BENGALURU: India’s AI data center boom has emerged an unexpected winner: engineers from mechanical, electrical and industrial backgrounds. As companies race to build energy-intensive AI infrastructure, mechanical, electrical, and refrigeration engineers — roles long overshadowed by software jobs — are back in demand, commanding huge salaries and opening a new career path for industrial talent.Companies that are actively hiring span the entire AI infrastructure continuum. They include aggregators such as Equinix, STT GDC India, Yotta, CtrlS and NTT; hyperscalers including AWS, Google, and Microsoft; and engineering and refrigeration majors such as L&T, Tata Projects, Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Siemens, Honeywell and Johnson Controls. For engineers in India, the AI boom has increasingly become a story of physical infrastructure, driven as much by substations, cooling plants and power systems as by code.This rise in employment is fueled by the rapid expansion of the data center industry in India. According to Avendus Capital, operational data center capacity is expected to rise from about 1.6 gigawatts in 2025 to 5 gigawatts by 2030. There is already more than 3 gigawatts of capacity under development, requiring nearly $25 billion in investments, while the specific capacity of artificial intelligence is expected to quadruple.Exclusive hiring data shared with TOI by executive search firm Ishwa Consulting, shows specialist roles emerging across AI data centres, including AI infrastructure engineers, liquid cooling specialists, heads of energy procurement, and grid resilience managers.
The salaries are eye-catching. AI infrastructure engineers earn between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh per annum, while new site heads can earn up to Rs 1.8 lakh. Heads of critical facilities and specialized refrigeration teams earn anywhere from Rs 50 lakh to over Rs 1 crore annually. Engineers with seven to 12 years of experience earn between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, while entry-level refrigeration and critical facilities engineers start at Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum.The biggest hiring rush is in the refrigeration industry. Companies are actively recruiting data center cooling engineers, HVAC design engineers, critical facility engineers, operations engineers, and liquid cooling specialists, while building management and control engineers are also seeing strong demand as facility automation increases.
