The state of Artificial Intelligence in India

Artificial Intelligence (AI), a field of data science that educates computers to learn from experience, has been evolving for more than 60 years. In the past few years, both Indian private and public sector companies and the central and state governments have invested in multiple AI use cases across diverse application areas. In fact, AI is already transforming the operational, functional, and strategic landscapes within various industry sectors.

The scope and role of AI is also expanding. Organisations are infusing more of their enterprise applications and processes across functions with AI. As AI technologies proliferate, businesses looking to maintain a competitive edge must start developing and leveraging these capabilities. Nearly half of the respondents to a survey view AI as critically essential for their businesses. Start-ups and established players alike are using AI and ML to tap into new opportunities.

The report outlines, AI technologies are going to discover new insights to drive business growth. In terms of achieving these outcomes, 37 percent reported success in discovering new business insights and 41 percent are able to enhance their existing products and services. According to a NASSCOM report, data and AI could add US$ 450 – 500 billion to India's GDP by 2025, representing 10 percent of India’s US$ 5 trillion economy aspiration.

The fact is, there is a significant impact of AI investment on both the demand and supply sides. In a recent survey by Deloitte states, executives from different industries, driving AI initiatives within organisations of various sizes, helps to assess the extent and nature of use of AI technologies across such organisations. We need to understand the impact of AI on the people and processes at these organisations, their preparedness for various associated risks, and the benefits they expect or have achieved from AI.

The report further states, Start-ups are in a position to use AI for high-impact areas, such as building customer relationships, creating new products and services, and enabling new business models right from the inception. This gives start-ups a competitive edge at a crucial stage of their lifecycle. A smaller size, flexible operations, and innovation friendly learning culture enables a majority of the start-ups to achieve payback on AI investments within a two-year time horizon.

Finally, AI maturity is a combination of the number of successful AI implementations undertaken and the duration for which they have been using some form of AI techniques.

Deepak Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA