AI jobs for freshers in 2026: what entry-level AI roles actually ask for

AI is not wiping out fresher tech jobs in India, but it is changing which ones exist and what they ask for. Entry-level hiring has slowed, most of all in IT services, while roles that want AI skills are growing from a small base. Most of those roles are not research jobs: they are software, data and support jobs that expect you to work with AI, and most of them start with Python.

This guide combines 2025–2026 surveys, hiring data and company statements with our own reading of the 96 zero-experience roles on CareersAt.Tech tagged AI or machine learning on 23 October 2026. India and global findings are kept apart.

Key takeaways

• AI is slowing fresher hiring, not ending it. In an OpenAI-supported ICRIER survey of 651 Indian IT firms, 55% reported fewer entry-level staff over two years and 35% reported more.
• Most "AI jobs" for freshers are not research. Of 94 AI-tagged fresher roles, 33 were AI or machine learning jobs, 33 were ordinary tech jobs asking for AI skills, 4 were AI operations and 24 barely involved AI.
• Python is the entry ticket. 30 of the 33 AI and machine learning roles listed it, ahead of machine learning (21) and large language models (14).
• You rarely need a master's. 32 of those 33 roles accepted a bachelor's degree, and half listed a B.Sc, BCA or general bachelor's degree.
• AI tools are becoming a basic skill. 11 of the 33 ordinary tech roles named tools such as GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT or Gemini.
• Pay data is thin. Companies publish their top bands, such as up to ₹11 lakh at TCS Prime and ₹18–22 lakh for HCLTech's elite cadre, not typical pay.
• Proof beats certificates. 12 of the 94 posts asked for projects, internships or open-source work. No AI or machine learning role asked for a certificate.

Is AI shrinking fresher hiring in India?

Partly, and unevenly. The most direct evidence is think tank ICRIER's survey of 651 IT firms in ten cities, run from November 2025 to January 2026 and supported by OpenAI. 65% of firms said hiring fell after they brought in AI tools. Entry-level roles were hit hardest: 55% reported fewer entry-level employees over the previous two years and 35% reported more, while at mid level more firms were hiring than cutting. The authors caution that IT growth had already slowed after the pandemic boom, so AI is only part of the story.

Job-openings data points the same way for IT. foundit, a job site, found entry-level hiring 10% lower in July 2026 than a year earlier, with IT's share of fresher hiring down from 32% to 24%. In TeamLease EdTech's survey of 1,097 employers, fresher hiring intent in IT fell from 81% to 76% for July to December 2026, even as overall intent rose to 75%. Wipro had onboarded about 1,000 freshers this financial year by mid-October, against roughly 7,500 in all of the previous year.

Other numbers cut the other way:

• Naukri's JobSpeak hiring index found AI and machine learning hiring up 20% in September 2026 from a year earlier, even as IT hiring fell 4%. Fresher hiring rose just 1%, and AI demand grew fastest for people with 8 to 16 years' experience.
• TCS onboarded about 24,000 freshers in the first half of FY27 and Infosys about 13,000, while HCLTech took 6,136 in July to September alone. Infosys says it is on track to hire about 20,000 this year.
• Global capability centres, the Indian offices of multinationals, raised their share of entry-level hiring from 8% to 11%, according to foundit.

The mix is what is changing fastest. TeamLease EdTech's chief executive called the shift "less about how many freshers get hired, and more about which freshers get hired". TCS says its higher-skill Prime and Digital tiers now make up about 60% of its fresher intake, up from 10–15% three years ago.

Outside India, the evidence is sharper but describes a different market. Stanford's Digital Economy Lab, using US payroll data to June 2026, found that employment of 22- to 25-year-olds in the jobs most exposed to AI is 19% below where it would be had it kept pace with young workers in less-exposed jobs, mainly because companies are hiring fewer of them. SignalFire, a US venture capital firm, reported in May 2025 that new graduates were just 7% of hires at the 15 largest tech companies.

What counts as an AI role for a fresher

We read all 96 zero-experience roles on our board tagged AI or machine learning, and dropped two that fresh graduates in India cannot apply for. The other 94, at 75 companies, fall into five groups.

• AI and machine learning jobs35%, 33 roles
• Tech jobs that ask for AI skills35%, 33 roles
• AI operations4%, 4 roles
• Barely about AI26%, 24 roles

AI and machine learning jobs (33). The work itself is building or applying AI. Nineteen build applications on existing language models, such as chatbots, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agents and LLM API integrations, under titles like Junior AI Developer, GenAI Engineer (Fresher) and Associate AI Engineer. The other fourteen are data science and classic machine learning roles, such as the data science internships at BNP Paribas, Electronic Arts and Novartis. Most of the work is building on models that already exist.

Tech jobs that ask for AI skills (33). Backend, testing, cloud, support and analyst roles where AI is part of the job. Bain & Company's associate backend engineer integrates LLM APIs into internal tools; PowerSchool's associate software engineer writes test scripts with AI tools and reviews the code they produce. Two roles on our whole board carried the new "AI-native" label, at Zycus and Marsh, and both are software jobs. Marsh's posting says what sets an AI-native intern apart is "the judgment to know when AI should be used, when it should not, how to validate its outputs".

