India’s preparedness to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly weakened, according to with only 18 per cent of companies in the country fully ready to deploy AI technologies. This is a sharp decline from 26 per cent just a year ago, signaling a troubling trend as businesses struggle to align their strategies with the evolving demands of AI integration.
The Cisco report pointed to India’s growing AI readiness gap. While organisations are investing heavily in AI technologies, with more than half allocating between 10 per cent and 30 per cent of their IT budgets to AI deployment, many are not seeing the expected returns. Areas like cybersecurity, data analytics, and IT infrastructure are receiving the most attention, but companies report that these investments are failing to meet their initial expectations.
The findings point to a pressing challenge for Indian businesses, as nearly half of them say they are under increasing pressure from top leadership to implement AI solutions swiftly. This urgency is being driven primarily by CEOs, with 48 per cent of companies noting that their leadership teams are at the forefront of driving AI adoption. To cope with the mounting pressure, businesses are preparing to escalate their AI investments further. Nearly 40 per cent of organisations plan to allocate over 40 per cent of their IT budgets to AI within the next few years, a drastic increase from just 7 per cent currently.
Despite the growth in AI investments, infrastructure continues to be a significant barrier. The readiness of India’s digital infrastructure, crucial for the growing demands of AI workloads, remains inadequate.
Only 21 per cent of companies possess the necessary hardware, like graphics processing units (GPUs), to handle current and future AI needs, while 36 per cent have the cybersecurity measures required to protect sensitive AI data. These gaps in infrastructure readiness threaten to undermine the full potential of AI technologies, especially as businesses accelerate their AI journeys.
Another common challenge cited by organisations is the shortage of skilled AI talent. Across various sectors, businesses have identified a lack of qualified professionals as a critical hurdle, impacting areas such as data governance, infrastructure, and AI model security. The scarcity of skilled workers in AI fields is becoming a key differentiator for companies striving to stay competitive. Industry leaders are calling for more concerted efforts between private and public sectors, along with educational institutions, to build local talent pipelines and bridge this skills gap.
