Is India lagging in enterprise AI adoption? Here's what global tech leaders think
While American companies are accelerating AI deployments under pressure from investors and financial markets, Indian enterprises are adopting a more measured approach, raising questions about whether the country can keep pace with the next wave of enterprise technology transformation.
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India has embraced artificial intelligence on the consumer side, but when it comes to enterprise adoption, the country appears to be trailing some of its global peers, according to technology leaders Umesh Sachdev, CEO and Co-Founder of Uniphore, and Gajen Kandiah, CEO of Rackspace Technology.
Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18, Sachdev said businesses in the United States are moving faster on AI implementation, driven largely by investor expectations and pressure from financial markets. While Indian companies are experimenting with AI, they are not yet investing at the same pace as many organisations in the US.
The comments raise an important question: Is India really lagging in enterprise AI adoption, and if so, why?
Why are US companies moving faster?
According to Sachdev, the biggest difference is not technology but incentives.
He said publicly listed companies in the US are increasingly being judged on their AI strategy by investors and analysts. Businesses that can demonstrate meaningful AI deployment are often rewarded by the market, while those that cannot may face questions about their future competitiveness.
"What is Wall Street telling companies in their earnings?" Sachdev said. "Unless they have a story that in the last 90 days they did something amazing with AI, and because of that their numbers are different, if they don't have that story, their stock will be sent down."
That pressure is creating a sense of urgency among American executives, he added.
Based on Uniphore's experience across global markets, US enterprises are "about 12 to 15 months ahead" of their counterparts in Europe and Asia in terms of AI maturity and adoption.
Is India behind the rest of Asia?
Not necessarily.
Sachdev pointed out that some markets in Asia are already moving aggressively into enterprise AI.
He highlighted Singapore and Hong Kong as regions that are rapidly adopting agentic AI systems, while insurance companies and other large enterprises are increasingly automating business processes using AI agents.
"Surprisingly, Southeast Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong are not further behind Europe. That's not true. They're already on the bleeding edge of agentic AI," he said.
Australia and New Zealand are also emerging as important growth markets for enterprise AI, prompting several global AI companies to expand their presence there.
Why isn't India seeing the same urgency?
One reason, according to Sachdev, is that Indian capital markets have not yet rewarded AI investments to the same extent as Wall Street.
"When Wall Street says, 'We'll reward you for your AI investments,' they mean it. They're voting with their money," he said.
In contrast, Indian companies do not face the same level of investor pressure to rapidly increase AI spending. As a result, chief executives may be more cautious when deciding how much capital to allocate to AI projects.
The difference in market expectations, he argued, has created a gap in adoption speed between the US and many other regions.
What are enterprises focusing on now?
While the early phase of AI adoption was largely about experimentation, enterprises are now focused on making AI useful in production environments.
Kandiah said businesses are increasingly looking beyond the hype and asking practical questions about deployment, governance, security and returns on investment.
"There is a lot of pent-up demand for AI and compute and things like that, but ultimately they need to run something," he said.
"Our focus has really been about helping customers move from the early days of experimentation to really moving these into production."
According to both executives, enterprises are now prioritising lower AI costs, greater control over their data and more flexibility in choosing AI models and infrastructure.
Could India catch up quickly?
Despite his assessment that India currently trails some global markets in enterprise AI adoption, Sachdev remains optimistic about the country's long-term prospects.
He believes AI will fundamentally reshape business models across industries and create significant opportunities for companies willing to adapt.
The challenge, however, is speed.
"Companies, CEOs and governments are, at this moment, slower to adjust than the world is changing," he said.
As AI adoption accelerates globally, the key question for Indian businesses may no longer be whether to invest in AI, but how quickly they can move from experimentation to large-scale deployment.
Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18, Sachdev said businesses in the United States are moving faster on AI implementation, driven largely by investor expectations and pressure from financial markets. While Indian companies are experimenting with AI, they are not yet investing at the same pace as many organisations in the US.
"India has seen a huge push on the consumer side, no question. On enterprise AI, I'd say it seems further behind than the rest of the world at this point," Sachdev said.
The comments raise an important question: Is India really lagging in enterprise AI adoption, and if so, why?
Why are US companies moving faster?
According to Sachdev, the biggest difference is not technology but incentives.
He said publicly listed companies in the US are increasingly being judged on their AI strategy by investors and analysts. Businesses that can demonstrate meaningful AI deployment are often rewarded by the market, while those that cannot may face questions about their future competitiveness.
"What is Wall Street telling companies in their earnings?" Sachdev said. "Unless they have a story that in the last 90 days they did something amazing with AI, and because of that their numbers are different, if they don't have that story, their stock will be sent down."
That pressure is creating a sense of urgency among American executives, he added.
Based on Uniphore's experience across global markets, US enterprises are "about 12 to 15 months ahead" of their counterparts in Europe and Asia in terms of AI maturity and adoption.
Is India behind the rest of Asia?
Not necessarily.
Sachdev pointed out that some markets in Asia are already moving aggressively into enterprise AI.
He highlighted Singapore and Hong Kong as regions that are rapidly adopting agentic AI systems, while insurance companies and other large enterprises are increasingly automating business processes using AI agents.
"Surprisingly, Southeast Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong are not further behind Europe. That's not true. They're already on the bleeding edge of agentic AI," he said.
Australia and New Zealand are also emerging as important growth markets for enterprise AI, prompting several global AI companies to expand their presence there.
Why isn't India seeing the same urgency?
One reason, according to Sachdev, is that Indian capital markets have not yet rewarded AI investments to the same extent as Wall Street.
"When Wall Street says, 'We'll reward you for your AI investments,' they mean it. They're voting with their money," he said.
In contrast, Indian companies do not face the same level of investor pressure to rapidly increase AI spending. As a result, chief executives may be more cautious when deciding how much capital to allocate to AI projects.
The difference in market expectations, he argued, has created a gap in adoption speed between the US and many other regions.
What are enterprises focusing on now?
While the early phase of AI adoption was largely about experimentation, enterprises are now focused on making AI useful in production environments.
Kandiah said businesses are increasingly looking beyond the hype and asking practical questions about deployment, governance, security and returns on investment.
"There is a lot of pent-up demand for AI and compute and things like that, but ultimately they need to run something," he said.
"Our focus has really been about helping customers move from the early days of experimentation to really moving these into production."
According to both executives, enterprises are now prioritising lower AI costs, greater control over their data and more flexibility in choosing AI models and infrastructure.
Could India catch up quickly?
Despite his assessment that India currently trails some global markets in enterprise AI adoption, Sachdev remains optimistic about the country's long-term prospects.
He believes AI will fundamentally reshape business models across industries and create significant opportunities for companies willing to adapt.
The challenge, however, is speed.
"Companies, CEOs and governments are, at this moment, slower to adjust than the world is changing," he said.
As AI adoption accelerates globally, the key question for Indian businesses may no longer be whether to invest in AI, but how quickly they can move from experimentation to large-scale deployment.
(Edited by : Prashant)
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