Vertex Group's ₹100-crore investment in AI, including partnerships with and acquisitions of AI-first companies, reflects its push to build AI capabilities across the organisation. The question is whether those capabilities translate into greater responsibility for employees and measurable business value.
From using AI to doing bigger work
“The more important shift AI is driving in the workforce is not simply that people can do their existing jobs faster; it is that they can take on work of a different scope,” says Amar Srivastava, CEO – Online Business & Group CPO, Scaler, an online, job-driven tech education and upskilling platform.
Scaler's India AI Workforce Report 2026, based on a survey of 11,444 professionals, found an average salary increase of 147% among professionals after AI upskilling. While the figure does not establish that upskilling alone caused the increase, it highlights the potential career returns from acquiring AI skills.
The opportunity extends beyond technology teams. AI can help employees in marketing, finance, HR, operations, sales and customer service handle routine tasks, generate insights and support decisions, says Kumar Rajagopalan, Vice President – Strategic Initiatives and Country Head, India, at Dexian, a global provider of talent staffing, IT consulting and workforce solutions. At Scaler, nearly 25% of AI learners come from non-technical backgrounds. Arora says employees in marketing, customer experience and operations at Vertex Group are also using AI to take on work that previously required deeper technical expertise.
Judgement is the differentiator
As AI takes on more routine execution, proficiency with the tools alone may no longer distinguish one employee from another.
“The differentiator will not be how many AI tools someone knows,” says Srivastava. “It will be whether they can define the right problem, apply judgement, question AI's output, and turn it into a decision or measurable outcome.”
Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE), a role that combines technical expertise with customer-facing problem-solving, illustrates this shift. According to Scaler, demand for FDE roles has grown 729% year-on-year. The role requires engineers to understand customer problems and translate them into AI solutions that work in real-world settings.
The lesson extends beyond engineering: as AI handles more routine tasks, employees across functions will need to assess its outputs, apply domain knowledge and take responsibility for decisions and outcomes.
Will companies reward the extra value?
Even if AI helps employees perform at a higher level, faster promotions are not guaranteed. If performance metrics and promotion criteria remain unchanged, companies may capture the productivity gains without rewarding employees for the added value they create.
“AI proficiency is increasingly becoming both a threshold competence and a gateway to advancement,” says Rajagopalan.
Basic AI understanding is becoming the norm, but professionals who combine it with domain knowledge and decision-making skills are better positioned to take on greater responsibility, he says.
Some employers are beginning to formally link AI capabilities to career assessments. Maya Nair, Executive Director, Grafton Recruitment, a GI Group Holding company, cites a 2026 survey of 1,200 AI decision-makers across international markets. It reportedly found that 67% of businesses tied AI competencies to promotion criteria and 50% incorporated them into performance evaluations.
Nair says employees can stand out by applying AI to complex business problems. Recruitment is one example.
AI can streamline candidate sourcing and screening, freeing recruiters to focus on workforce planning, candidate engagement and hiring strategy. Nair says the opportunity is to use that time to improve hiring decisions and contribute more strategically to the business.
TeamLease EdTech's Impact of Upskilling on Performance Appraisals study, which surveyed 14,316 professionals, found that 64% of employed respondents who had upskilled said it had definitely influenced their appraisal outcome, while another 26% believed it had helped. The study also found that 53% reported improved performance in their existing role, while more than 42% reported a promotion, role enhancement or salary increase within 18 months of upskilling.
AI is becoming a significant part of that learning mix. According to TeamLease EdTech, 24% of all respondents had upskilled in AI and emerging technologies; the share rose to 57% among technology professionals.
“The direction we expect is not an appraisal metric such as ‘How often did you use AI?’ but whether AI helped reduce turnaround time, improve quality, increase sales or enable employees to take on more complex responsibilities,” says Shantanu Rooj, CEO and Co-Founder, TeamLease EdTech.
Srivastava believes performance measures must evolve alongside the changing nature of work. “If AI changes the scope of what good performance looks like, companies cannot simply ask employees to ‘do more with AI’ while measuring them against the same roles and metrics,” he says.
AI may make employees more productive. Whether that leads to faster promotions will depend on how effectively they turn those gains into business value—and whether employers reward them.