New Delhi, Oct. 5 -- A new class of digital creators is out-earning top graduates of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) using a relatively basic set of skills. While select IIT graduates bag annual salaries of Rs.25-30 lakh from the likes of Nvidia and Intel this year, these digital creators can earn that much every few months - by designing the augmented-reality objects and filters people use while taking pictures or recording videos for Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

These AR creators, part of a fast-growing niche in India's creator economy, are quietly earning six-figure monthly incomes using skills that anyone can pick up, especially in the age of AI chatbots. Engineers, lawyers an...