AI boom lifts industrial engineers' pay packages
BENGALURU: India's AI data-centre boom is creating an unexpected winner: engineers from mechanical, electrical and industrial backgrounds. As companies race to build energy-intensive AI infrastructure, mechanical, electrical and cooling engineers-roles long overshadowed by software jobs-are back in demand, commanding hefty salaries and opening a new career path for industrial talent.
Companies actively hiring span the full AI infrastructure chain. They include colocation players such as Equinix, STT GDC India, Yotta, CtrlS and NTT; hyperscalers including AWS, Google and Microsoft; and engineering and cooling majors such as L&T, Tata Projects, Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Siemens, Honeywell and Johnson Controls. For India's engineers, the AI boom is increasingly becoming a physical infrastructure story, driven by substations, cooling plants and power systems as much as by code.
The hiring surge is being fuelled by the rapid expansion of India's data-centre industry. According to Avendus Capital, operational data-centre capacity is expected to rise from about 1.6GW in 2025 to 5GW by 2030. More than 3GW of capacity is already under development, requiring nearly $25 billion in investments, while AI-specific capacity is expected to quadruple.
Companies actively hiring span the full AI infrastructure chain. They include colocation players such as Equinix, STT GDC India, Yotta, CtrlS and NTT; hyperscalers including AWS, Google and Microsoft; and engineering and cooling majors such as L&T, Tata Projects, Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Siemens, Honeywell and Johnson Controls. For India's engineers, the AI boom is increasingly becoming a physical infrastructure story, driven by substations, cooling plants and power systems as much as by code.
The hiring surge is being fuelled by the rapid expansion of India's data-centre industry. According to Avendus Capital, operational data-centre capacity is expected to rise from about 1.6GW in 2025 to 5GW by 2030. More than 3GW of capacity is already under development, requiring nearly $25 billion in investments, while AI-specific capacity is expected to quadruple.
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