HYDERABAD: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the job market, but experts insist the real threat to employment is not the technology itself but the widening skills gap. Those who can integrate AI into their work and solve real-world problems are likely not just to survive but to thrive, while routine roles will shrink.
“AI is not the threat, lack of skills is,” said Radhesh Shinde, an IT analyst. “Employees who don’t adapt or fail to learn how to use AI will be replaced. Those who understand AI and integrate it into workflows will remain valuable.”
“Routine entry-level coding work, fixing bugs or creating simple features, is already being automated,” said Dr Ramarao Kanneganti, founder of Aganitha AI Inc.
“In the next three to five years, jobs will shift from writing code to solving a customer’s problem end-to-end: understanding the need, designing a solution, plugging in AI services, and measuring results,” Kanneganti predicted.
According to him, companies want employees who can integrate AI into business processes and oversee its use, not just basic programmers.
Fresh blood
The job market over the past year has tested many engineering graduates. Sai Durga Prasad, who completed his BTech in 2024, described applying to several major companies before ending up in a non-IT role at Wipro. “I am not the only one,” he said. “Many of us struggled to get a job and those who did often had to move into non-IT roles.”
This trend is not limited to IT graduates; students from other engineering disciplines, including civil and mechanical, also face delays in securing suitable roles.
R Krishna, who graduated in 2025 with a Computer Science degree from a lesser-known college, said it took him six months to secure a job in Amazon, also outside core IT work. Civil engineering graduates, too, reported waiting for a year or more before being recruited by smaller firms.
The chasm
As the gap between academic training and industry expectations grows, recruiters say that many graduates arrive unprepared for real-world tasks. The assumption that IT jobs are easy to secure is being challenged, with both students and recruiters pointing to a growing mismatch between academic curricula and industry expectations.
“Curricula are out of touch with industry. Instead of irrelevant modules, colleges need industry-oriented courses designed with professional input,” an HCL hiring manager said.
Infosys recruiters voiced similar concerns, explaining why many graduates are now kept on probation for six months to a year. Skill deficiencies, they said, make immediate deployment impossible.
Adapting to change
Colleges and universities are beginning to respond, and adapt. Prof V Balakista Reddy, chairman of the Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE), said the council has revised undergraduate courses to include skill-based modules. “We are also encouraging students to choose minors alongside majors. The idea is to help them move beyond trends and pick careers based on interest and long-term potential,” he said.
Dr D Suman Reddy, placement officer at Osmania University, pointed out that new recruitment processes, particularly mandatory rounds on Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), have left non-CS students at a disadvantage. “We have made modules covering DSA, SQL and operating systems compulsory from this year onwards,” Suman Reddy stated.
Matters at the core
The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2024 showed enrolment in computer engineering rising from 9 lakh to 11 lakh in five years, even as core engineering courses remained steady. In Telangana, over 59,000 of the 65,080 seats in Computer Science were filled in 2025, while branches like Mechanical, Civil and Electronics filled fewer.
While enrolment in Computer Science is rising, experts warn that students in core branches must combine domain knowledge with emerging skills to ensure long-term opportunities.
As India invests in infrastructure, EVs, semiconductors and aerospace, demand for core engineers is expected to rise. Graduates who combine domain knowledge with AI and data skills are likely to find the most stable opportunities.
“Careers in core fields may begin with lower pay than CS, but they offer steadier growth,” said one observer. “Predictive maintenance in mechanical engineering or safety analytics in civil projects are examples where traditional skills meet AI.”
Creativity as safeguard
Academics say that what ultimately protects workers from AI replacement is creativity. Prof KP Suprethi of JNTUH explained: “Routine activities can be automated. But creativity, problem-solving and optimisation cannot. That is why we are emphasising skill-based education.”
S Abhinav, an IT employee at Google, said competition in CS jobs is intensifying. “Computer Science is an evergreen field, but the rush into the field means students must show more than a degree. We need filters, like requiring specific qualifications, so that opportunities reach those who are truly skilled. Skills will determine who succeeds.”
Learning to work with AI
Experts stress that jobs are not vanishing wholesale; they are being redefined. Routine coding and repetitive tasks may go, but new opportunities are opening for those who can adapt.
Kanneganti put it directly: “AI changed the bar. If AI drafts code, the human role moves to specifications, design, data quality and testing. These are rarely taught well today. But if institutions focus on solving real-world problems, offer apprenticeships, and teach AI as a tool, students will be ready.”
The consensus is clear: the future workforce will not compete with AI but will work alongside it. Those who learn to harness its potential will thrive, while those who remain static risk being left behind.
All 144 CSE students from OU placed in ’24-25
While CSE students from top universities like Osmania University (OU) continue to perform well in the job market, the same cannot be said for those from less-reputed varsities. In 2024–25, 402 of the 746 students from the University College of Engineering, OU, were placed, including all 144 from Computer Science. In comparison, only 14 of 61 Civil and 51 of 70 Mechanical students secured jobs. However, the 2025–26 placement drive has just begun, with 27 of the 650 students placed so far.
606 Students Placed at JNTUH in 2024–25
At JNTUH, 606 students were placed in 2024–25. Over 110 companies visited its campuses, and 62 from Computer Science, 27 from Mechanical and 21 from Civil branches were selected. This year, 25 students have been placed so far, most of them from CSE.