The process of overlaying is called cladding. Cladding involves depositing a layer of filler metal on a base metal through a welding process to provide a corrosion-resistant surface. It is commonly used in the fabrication of engineering components to protect them from corrosion and to enhance service life. The present research focuses on studying the effect of metal transfer modes, using GMAW variants, on the surface characteristics of gas metal arc weld cladding of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel over mild steel. The macrostructural and microstructural features of the cladded region were analyzed using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).