CareerEstimate
Software engineer
Build the apps and systems millions of people use
From Campus Binge's data, as of 2026-10-15. Each fact says how far to trust it.
Starting pay
₹6–18 L/yr
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
Later
₹25–60 L/yr after 6–8 years
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
Years to get there
4 years of B.Tech, or 3 + 2 via BCA–MCA
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
Cost
₹1–6 L/yr depending on college
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
Streams
PCM, PCMB, CommerceMaths
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
Subjects
Maths, Computer Science, Physics
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
Routes
sde-jee · sde-state · sde-bca
EstimateBingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)
About
Write and review code with a team Fix what broke in production Turn a fuzzy idea into a feature
Paths
8- N. R. Narayana MurthyEngineer to Infosys co-founder
- Vijay Shekhar SharmaHindi-medium school to Paytm
- Bhavish AggarwalResearch job to Ola
- Sundar PichaiMetallurgy graduate to Google CEO
- Satya NadellaMissed IIT, runs Microsoft
- Harshit KhemaniBuilding since 14: edtech, health tech, then AI
- Riya S.Drop year, then NIT Jalandhar CSE
- Kabir M.Second attempt to NIT Trichy
World signals
13- WEF expects 170 million jobs created and 92 million displaced by 2030Big data, fintech and AI/ML specialists grow fastest and clerical work shrinks fastest; graphic designers now appear among the decliners while UI/UX designers grow, so aim for the judgement-heavy end of any field.
- Microsoft study: writers, journalists, data scientists and web developers are among the jobs AI applies to mostIf most of a job is finding, writing or explaining information, AI already does part of it; the authors stress this is not a forecast of job loss, so build the parts it can’t do: judgement, people and hands-on work.
- Stanford: young workers in AI-exposed jobs are now 19% behind their peersIn US payroll data, employment of 22–25-year-olds in the most AI-exposed jobs is about 19% below where it would be had it kept pace with less-exposed peers, so entry-level is where AI bites first.
- Anthropic Economic Index: computer and maths tasks are about a third of Claude.ai chats and 46% of API trafficSoftware work is where AI is used most and API use is mostly hands-off automation, while lab-heavy jobs like microbiology rank lower and radiology ranks higher on how much of the job AI covers.
- OpenAI GDPval: the best models approach expert quality on tasks from 44 jobsOn one-off tasks written by professionals, like a legal brief or an engineering blueprint, top models come close to experts, so juniors will be judged on what they add beyond a first draft.
- Stanford AI Index 2026: a key coding benchmark jumped from 60% to near 100% in a yearAI coding ability leapt in one year and organisational adoption reached 88%, so expect AI tools in every technical job and learn to direct and check them.
- TCS to cut about 2% of its workforce, 12,261 peopleIndia’s largest IT firm is trimming mostly mid and senior grades as it reorganises around technology and AI, so an IT services job is no longer a job for life.
- Nasscom: tech revenue up 6.1% to $315 billion, jobs up only 2.3%The industry keeps growing but added only 1.35 lakh net jobs in FY26, so each seat goes to graduates with stronger, AI-ready skills.
- India hosts over 1,700 global capability centres employing over 1.9 million peopleGlobal companies run their own technology and business teams in India, a large employer beyond IT services firms, so aim at GCCs as well as campus placements.
- US adds a $100,000 payment to new H-1B petitionsHiring a new graduate from abroad onto an H-1B got far costlier for US employers, so build a plan that works from India first and treats the US as optional.
- H-1B lottery is now weighted toward higher wage levelsFrom the FY2027 lottery, higher-paid offers get better odds than entry-level ones, which makes a first US job after graduation harder to land.
- $100,000 H-1B fee extended to 2027 while a court order blocks itUS work-visa rules are being fought in court and can flip within months, so don’t build a plan that only works if the H-1B door is open.
- US student visas for Indians fell 69% in the peak months of 2025Far fewer F-1 visas went to Indian students in June–July 2025 than a year earlier, so keep an India or other-country option alive for a master’s or PhD.
Related careers
3Sources
- Bingy's career notes (hand-written for the prototype; salaries are rough ranges)EstimateAs of 2026-10-15
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