuse. Rather than show a guess, we leave India pay out until there's a figure we're allowed to use.
Timeline assumptions
- Today is in the 2026–27 school year (April to March).
- One class per year, with no repeated year.
- Class 12 results arrive around May; college intakes start on the months shown.
- Admission in the first year you apply.
- Courses take their standard length; a failed year or a break adds time.
- The first job starts about a month after the last stage ends.
Sources
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. US public domain.
- Employment Projections 2025–35 — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. US public domain.
- Indeed Job Postings Index — Indeed Hiring Lab. CC BY 4.0.
- Generative AI and jobs: refined global index of occupational exposure — International Labour Organization (Working Paper 140, 2025). CC BY 4.0.
- Social Security Trustees Report 2025 (economic assumptions) — US Social Security Administration. US public domain.
- Flexible inflation target, April 2026 – March 2031 — Government of India / Reserve Bank of India. Official government publication (facts).
- Average hourly earnings by industry and CPI (back-test data) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). US public domain (BLS data).
- PLFS unit-level data (2025 calendar year) — MoSPI (microdata.gov.in). GSDD 2026: free for non-commercial use; commercial use needs MoSPI authorisation and a fee.
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