India’s retail and consumer GCCs are increasing their focus on AI across merchandising, pricing, demand forecasting, inventory optimisation and customer experience. However, industry studies suggest the bigger challenge is finding experienced AI leaders who also understand the retail business.
A TeamLease Digital report estimates that India’s 180 retail and consumer GCCs have only around 320 AI professionals with more than 8 years of experience. That works out to fewer than 2 senior AI specialists per centre.
The report said companies are now competing for specialised AI skills, with experienced AI and machine learning professionals receiving some of the highest salary premiums in the sector. AI and ML professionals with 6+ years of experience have a market median salary of ₹60.6 lakh annually, while those with more than 15 years can earn up to ₹1.2 crore at the 90th percentile.
However, Ravi Darbha of Zinnov said the average does not show where senior AI talent is concentrated. Zinnov estimates that retail and FMCG GCCs employ around 900 professionals with more than 10 years of overall AI and ML experience, including around 300 with 10 years of AI-specific experience.
“Roughly 7,000 professionals carry AI/ML skills across these GCCs, while about 2,000 sit in roles explicitly classified as AI/ML. That gap is the real story of how retail is building AI capability.”
Experts say retailers are increasingly embedding AI skills across engineering, analytics, merchandising and supply chain teams instead of creating large standalone AI teams.
Puneet Mansukhani of KPMG said, “It is more important to understand whether organisations have enough leaders who understand both retail and AI.” He added, “Ultimately, the shortage is not of AI talent, it is of business leaders who know where AI can create measurable commercial value.”
Sneha Singh of Wayfair India TDC said, “We’re increasingly competing with hyperscalers, product companies and other GCCs for people who can combine deep technical expertise with the ability to solve complex, real-world problems at scale.”
Zinnov said mature AI capabilities are increasingly supported by platforms, while smaller senior teams build proprietary retail workflows.
“Retailers are not responding to this talent picture by trying to hire their way to a higher per-centre number. They are moving toward a more balanced model that changes what they hire for rather than how much.”
Mansukhani added, “Lateral hiring provides immediate capability, but no organisation can hire its way to AI maturity.”
The reports point towards greater investment in upskilling, AI leadership, AI product managers and cross-functional teams. TeamLease also recommends diversifying hiring beyond Bengaluru.
India’s retail GCC ecosystem currently employs around 2,72,300 professionals. As AI adoption grows, the key challenge may shift from hiring engineers to developing leaders who can connect AI with global products and core retail operations.
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