A recent survey conducted by multinational professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) revealed that 36% of enterprises in India have started budgeting and investing in Generative AI (GenAI), while another 24% are experimenting with the technology. The study highlights that while AI adoption is picking up pace, businesses are still in the early stages of realizing its full potential.
Gen AI Adoption Gaining Traction
EY’s report, titled “How Much Productivity Can GenAI Unlock in India? The AIdea of India: 2025”, indicates that technology sector clients are leading the adoption, followed closely by life sciences and financial services. However, despite increasing investments, only 15% of Indian enterprises have GenAI workloads in production, and just 8% have the ability to fully measure and allocate AI costs.
EY noted that these findings are not surprising, as integrating cutting-edge AI into enterprise workflows takes time. “Packaging innovation into products and services that enterprises can use is a time-consuming process. Companies need clarity on ROI (return on investment) and assurances on various issues before fully committing to GenAI as part of their digital transformation strategy,” the report states.
AI Adoption in Customer Service, Operations, and Sales
The survey highlights that AI-powered solutions are already transforming customer service, operations, and sales and marketing functions. Over the next few years, as technological barriers and operational challenges are addressed, GenAI is expected to move into enterprise mainstream across departments.
AI-powered chat, voice assistants, and regional language tools are also proving impactful, especially in India’s diverse linguistic landscape. The integration of AI agents in sectors like IT, finance, customer service, and healthcare is expected to reshape traditional business operations, presenting both opportunities and challenges for Indian professionals.
Cost of AI Adoption Declining
EY emphasized that the cost of using AI models has dropped significantly, making them more accessible to enterprises. Additionally, a rich Indic AI ecosystem is evolving to address India-specific needs, particularly in regional language AI development.
One key initiative in this space is Bhashini, a government-led AI project focused on creating an open-source Indic language dataset to expand internet accessibility and digital services in regional languages.
Also read: GenAI to Boost India’s IT Productivity by 45%: EY
The Future of AI in India
Overall, EY believes GenAI has the potential to drive significant productivity gains, impacting millions of workers and redefining how businesses operate. As AI adoption accelerates, businesses will need to focus on overcoming initial challenges while leveraging AI-driven efficiencies to stay competitive in the evolving digital economy.
