Il Nuovo Postiglione - Info Edge’s Naukri Hits Rs 240 Crore Annualized AI Revenue Run Rate

Artificial intelligence has transitioned from a developmental focus to a tangible revenue driver for Info Edge’s recruitment business. In the second quarter ended September 2026 (Q2 FY27), Naukri’s AI offerings generated Rs 60 crore in revenue, establishing an annualized revenue run rate of Rs 240 crore, according to Hitesh Oberoi, managing director and CEO of Info Edge.

The financial disclosure occurred against the backdrop of Oberoi’s impending departure from the company. After a 27-year tenure, Oberoi is scheduled to step down from his position on December 2. During the post-earnings call, he noted that AI-first products and services now constitute a "high-single digit share" of the company’s recruitment business.

Naukri has introduced a suite of AI tools targeting both recruiters and job seekers. For recruiters, the platform offers AI REX, an agentic talent-sourcing platform priced between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500 annually, alongside Talent Pulse, an analytics tool that provides insights into talent availability, salary trends, and competitor hiring patterns. For job seekers, Naukri has deployed AI-led mock interviews, an AI-powered resume creation service, and Neo, a job seeker agent backed by a three-year product roadmap.

Adoption metrics indicate steady demand. Oberoi reported that 2,000 recruiter accounts are currently testing AI REX. With approximately 150,000 clients, including at least 40,000 large annual renewers with high average revenue per user (ARPU), the company sees significant potential for expansion. "Theoretically, it should be possible to sell AI REX to all these 40,000 clients," Oberoi stated.

The management plans to prioritize adoption over the next two years, encouraging existing clients to increase product usage and upgrade during renewal cycles. Data from management indicates that clients purchasing AI products spend an average of 10% to 15% more than non-AI users. Oberoi emphasized that while developing AI software is becoming easier, scaling it remains challenging. He identified Info Edge’s competitive advantage in its massive distribution network, which includes 150,000 paying clients across more than 80 cities and a database of 120 million profiles, with approximately 20,000 new profiles added and over 9 lakh updated daily.

Founder and incoming MD and CEO Sanjeev Bikhchandani clarified that these AI offerings are creating new revenue channels rather than cannibalizing existing ones. "It’s not as if it’s cannibalising existing revenue," Bikhchandani said. "We are back to the year 2000 when we were into creating a market, as far as AI products are concerned."

Overall, Info Edge’s recruitment vertical, which encompasses Naukri, Coding Ninjas, and JobHai, reported revenue of Rs 632.3 crore in Q2 FY27, a 13% increase from Rs 558.2 crore in the year-ago period. The vertical posted a profit of Rs 373.7 crore.

In the value segment, JobHai, Info Edge’s platform for blue-collar and gig-worker recruitment, recorded an 86% year-on-year growth in billings during Q2. Management noted that while mid-market white-collar hiring faces volume pressures, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises are increasingly hiring full-time, delivery, and gig workers due to rising digital adoption.

JobHai exited FY26 with Rs 15 crore in billings but targets 100% growth this year. The company is maintaining a steady annual cash burn of approximately Rs 45 crore, which currently reduces Naukri’s 59% operating margin by 2% to 3%. Oberoi described JobHai as a strategic bet with a five-to-10-year maturation timeline, comparing its potential to Kanzhun, China’s blue-collar recruitment giant that generates $1.2 billion in annual revenue and serves 7 million businesses.

"It’s a huge market in terms of volume. It’s growing fast. It’s slowly moving online. These are early days," Oberoi said. "You have to get in early like in every internet business. It takes 8, 10 years to get anywhere. If you don’t get in early, then you’ll have other players who will take the market away from you." He added that capturing 20% to 30% of Kanzhun’s scale over the next five to 10 years would be a significant achievement. Management estimates JobHai will break even when annual revenue reaches Rs 100 crore to Rs 125 crore, a milestone expected within a couple of years.

Info Edge’s real estate business, led by 99acres, also reported strong performance. Revenue rose 17% year-on-year to Rs 134.3 crore, while billings grew 21% to Rs 148.3 crore. The segment’s loss narrowed by 93% to Rs 1.6 crore from Rs 23.4 crore in the prior year quarter.

Live listings on 99acres remained robust, with broker resale and rental listings increasing 14% YoY, new project listings rising 15%, and owner listings growing 23%. Property enquiries across categories increased by more than 33% YoY. Management attributed this turnaround to the platform’s dominant position in the secondary resale and rental markets, supported by a network of 30,000 brokers.

Oberoi explained that this hyperlocal supply provides an advantage that global technology giants cannot replicate. "At the heart of our strategy, 99acres, is our leadership in resale and in the secondary market, because that is a problem Google and Meta cannot solve," he said. "If you want to buy a property in the secondary market, if you want to rent a house, you have to come to us."

With web time share reaching 51% and app time share at 50% among top portals in September, management estimates 99acres’ revenue market share in core categories has reached 50%, even as rivals saw revenues decline. The platform is leveraging this traffic to capture a larger share of the Rs 6,000-crore new-projects market.

To address the visual nature of new home sales, 99acres launched "99acres Shorts," a short-video format initially in Delhi NCR and now expanding to other cities. This initiative has driven a 40% to 50% year-on-year jump in buyer responses for new homes. Oberoi noted that the new-home market is shifting in 99acres’ favor as developers increasingly rely on channel partners who list multiple projects on the platform.

Competitive advertising intensity has cooled, allowing 99acres to cut marketing spend by 13% YoY despite a 33% growth in property enquiries. Meanwhile, rival Housing, recently sold to Aurum, has targeted breakeven over the next four to five quarters.

Conversely, AI developments have negatively impacted Shiksha, Info Edge’s education arm. Shiksha’s billings declined 27.2% YoY to Rs 20.5 crore in Q2 FY27 as Google’s AI-generated search summaries diverted users away from the platform. Students increasingly rely on AI tools for answers, reducing the organic search traffic Shiksha depended on for university leads.

"AI-driven changes in search behavior have reduced the referral traffic Shiksha relied on, and this continues to affect delivery outcomes for clients," Oberoi said. "These changes require us to evolve the business model." To reduce dependence on search engines, management is revamping Shiksha to build direct relationships with students through AI voice bots for domestic counseling. In its study-abroad vertical, Shiksha is expanding destination coverage to include universities in the UK, UAE, and continental Europe as student demand shifts away from traditional markets.

C.Albano--INP