India’s enterprise AI ecosystem has reached a pivotal stage. According to the latest EY–CII report Is India ready for Agentic AI? The AIdea of India: Outlook 2026, nearly half of Indian companies (47%) already run multiple Generative AI (GenAI) applications in production, while another 23% are still piloting solutions. This signals a clear move from experimentation to real-world execution. Organizations are now embedding AI directly into business workflows to create measurable impact. A strong 76% of leaders expect GenAI to significantly influence their businesses, and 63% say they feel prepared to harness its potential.
Mahesh Makhija, Partner and Technology Consulting Leader at EY India, noted that Indian corporations have progressed well beyond trial phases. With many enterprises operating several AI use cases at scale, the priority must now shift to designing systems where human teams and AI agents collaborate smoothly. He emphasized that companies focusing on data preparedness, model reliability, and Responsible AI will define long-term competitive advantage.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of CII, added that the coming decade will be shaped not only by how fast AI is adopted, but by how effectively it is integrated into India’s economic and social framework. While issues such as data readiness, governance, and measurement continue to pose hurdles, India’s AI evolution is now clearly advancing from pilot projects to performance-driven outcomes.
Rethinking AI Investment Commitments
Despite the strong confidence in AI, investments remain relatively modest. More than 95% of enterprises allocate under 20% of their IT budgets to AI initiatives, and only 4% spend beyond that level. This highlights a mismatch between belief in AI’s potential and the level of financial commitment needed for scaled transformation—an imbalance that increasingly determines how quickly companies can unlock tangible value.
As organizations deploy AI across functions, the focus on return on investment has intensified. The report notes a shift away from measuring success through only cost savings or productivity improvements. Instead, enterprises are assessing AI impact across five dimensions: time saved, efficiency improvement, business gains, strategic differentiation, and overall resilience.
Speed as the Deciding Advantage
Rapid execution has become a defining competitive metric in AI adoption. An overwhelming 91% of leaders say that implementation speed drives their “buy versus build” decisions, reflecting a growing need to turn innovation into outcomes quickly. In the coming year, companies plan to concentrate their GenAI spending on operations (63%), customer service (54%), and marketing (33%), demonstrating a clear move toward embedding AI in functions that directly influence efficiency, experience, and growth.
Startup Partnerships at the Core of GenAI Delivery
Collaborations with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and startups are increasingly central to enterprise GenAI strategies. Nearly 60% of organizations now work with startups to co-innovate, acknowledging the speed and experimentation that younger companies bring. With 78% adopting hybrid models, enterprises are shifting away from purely in-house approaches to benefit from the agility of the startup ecosystem—now essential for staying competitive in the GenAI landscape.
A Rebalanced Workforce for the AI Era
About 64% of organizations report selective workforce transformation in standardized roles, yet talent shortages remain a challenge, with 59% noting limited availability of skilled AI professionals. As mid-office and innovation-focused roles expand, companies are redesigning their operating structures around AI, forming what the report describes as “AI-first work architectures” where people and intelligent systems jointly elevate decision-making, accuracy, and speed.
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