All In On AI

India's IT industry has jumped on the AI and GenAl bandwagon in a big way helping enterprises across the globe use the technology profitably. But questions over the infra supporting Al-based innovation in the country remain.

- ROHIT CHINTAPALI

INDIA'S HANDLING of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI has faced a storm of criticism in the first 18 months of the boom. However, a recent BCG study reveals a surprising trend: most markets do not see a majority of frontline employees regularly using GenAI for work. But India and the Middle East are notable exceptions, with usage rates of 85 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, far surpassing the US (16 per cent) the UK (13 per cent), and the overall market average (43 per cent).

This trend extends to business leaders as well, with a majority reporting regular use of GenAI. India leads in this category at 93 per cent, followed by the Middle East (90 per cent), the US (84 per cent), the UK (83 per cent), with the overall average at 82 per cent.

India's current public AI efforts are being led by its IT industry which has come under the scanner for their slow GenAI adoption.

But they have been catching up fast and helping enterprises world over adopt AI and GenAI while training employees internally.

As the IT industry leader, TCS is spearheading AI efforts with over 300 active projects. It recently shared that its pipeline is close to the billion-dollar-mark. "At 300-plus, we have active projects on AI that's going on between pilots and production," says Krishna Mohan, VP & Deputy Head of AI.Cloud unit at TCS.

While these projects are not yet enterprise-wide, they are being implemented where immediate value and safety are ensured.