AI operations (4). Rating and reviewing what AI systems produce, or labelling the data they learn from, including two trust and safety roles at Accenture that involve testing language models on sensitive topics. All four were open to any graduate. Across the market this group is bigger: foundit says AI roles reached 4% of fresher hiring in 2026, up from about 1% a year earlier, and more than half were in AI operations. Our board, built mostly from tech careers pages, carries few.

Research tracks (none on our board). A few labs take fresh graduates for a year or two of research. Microsoft Research India's Research Fellows programme, for example, takes B.Tech and M.Tech graduates within three years of graduating.

Barely about AI (24). Tagged because the company works on AI or the post mentions it in passing, such as a mainframe apprenticeship or a business development internship at an AI startup.

Put together: about one fresher role in sixteen on our board (33 of 516) is an AI or machine learning job, and at least one in seven (70 of 516) expects some AI skill.

What 70 AI-related fresher job posts ask for

The 70 are the first three groups.

Skills: Python first, then it depends on the role

• Python91%, 30 roles
• Machine learning64%, 21 roles
• Large language models42%, 14 roles
• SQL33%, 11 roles
• APIs, REST, FastAPI33%, 11 roles
• LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex33%, 11 roles
• PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras30%, 10 roles
• scikit-learn24%, 8 roles

AI and machine learning roles pair Python with either machine learning libraries or LLM tooling, plus the plumbing that puts a model into a product: APIs, SQL and some cloud.

• Python73%, 24 roles
• SQL39%, 13 roles
• Machine learning39%, 13 roles
• Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP)39%, 13 roles
• Java36%, 12 roles
• AI tools (Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini)33%, 11 roles
• APIs, REST, FastAPI30%, 10 roles

The ordinary tech roles want ordinary engineering skills first. AI shows up as machine learning basics, work with LLM APIs or fluent use of AI tools. That matches the ICRIER survey, where 68% of IT firms named prompt engineering and generative AI among the skills they want most, 36% data analytics and 35% data science and machine learning. The same firms named the work AI is reducing: data entry and back-office processing, software testing and entry-level programming.

Degrees: a bachelor's is enough for nearly all of them

32 of the 33 AI and machine learning roles accepted a bachelor's degree; the exception wanted a master's or an MBA. Half (16) listed a B.Sc, BCA or general bachelor's degree, not only B.E. or B.Tech. Four were limited to "premier" or tier-1 colleges.

Batches, location and work mode

• Batches: all 33 were open to the 2026 batch, 31 to 2025 and 28 to 2024.
• Type: 21 full-time and 13 internships (one listing offered both).
• Cities: Bengaluru 16, Delhi NCR 7, Hyderabad 6, Chennai 5, Pune 3, Mumbai 2.
• Work mode: 25 on-site, 5 hybrid, 3 remote.

What entry-level AI roles pay

Less is known than salary websites suggest. This is what has a source behind it:

These are top tiers. HCLTech's elite hires, for example, are 15–20% of its fresher intake and earn three to four times its regular entry pay. Most AI-related posts state no pay at all: only 4 of the 94 on our board carried a salary our system marked as employer-stated, and for 3 we could not find it on the employer's own posting. We do not quote salary estimates, ours or anyone else's.

How to show AI skills without a research degree

Postings ask for evidence that you can build something that works. 12 of the 94 asked for projects, internships, open-source or hackathon work. Only three mentioned a certificate, all cloud or BI ones (Google Cloud Digital Leader, Azure Fundamentals, Power BI). None mentioned Kaggle or research papers, and not one of the 988 roles on our board was titled "prompt engineer". Across the market, foundit found that nearly six in ten fresher postings prefer or require an internship.

Three projects that match what the posts ask for, each with a way to prove it works:

1. A document question-answering app, for LLM and GenAI roles. A RAG app in Python over public documents, such as your university's regulations, behind a FastAPI endpoint. Write 30 to 50 test questions with known answers and report how many it gets right with and without retrieval.
2. A machine learning model with honest evaluation, for data science roles. Predict something useful from a public Indian dataset, for example from data.gov.in. Hold out test data from the start, compare against a simple baseline, and write up where the model fails.
3. A small backend built with an AI assistant and checked by you, for software roles. A Java or Python service with tests and a CI pipeline, plus a short log of what the assistant got wrong and how you caught it. That log shows the judgment Marsh describes.

Put each project on GitHub with a README covering the problem, approach and results. Our project-to-bullet prompt and academic project framer turn that work into resume lines, and the JD tailoring prompt matches them to each posting.

