India Witnessing ‘Digital Renaissance’, Leading AI Adoption Globally: IBM India MD

SUMMARY

India is on the cusp of a ‘digital renaissance’ with the country witnessing ‘Naya Daur’ of digital Bharat, IBM India MD Sandip Patel said

Almost two-third of Indian enterprises have already integrated AI in some form into their products, with the rate of AI adoption in the country the highest globally, Patel said

Earlier this year, the union cabinet approved the India AI Mission with a total outlay of over INR 10,300 Cr to further grow the country’s AI ecosystem

Sandip Patel, managing director of IBM India and South Asia, has said that India is on the cusp of a ‘digital renaissance’ with the country witnessing ‘Naya Daur’ of digital Bharat.

Speaking at the IBM Think 2024 event, Patel said India is leading the charge in adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). He said that 59% of domestic enterprises have already integrated AI into their products — the highest adoption rate globally, citing an internal survey conducted by IBM, PTI reported.

The IBM India head said that AI is not just a buzzword, but a key driver of growth for India, adding that the company remains focused on hybrid cloud and AI, which according to Patel, are “two of the most transformational technologies of our time”.

The growth curve from experimentation to scaling AI will not be without challenges, the IBM executive said, adding that companies need to be cautious about the technology’s implementation.

Patel laid out three guiding principles for companies to incorporate AI into their businesses: how to make it more practical for real-life use cases, how to ensure its responsible use and how to embed it seamlessly into daily operations.

Scaling responsible AI will be crucial to India’s mission of ‘Viksit Bharat’, characterised by transparency, explainability, robustness, privacy and fairness, he emphasised.

The IBM executive’s comments come at a time when the AI boom, particularly GenAI, has spawned the rise of new startups in India, which cater to clients across sectors such as consumer support, manufacturing, and fintech.

As per Inc42, India is home to more than 70 GenAI startups. These startups raised more than $440 Mn between 2019 and Q3 2023 with backing from over 80 Indian institutional investors. India also minted a unicorn in this space this year — Krutrim.

The rising adoption of AI in the country comes on the back of favourable government policies. To strengthen the AI ecosystem in the country, the union cabinet approved the India AI Mission earlier this year with a total outlay of over INR 10,300 Cr. It envisages creating a scalable AI computing infrastructure by deploying over 10,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) through strategic public-private collaborations.

The Economic Survey 2024 also emphasised that AI would impact several facets of the Indian economy and put the onus on private companies to leverage AI to augment labour rather than displace jobs.