The education arm of internet company Info Edge, Shiksha, is pivoting towards counselling and marketing services amid a steep decline in traffic due to AI, its managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Hitesh Oberoi said during the Q3 FY26 earnings call.
“The AI-related impact is now very visible in the Shiksha domestic business and has led to a sharp drop in traffic. This will also impact billing growth over time. The business is strengthening its domestic counselling capabilities to drive higher conversions from client responses to student applications to mitigate the AI impact. It is pivoting its business model, but time will tell how this pans out,” said Oberoi.
In Q3 FY26, Shiksha reported an operating loss of Rs 1 crore. While billings grew 3.7% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 46 crore, revenue growth was muted at Rs 36 crore, up 3.2% YoY.
The shift in the business model of Info Edge also comes when Shiksha’s study abroad vertical is witnessing a slowdown in demand in select markets such as the US and Canada.
“The study abroad segment is experiencing softness in select markets, particularly the US and Canada. We are actively diversifying our offerings toward destinations such as the UK, UAE, and continental Europe, while strengthening our presence in these markets to align with evolving student preferences and to support future growth,” Oberoi said.
1. Can Naukri Survive AI Disruption?
AI disruption isn’t a major threat to Info Edge’s recruitment vertical, Naukri. If anything, it will be an advantage to the platform, likely due to the proliferation of auto-generated resumes, Oberoi told analysts during a post-earnings call.
“If horizontal AI platforms were to expand into the hiring space, it could result in higher noise levels, including auto-generated resumes, spam applications, and low-signal candidates, potentially increasing the relevance of specialised curated platforms like Naukri. We continue to leverage AI to our advantage in recruitment,” the Info Edge CEO said.
Global recruitment models are primarily driven by job listings. Naukri has a structural advantage over these listings-based models because of its huge proprietary database, according to Oberoi. Naukri’s database now comprises 113 million resumes, with an average of 20,000 resumes added daily in Q3 FY26, he said.
The company is also leveraging AI and machine learning to enhance its job matching and recommendation engine. For instance, AI-Rex, its agentic AI-led workflow automation platform, now caters to over 100 clients and has closed more than 20,000 job mandates so far, significantly reducing candidate sourcing time.
Overall, Info Edge’s recruitment vertical posted an operating profit of 341 crore in Q3 FY26, up 14.6% from Rs 298 crore in the year-ago quarter. Billings grew 11% YoY to Rs 548 crore, while operating revenue grew 14% during the period to Rs 575 crore.
Naukri operates on a hybrid business-to-business (B2B)/business-to-customer (B2C) operating model, where it charges a subscription fee from recruitment consultants, global capability centres (GCCs), IT services and tech companies, among others, for resume database access and job postings. It also derives revenue via premium services for job seekers.
The platform billed roughly 48,000 customers in Q3 FY26, while 180,000 job seekers availed premium services.
2. Info Edge Building ‘Job Hai’ for Blue-Collar Workforce
The management said that job growth in the blue-collar segment, where workers who get paid Rs 30,000-40,000 a month, is higher than that in the mid-market segment, where white-collar workers are paid Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.
To capitalise on this opportunity, the company recently rolled out Job Hai in the Delhi NCR region. Through this platform, the company connects job seekers with local employers across roles like delivery, data entry, telecalling, logistics, and driving, among others.
The management said that Job Hai is now the biggest player in the blue-collar job segment in Delhi NCR. According to Oberoi, the company has been spending roughly Rs 50 crore on an annual basis to scale Job Hai. Over the next 12-18 months, the company aims to take its blue-collar playbook to Mumbai and Bengaluru and gradually expand to other cities, given that it is a market where volumes are high, but average revenue per user (ARPU) is low.
The management, however, believes this model will be sustainable in the long run and expects Job Hai to account for 10-15% of Naukri’s total revenue in the next five or six years.
“We are doing JobHai internally. That’s a blue-collar play. So, let’s see how that plays out. If tomorrow there’s something interesting on the gig side, if there are other areas that you think are likely to grow faster, then we’ll be more than open to acquisitions in those,” said Oberoi.
3. Jeevansathi Battling Discount-Driven Competition
During the post-earnings call, Info Edge’s CEO said that the matchmaking market continues to be competitive, with leading matrimony platforms investing heavily in marketing and offering higher-than-usual discounts.
In India, the company’s matrimony arm Jeevansathi competes against Bharat Matrimony and Shadi.com, among others. The management claimed that Jeevansathi has emerged as a leader in Hindi-speaking markets with a 45% profile share. The platform is working on building new products, driven by GenAI and data science, to make partner search more relevant, Oberoi said.
Last month, the company also raised its stake to 100% in dating app Aisle with an additional investment of Rs 10 crore. Aisle Network operates multiple regional dating platforms such as Arike, Neetho and Jalebi. During the Q&A session, the management said that the near-term focus in Aisle is to drive engagement. In the wake of this, Aisle has made the platform free for women, which is already driving up user participation.
Responding to an analyst’s question on whether Info Edge is further eyeing any mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the matchmaking business, Oberoi said the company will continue to do small acquisitions in adjacent areas, especially if it helps in building a technology moat or bringing in a new product that is 10x scalable. However, he ruled out the possibility of any large M&As.
“The big M&A is different, opportunistic, we haven’t done any big M&A till now. In some sectors, consolidation makes sense, but there aren’t too many companies. We are unlikely to do a major diversification. It’s not ruled out ever, but unlikely in the near future,” Oberoi said.
Amid intense competition in the matchmaking market, Jeevansathi reported an operating loss of Rs 2 crore in Q3 FY26, even as billings grew 29% YoY to Rs 36 crore.
4. 99 acres Sees Huge Market Opportunity in New Homes and Resale
During the past 12-18 months, Info Edge’s real estate vertical, 99 acres has consistently expanded its traffic share by 0.5 to 1% each month, reflecting growing platform relevance, the management said.
The company’s real estate business spans multiple segments, including new homes, resale and rental within residential and commercial markets. In the residential resale segment, daily fresh supply has grown around 40% over the last 24 months, taking the supply share to roughly 50% in Q3 FY26.
99 acres sees a huge market opportunity in the new homes segment, estimated at about Rs 5,000 crore, including digital and non-digital advertising spends. While the segment is currently dominated by horizontal platforms such as Meta and Google, there is significant headroom for growth, Oberoi said.
In an effort to strengthen its real estate offerings, the company recently rolled out 99Shorts in the Delhi NCR region. According to the management, 99Shorts provides an Instagram-style short video feed featuring project insights, resident reviews, and curated content to drive user engagement.
Key Operating Metrics of Info Edge
Naukri
- Number of Resumes: Stood at 113 million in Q3 FY26, up from 111 million in Q2 FY26 and 104 million in Q3 FY25.
- Average Number of Resumes Added Daily: Declined to 20,000 in Q3 FY26 from Rs 26,000 in Q2 FY26, but increased from 19,000 in Q3 FY25.
- Number of Billed Customers: Grew to 48,000 during the quarter under review, versus 46,000 in Q2 FY26, versus 42,000 in Q3 FY25.
99 acres
- Number of Listings (free + paid): Stood at 1.59 million in Q3 FY26, versus 1.58 million in Q2 FY26, versus 1.18 million in Q3 FY25.
- Number of Paid Listings: Grew to 1.17 million in the December quarter, compared to 1.14 million in the September quarter. In Q3 FY25, this number stood at 0.83 million.
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