Next Decade's Real Winners

India Inc. needs to make AI-centric culture a C-suite imperative

- BY VIVEK PRASAD, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, PWC INDIA

RIGHT NOW, THE global economic landscape reads like a geopolitical thriller—fast-moving, volatile, and without a clear protagonist.

Coordinated military strikes have pushed the world into a fresh crisis. On the flip side, conversations around AI are gaining momentum. A few weeks back, global leaders, leading policymakers, researchers, and industry titans gathered in New Delhi for the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The summit underscored the country’s potential to become a global AI powerhouse—a co-creator rather than consumer of AI, given its extraordinary talent pool and digital infrastructure.

And yet, PwC’s 29th Annual Global CEO Survey: India perspective—with insights from over 4,400 global CEOs, including nearly 50 from India—presents a sobering counterpoint. India CEOs realise the urgency to act—66% said they were concerned about keeping pace with technology and AI, compared to 42% globally. But a troubling gap persists between aspiration and execution. While CEOs believed their organisations enabled AI adoption, application to core business functions remained limited. Only 37% of India CEOs applied AI for demand generation to a moderate or large extent, versus 54% globally. Just 36% used AI in products, services, and experiences at scale, compared to 52% worldwide. Most companies have not yet realised higher revenues or lower costs from AI, though a telling minority has achieved both. Among India CEOs who applied AI to business functions to a moderate extent, 32% report a revenue uplift.