How to Become an AI Engineer in India in 2026

AI engineering is the hottest career
in India right now. Companies like Google,
Microsoft, Flipkart, Swiggy and hundreds
of startups are hiring AI engineers at
record salaries. Here is your complete
practical roadmap.

Who is This Guide For?

This guide is for:

• Software developers wanting to switch to AI

• Data analysts moving into AI engineering

• Fresh graduates targeting AI roles

• Anyone confused about where to start

What Does an AI Engineer Actually Do?

An AI engineer builds production AI systems.
Day to day work includes:

• Building RAG pipelines and chatbots

• Integrating LLM APIs into applications

• Fine-tuning models for specific use cases

• Building AI agents and automation systems

• Deploying and monitoring AI in production

The Complete 6 Month Roadmap

Month 1 — Python Foundation

If you do not know Python start here.
You need to be comfortable with:

• Functions, classes, loops, decorators

• File handling and error management

• NumPy and Pandas basics

• Virtual environments and pip

Skip this if you already know Python well.
Move directly to Month 2.

Month 2 — Machine Learning Fundamentals

Before jumping into LLMs understand the basics:

• Supervised and unsupervised learning

• Classification, regression, clustering

• Model evaluation and cross validation

• Scikit-learn for classical ML

• Basic statistics and probability

Month 3 — Deep Learning and Transformers

This is where it gets exciting:

• Neural network fundamentals

• PyTorch basics and tensor operations

• Transformer architecture in depth

• Attention mechanisms

• How LLMs work under the hood

Month 4 — Generative AI and LLMs

Now focus on practical LLM skills:

• Prompt engineering techniques

• LangChain and LlamaIndex

• RAG systems end to end

• Vector databases

• LLM APIs from OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq

Month 5 — Build Real Projects

This is the most important phase.
Build these 3 projects:

Project 1: RAG Chatbot
Build a document Q&A system using
LangChain, Qdrant and any LLM API.
This is the most asked project in interviews.

Project 2: AI Agent
Build a ReAct agent that can search
the web and answer questions using tools.
Demonstrates understanding of agentic AI.

Project 3: Fine-tuned Model
Fine-tune Llama 3 on a custom dataset
using QLoRA on Google Colab.
Shows you understand model training.

Month 6 — Apply and Get Placed

With 3 real projects in your portfolio:

• Update resume with project descriptions

• Write LinkedIn posts about each project

• Apply to AI engineer roles at startups first

• Practice system design for AI systems

• Practice coding with Python and SQL

Skills You Need

Technical skills in order of importance:

1. Python — non negotiable

2. LLM APIs — OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq

3. LangChain or LlamaIndex

4. Vector databases — Qdrant or Pinecone

5. RAG systems — end to end

6. Basic ML — scikit-learn and PyTorch

7. FastAPI — for building AI APIs

8. Docker basics — for deployment

9. Git and GitHub

10. SQL — always needed

Salary Expectations in India

Based on current market in 2026:

Fresher with strong projects: 6 to 12 LPA
1 to 2 years experience: 12 to 25 LPA
3 to 5 years experience: 25 to 50 LPA
5 plus years experience: 50 LPA and above

AI engineers with production RAG and
agent experience command 20 to 30 percent
premium over regular software engineers.

Top Companies Hiring AI Engineers

Product companies:
Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Atlassian,
Intuit, Salesforce

Indian unicorns:
Flipkart, Swiggy, Zepto, Meesho,
Razorpay, CRED, PhonePe

AI startups:
Dozens of well-funded startups paying
market or above market salaries

Service companies:
TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL all have
dedicated AI divisions now

Most Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Watching tutorials without building
Every concept you learn build something with it.
Your GitHub portfolio matters more than certificates.

Mistake 2: Trying to learn everything at once
Follow the roadmap in order.
Do not jump to fine-tuning before RAG.

Mistake 3: Skipping the fundamentals
Understanding transformers and attention
helps you debug production issues.
Do not skip Month 2 and 3.

Mistake 4: Not sharing your work
Post every project on LinkedIn.
Share what you learned weekly.
Visibility gets you opportunities.

Mistake 5: Applying only to big companies
Start with startups.
Get experience first.
Big companies come later.

Free Resources to Use

Learning:

• AmanAI Lab YouTube — free series on
  GenAI, RAG, Agents and LLMs

• Fast.ai — best free deep learning course

• HuggingFace courses — free and practical

Practice:

• AmanAI Lab Interview Simulator — free

• LeetCode for Python coding practice

Cheat Sheets:

• Download all free AI cheat sheets at
  amanailab.com/resources

My Honest Advice

The path is clear. Python plus ML basics
plus LLM skills plus 3 real projects
equals job ready in 6 months.

The market in India is hot right now.
Companies are desperate for engineers
who can actually build AI systems not
just talk about them.

Start today. Pick one project and build
it completely. Then build the next one.
Six months of consistent effort will
change your career completely.

Use our free AI Interview Simulator at
amanailab.com/interview to practice
before your interviews.