Where to find entry-level AI roles

• Our board. Filter to AI and machine learning roles open to freshers, or to AI and machine learning internships. Each listing links to the application page.
• The higher tiers at large IT services firms. TCS (Prime and Digital, through its National Qualifier Test), Infosys (Specialist Programmer) and HCLTech (elite engineer track) hire freshers into higher-skill, higher-paid tracks. Check eligibility on each company's own site.
• Product companies and multinationals. Of the 33 AI and machine learning roles, 10 were at product companies, 9 at multinationals, 8 at IT services firms and 4 at startups. The companies index shows who has posted recently.
• Referrals. Our LinkedIn search tool builds searches for people at a company and for alumni of your college.
• Be wary of "AI jobs from home". Few real AI roles for freshers are remote: 3 of the 33 on our board. India's cybercrime coordination centre has repeatedly flagged fake "work from home" task jobs. Never pay to get a job, and report fraud at cybercrime.gov.in or on the 1930 helpline.

For the rest of the job search, see our off-campus placement guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is AI replacing fresher software jobs in India?

Not wholesale. In ICRIER's survey of 651 IT firms, 55% reported fewer entry-level employees over two years and 35% reported more. Routine testing, data entry and basic coding are shrinking, while roles that combine software basics with AI skills are growing.

Can I get an AI job as a fresher without a master's degree?

Yes. 32 of the 33 AI and machine learning roles we read accepted a bachelor's degree. They ask for Python, machine learning or LLM basics, and evidence that you have built something.

What is the salary of an AI engineer fresher in India?

There is no reliable typical figure. Published top bands include up to ₹11 lakh at TCS Prime, ₹11–21 lakh for Infosys Specialist Programmer trainees and ₹18–22 lakh for HCLTech's elite cadre, which covers 15–20% of its fresher intake. Most job posts state no pay.

Are there work-from-home AI jobs for freshers?

Very few. Only 3 of the 33 AI and machine learning roles on our board were remote. Treat any "work from home" offer that asks for a fee or deposit as a scam.

Is an AI engineer the same as an ML engineer?

They overlap. In fresher job posts, an AI engineer usually builds software on existing language models, while an ML engineer or data scientist builds and evaluates models from data.

Which AI course or certificate helps you get hired?

None of the 33 AI and machine learning roles we read asked for one, although TeamLease EdTech reports that AI engineering certifications are attracting employer interest. A course is worth it if it ends in a project you can show, test and explain.

Can BCA or B.Sc graduates get AI jobs?

Some can. 16 of the 33 AI and machine learning roles listed a B.Sc, BCA or general bachelor's degree, and all four AI operations roles were open to any graduate. Back your application with Python and a project.

Are prompt engineering jobs real for freshers?

As a skill, yes; as a job title, rarely. None of the 988 roles on our board was titled prompt engineer, but prompt work appears inside AI developer and trust and safety roles.

Sources and method

• CareersAt.Tech job data. 516 live roles on our board that asked for zero years of experience, posted between 10 April and 23 October 2026 and pulled on 23 October 2026. 96 carried an "ai" or "ml" topic tag. We read all 96, dropped 2 not open to fresh graduates in India (a returnship and a role for students finishing degrees in the US), and sorted the other 94 (75 companies, posted 6 May to 23 October 2026) by the work described, not the title. Skills, degrees and batches are as listed on each role; a role can list several cities or skills. Of the 420 untagged roles, a keyword and title scan found 24 that list an AI skill, name an AI tool or are AI or data science jobs by title, such as a data science internship at Microsoft; they are not in these counts. Our roles come from company careers pages and other job sources, and many are added automatically.
• Pay on our board. 4 of the 94 roles carried a salary marked as stated by the employer; for 3 we could not find the figure on the employer's own posting. Other salaries on the board are estimates, and we do not quote them.
• ICRIER, AI and Jobs: This Time Is No Different, February 2026. A survey of 651 IT firms in 10 cities, November 2025 to January 2026, supported by OpenAI.
• foundit Insights Tracker, July 2026, as reported by Business Today, 6 August 2026. AI salary bands from a foundit report, as reported by IANS, 2 September 2026.
• TeamLease EdTech, Career Outlook Report for July to December 2026, a survey of 1,097 employers, as reported by People Matters, 11 August 2026.
• Naukri JobSpeak, September 2026 report, 6 October 2026.
• TCS. Fresher tiers and Prime pay: Business Standard, 20 February 2026. FY27 onboarding: Business Standard, 8 October 2026.
• Infosys. FY27 fresher hiring: Q2 FY27 earnings call, 23 October 2026. Specialist Programmer pay: Storyboard18, 17 February 2026, citing Moneycontrol.
• HCLTech. Elite cadre pay: Analytics India Magazine, 24 January 2026. Fresher onboarding: People Matters, 13 October 2026.
• Wipro. Fresher onboarding: Deccan Herald, 16 October 2026.
• Marsh and Zycus. Their own postings for the two "AI-native" roles, read on 23 October 2026.
• Microsoft Research India, Research Fellows programme.
• Global, not India. Stanford Digital Economy Lab, Canaries in the Coal Mine?, August 2026 version, US payroll data to June 2026. SignalFire, State of Tech Talent Report 2025, May 2025.
• Job fraud. Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre actions on task-based job fraud, as reported by The News Minute (December 2023) and Storyboard18 (December 2025). Report fraud at cybercrime.gov.in or on the 1930 helpline.