With six weeks to go before the final placement season opens at India’s older IITs, recruiters are zeroing in on one kind of candidate above all: the graduate who can build, deploy and work with artificial intelligence. A report published this weekend says companies are actively turning to the seven older IITs to fill AI and related roles, with pre-placement offers and specialised skills shaping this year’s hiring plans.
The final placement season at the seven older IITs, Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee, is scheduled to begin on December 1. According to the report, recruiters are looking well beyond conventional software and engineering roles this time, chasing candidates with expertise in AI, data science and analytics instead.
What recruiters are actually hunting for
The shift is visible in how companies are talking about talent this year. At IIT Guwahati, new opportunities are emerging in applied AI and AI-assisted technology, even as traditional software and services hiring faces pressure. John Jose, head of the institute’s Centre for Career Development, told the newspaper that roles which did not exist during the previous placement cycle are now emerging, and students with stronger AI skills could have a clear advantage.
IIT Kanpur is seeing a similar pattern. Companies there are increasingly looking for graduates who can develop, deploy and work with AI technologies. The demand stretches beyond dedicated machine learning positions into software, analytics, finance and even core engineering, according to Manjesh K Singh, chairperson of the institute’s students’ placement committee. AI-focused companies, banks and financial services firms, and quantitative trading firms are expected to be among the recruiters on campus.
A word of caution: not a full recovery yet
The report is careful to note that rising demand for AI talent does not automatically signal a broad-based recovery in fresher hiring. Some companies remain cautious about expanding entry-level headcount, and the hiring momentum is concentrated in specialised skills rather than spread evenly across every branch and discipline.
That nuance matters. A placement season shaped by AI demand will reward students who have demonstrable skills, not just a degree from the right institute.
Why AI roles are defying the slowdown
The IIT story lines up with wider hiring data. Naukri’s September 2026 JobSpeak report showed AI/ML hiring in India growing 20% year on year, with fresher AI/ML hiring up 19%. In the same period, overall IT and software services hiring declined 4%. The gap tells its own story: employers are not hiring more juniors in general, they are hiring differently.
The India Skills Report 2026 paints a similar picture. National employability has climbed to 56.35%, up from 46.2% in 2022, and India now holds 16% of the global AI talent pool. Companies are hiring specialist AI freshers with packages of up to Rs 21 lakh per annum, a figure that would have been unthinkable for entry-level roles a few years ago.
What this means for students outside the IITs
The trend is not fenced in by seven campuses. The same hiring data shows demand for AI skills spreading across sectors, and employers are increasingly screening on projects and portfolios rather than pedigree. For students at other colleges, the message is blunt but encouraging: the skills matter more than the stamp on your degree.
- Build one real AI project before December, not five half-finished tutorials. Recruiters can tell the difference.
- Learn to deploy, not just train. Companies want graduates who can take a model into production.
- Chase internships now, because pre-placement offers are becoming a major hiring channel.
- Strengthen the basics: data structures, statistics and one programming language you can defend in depth.
- Read the market: AI hiring spans finance, analytics and core engineering, not just software.
FAQs
When do placements start at the older IITs this year?
The final placement season at the seven older IITs, Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee, begins on December 1.
Are AI jobs only for computer science students?
No. Recruiters at IIT Kanpur are hiring AI talent for roles in finance, analytics and core engineering too, not just machine learning positions.
Does this mean fresher hiring has fully recovered?
Not yet. The report notes that some companies remain cautious about entry-level headcount, and the demand is concentrated in specialised AI skills rather than spread across all roles.
Which skills matter most for these roles?
AI and machine learning fundamentals, data science, analytics, and the practical ability to build, deploy and work with AI systems.
Can students from other colleges benefit from this trend?
Yes. Hiring data shows AI demand growing across sectors, and employers are screening on skills and projects rather than institute names alone.
As December 1 approaches, one thing is clear: the placement game is changing, and the students who treat AI as a working skill rather than a buzzword are the ones recruiters are calling back. Informeia will track placement season developments as they unfold.
