AI Job Risk in India

Average generative-AI exposure of the workforce

0.206

ILO score (0–1). Rank 20 of 20 countries.

People in employment, 2025

591,572,000

ILO modelled estimate

What people in India work as

Share of employment in each ISCO-08 major occupation group, and the group's average generative-AI exposure (ILO score, 0–1). The country figure above is the employment-weighted average of the exposure column.

Occupation group	Share of employment	Exposure (ILO, 0–1)
Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	55.9%	0.15
Service and sales workers	12.7%	0.26
Craft and related trades workers	11.3%	0.17
Plant and machine operators, and assemblers	6.0%	0.20
Professionals	5.8%	0.39
Managers	3.6%	0.36
Technicians and associate professionals	2.4%	0.35
Clerical support workers	2.3%	0.53

Method: each country's employment by ISCO-08 major occupation group (ILOSTAT, ILO modelled estimates) multiplied by the average ILO exposure score of the occupations in that group (ILO Working Paper 140), then added up. The ILO publishes skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations as one group and leaves out the armed forces. The figure uses the ILO's 0–1 scale, not the 0–100 occupation index used elsewhere on this site, and it treats an occupation as equally exposed in every country.

How to read this page in practice

The notes below explain how to read the country figure, what kind of occupation mix raises or lowers it, and what this comparison can and cannot tell you.

How to Read This Country

India is best read by separating its globally connected IT-services and BPO export sector, where AI substitution is direct and already underway, from the much larger domestic economy of informal work, agriculture, retail, and local services that AI barely touches. Junior software testing, routine coding, tier-one call-center support, and back-office outsourcing work done for Western clients face immediate competitive pressure from generative AI tools that can now perform many of the same tasks. That pressure has little bearing on the hundreds of millions of workers in agriculture, construction, small retail, and informal services who make up most of India's actual employment.

What drives the figure

India's economy combines a large, export-oriented IT-services and business-process-outsourcing sector concentrated in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, alongside agriculture and a vast informal economy that still employs the majority of the workforce. AI pressure concentrates heavily on entry-level and mid-tier IT work: routine software testing, basic coding, tier-one technical support, and back-office BPO processing for international clients are the most directly exposed roles anywhere in India's economy. That pressure barely reaches agriculture, construction, domestic retail, and informal services, which remain labor-intensive, cash-based, and largely untouched by enterprise AI adoption.

What Holds Up Better

What remains durable in India spans two very different registers. In the formal IT sector, senior engineers, architects, and client-relationship managers who translate ambiguous business needs into technical solutions retain value that junior, task-execution roles do not. Across the much larger informal economy, agricultural labor, construction, small-scale retail, and household and personal services remain resilient simply because they are physical, cash-based, and outside the reach of software tools entirely, regardless of how advanced AI becomes.

What This Page Does Not Claim

A single country score for India is unusually misleading because it averages a small, globally exposed IT-and-BPO sector against an enormous informal economy that operates by entirely different rules. The same number cannot describe both a Bengaluru software campus and a rural agricultural household. Read the score together with the sharp divide between formal, export-facing digital work and the vast informal and agricultural labor force that makes up most of India's actual employment.

Jobs Most At Risk from AI

This table is a current snapshot of the jobs that appear on the higher-risk side within this country profile. It is useful as a directional comparison, not as a permanent national ranking. Both lists only include jobs in the three occupation groups that employ the most people in India, ordered by exposure index.

Rank	Job	Occupation group	Generative-AI exposure
1	Telemarketer	Service and sales workers	93
2	Retail Salesperson	Service and sales workers	79
3	Retail Cashier	Service and sales workers	75
4	Tour Guide	Service and sales workers	60
5	Model	Service and sales workers	59
6	Flight Attendant	Service and sales workers	56
7	Waiter	Service and sales workers	51

Jobs Safest from AI

This table shows the jobs that currently appear on the lower-risk side within this country profile. Read it as a structural comparison of work, not as a guarantee that these roles will stay unchanged.

Rank	Job	Occupation group	Generative-AI exposure
1	Housekeeper	Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	13
2	Fisherman	Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	17
3	Welder	Craft and related trades workers	18
4	Construction Worker	Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	19
5	Carpenter	Craft and related trades workers	19
6	Elevator Technician	Craft and related trades workers	22
7	Aircraft Mechanic	Craft and related trades workers	23
8	Firefighter	Service and sales workers	25
9	Baker	Craft and related trades workers	27
10	Renewable Energy Technician	Craft and related trades workers	27
11	Plumber	Craft and related trades workers	28
12	Automotive Technician	Craft and related trades workers	29
13	Farmer	Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	32
14	Warehouse Operator	Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	34
15	Electrician	Craft and related trades workers	36
16	Mechanic	Craft and related trades workers	38
17	Security Guard	Service and sales workers	39
18	Barista	Service and sales workers	39
19	HVAC Technician	Craft and related trades workers	41
20	Bartender	Service and sales workers	43

Sources

Exposure index calculated by ai-job-risk.net from the datasets below (data as of October 15, 2026). US labour figures are from the BLS, unchanged.

The publishers did not prepare, review or endorse this site. Full citations, licences and method

Frequently asked questions

Q.Which jobs are most at risk from AI in India?

Most exposed: Telemarketer, Retail Salesperson, Retail Cashier. India's economy combines a large, export-oriented IT-services and business-process-outsourcing sector concentrated in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, alongside agriculture and a vast informal economy that still employs the majority of the workforce. AI pressure concentrates heavily on entry-level and mid-tier IT work: routine software testing, basic coding, tier-one technical support, and back-office BPO processing for international clients are the most directly exposed roles anywhere in India's economy.

Q.Which jobs are safest from AI in India?

Least exposed: Housekeeper, Fisherman, Welder. What remains durable in India spans two very different registers. In the formal IT sector, senior engineers, architects, and client-relationship managers who translate ambiguous business needs into technical solutions retain value that junior, task-execution roles do not.

Q.How exposed is India to AI automation?

India is best read by separating its globally connected IT-services and BPO export sector, where AI substitution is direct and already underway, from the much larger domestic economy of informal work, agriculture, retail, and local services that AI barely touches. Junior software testing, routine coding, tier-one call-center support, and back-office outsourcing work done for Western clients face immediate competitive pressure from generative AI tools that can now perform many of the same tasks. That pressure has little bearing on the hundreds of millions of workers in agriculture, construction, small retail, and informal services who make up most of India's actual employment.

Q.Does high exposure mean jobs will disappear in India?

A single country score for India is unusually misleading because it averages a small, globally exposed IT-and-BPO sector against an enormous informal economy that operates by entirely different rules. The same number cannot describe both a Bengaluru software campus and a rural agricultural household. Read the score together with the sharp divide between formal, export-facing digital work and the vast informal and agricultural labor force that makes up most of India's actual employment.