From AI-Free Gates to AI-First Work: How Engineering Students in India Navigate University Education and Career Preparation Without AI Guidelines

Abstract

Engineering graduates in India enter a technology sector that is being reshaped by generative AI, yet the route into that sector runs through examinations and campus placement screens that largely exclude AI. Institutions in India have an approved intake of nearly 2.9 million seats in engineering and technology for 2026-2027, but HCI research on how students prepare for AI-mediated work has drawn mostly on Western and East Asian settings. We interviewed 23 students and recent graduates of Indian engineering and computing programmes about how they used generative AI across coursework, examinations and placements, and how they judged their own readiness for work. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we report five themes, covering AI-first workplaces and AI-free placement screens, how participants prepared for placement, how they used AI in coursework, the role of faculty authority and enforcement, and participants' concerns about their readiness for work. Drawing on signaling theory, we discuss what grades and screen scores certify once AI can help produce them, and we offer recommendations for employers, institutions and AI tool designers.