The UAE generative AI market is projected to register a CAGR of 15.72% during the forecast period 2026-32, growing from USD 98.27 million in 2026 to USD 235.98 million by 2032. According to latest market analysis, government and defense applications represent the largest share of revenue, contributing approximately 25% of total industry value. Dubai's implementation of over 75 generative AI pilot projects across government entities spans procurement, hiring, urban planning, mobility, and compliance systems, demonstrating broad AI technology applicability in public administration. The market is moderately consolidated with the top five companies including Microsoft Corporation, Amazon Web Services, Alphabet Inc., NVIDIA Corporation, and G42 Holdings Ltd. collectively accounting for approximately 60% of total market share.
According to Info Edge's Q4FY26 earnings call, the hiring environment across Global Capability Centres (GCCs) remains subdued amid global economic uncertainty and rapid AI adoption. As reported by Moneycontrol, Managing Director and CEO Hitesh Oberoi noted that the overall job market sentiment continues to be subdued. It's not a hot market, with companies taking longer to close hiring mandates despite continued recruitment in select sectors. The company's latest data shows job speak index growing at 78% year-on-year for the full year, reflecting the overall lukewarm market conditions. However, there are pockets of growth, particularly in machine learning and AI roles where companies are actively seeking specialized talent.
According to the company's analysis, smaller GCCs continue adding talent while several large captive centres have either slowed recruitment or witnessed headcount decline in recent quarters. As reported by Moneycontrol, enterprises are focusing on extracting higher productivity from existing teams through generative AI, automation platforms and AI agents, leading to reduced need for workforce expansion. The company has implemented what they call "job hugging" - encouraging employees to do more than their previous roles while maintaining current headcount levels. This efficiency drive is being supported by AI-powered tools that enable faster product rollouts, scalable content creation, and more efficient marketing processes across the organization.
Despite broader hiring challenges, demand for AI and machine learning professionals continues to remain strong, particularly in engineering and premium hiring segments. According to the report, companies are actively seeking AI-linked talent, especially in the ₹20 lakh to ₹50 lakh salary bracket, indicating a clear preference for specialized AI skills over traditional roles. The premium segment, defined as people earning more than ₹25-30 lakh annually, has been growing faster than the mid-level segment for the last few quarters, driven largely by new job creation in AI, machine learning, and data engineering roles. However, these are not leadership-level positions paying crores, but jobs in the ₹20 lakh to ₹40-50 lakh segment where Info Edge maintains significant market share.
Info Edge noted that premium hiring has been growing faster than the mid-market segment in recent quarters, driven largely by demand for specialized AI skills. The company also observed that job mobility across sectors has remained sluggish, as employees grow more hesitant about changing jobs due to concerns surrounding AI-led disruption and prevailing macroeconomic uncertainty. While attrition levels have stayed stable, they continue to remain on the lower side. The company expects that if the Indian economy picks up, non-IT sectors will start hiring more people than earlier and attrition rates will pick up, but this will depend on how the economy plays out over the next few quarters. Additionally, geopolitical uncertainties around global situations could also help in the medium term as far as the business is concerned.
According to the latest earnings call, recruitment billings including Zoem and 2 Select grew by 9% to ₹838 crores and revenue grew by 12% to ₹608 crores in Q4FY26. The operating profit for the standalone recruitment segment improved by 22% year-on-year to ₹340 crores with a 58% operating profit margin. For the full year FY26, standalone recruitment billings grew by 10% to ₹2,374 crores and revenue grew by 14% to ₹2,256 crores. The company's Naukri Job Seeker services business reported ₹176 crores in billings with 19% YoY growth for the full year, while Naukri Gulf billings were ₹126 crores with 16% YoY growth. The company expects that if they can grow their top line by 10% or more, margins should remain the same in the recruitment business.
