NIIT's AI courses hit 12.4% of revenue as IT clients cut training

NIIT Limited, the technology training company, said on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, that courses and services linked to artificial intelligence (AI) rose to 12.4% of its revenue in the July-September quarter, up from 9% in the previous quarter. But its total revenue fell about 6% from a year earlier to around Rs 98.2 crore, and the company slipped to a small net loss, because its largest technology-services clients cut back on training they buy from outside and moved more of it in-house, the company's management said.

For students and young professionals, NIIT's numbers are a window into two trends in the tech job market at once. The first is the rush to learn AI. A rising share of what people and companies pay for training is now linked to AI, from basic courses to specialised programmes. When AI-linked revenue goes from 9% to 12.4% of a training company's sales in a single quarter, it shows where demand is moving.

The second trend is less visible but just as important. Global system integrators, the large IT services companies that build and run technology for clients around the world, are among the biggest employers of young engineers in India. They used to buy a great deal of training from outside firms. Now, under pressure to cut costs, many are training their staff themselves. That means fewer contracts for training companies, and it also means that the skills young hires learn are increasingly shaped by their employers' own programmes.

For a job-seeker, the message is mixed. Demand for AI skills is clearly growing, and training in those skills is becoming a larger part of the market. But the biggest employers are also more selective about what training they pay for. Building skills that employers value, and being able to show them in projects and tests, matters more than collecting certificates.

Banking and financial services training, which reached a record in the quarter, is another signal. It suggests that banks and insurers are among the employers still paying for outside training, which points to openings in finance for people with technology skills.

Short-term: NIIT expects flat revenue in the coming quarters as large IT clients keep training in-house, while it pushes AI and banking-sector programmes.

Long-term: If AI training keeps growing as a share of the market, training firms that build strong AI courses may recover growth; those that rely on bulk contracts from IT companies may keep losing ground.

Who is affected: Students and working professionals looking to upskill in AI; IT services companies and their new hires; banks and insurers that train digital staff; and NIIT's employees and shareholders.

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