80% of Indian businesses looking for AI solutions: Deloitte State of GenAI

More than 80% of Indian companies are actively investigating the development of autonomous agents, signalling a strong shift towards Agentic AI, as outlined in the State of GenAI report by Deloitte. Agentic AI refers to systems designed to make independent decisions and act on them without human intervention.

According to Deloitte’s findings, 70% of organisations expressed a strong inclination to use generative artificial intelligence GenAI for automation, reflecting a growing adoption of AI-driven autonomous technologies across different sectors.

Deloitte finds AI getting things done faster

The survey also highlights an acceleration in innovation, greater accessibility to AI, and increased investment in AI-driven transformation. Notably, 61% of businesses are conducting more than 10 GenAI experiments.

For Indian enterprises, the rising interest in GenAI and agentic AI processes is already driving large-scale impact.

The report states that over 67% of companies acknowledged GenAI’s positive influence across all stages of the software development lifecycle.

Further illustrating GenAI’s business value, nearly 70% of respondents noted that their AI integration efforts either met or exceeded return on investment (ROI) expectations.

Key business functions such as IT, customer service, marketing, operations, and product development have emerged as frontrunners in AI adoption, reflecting the increasing AI maturity of organisations.

“As Indian organisations explore Agentic and GenAI, the key to unlocking their potential lies in moving from experimentation to large-scale deployment,” said Moumita Sarker, Partner, Deloitte India.

“Our report indicates that most Indian organisations prefer buying AI solutions over developing them in-house. In such a case, ensuring adaptability to evolving needs is a challenge. Embracing an agile innovation approach is essential to stay ahead of AI advancements and optimise long-term returns. Balancing rapid adoption with sustainable strategies will be key to successful AI investment and growth,” said Moumita Sarker.

Challenges remain

Despite the momentum surrounding Agentic AI and GenAI, organisations still encounter significant obstacles in scaling their initiatives.

The survey found that while many businesses are engaging in AI experimentation, only 29% have successfully scaled up to 30% of their AI proofs of concept, with others struggling to reach even this level.

Moreover, AI integration within workflows remains uneven, with 61% of organisations stating that no more than 40% of employees with access to GenAI tools actively utilise them.

Concerns about errors with real-world consequences (36%), bias and hallucinations (30%), and data quality issues (30%) continue to slow deployment.

However, most organisations anticipate overcoming these challenges within the next 12 to 24 months, indicating strong confidence in AI’s long-term viability.

One of the main barriers to scaling AI is the approach businesses take to adoption. The survey suggests that most organisations favour purchasing GenAI tools and applications rather than developing them internally.