INDIA'S SMBs EMBRACE AI

By 2027, half of India's small and medium-sized businesses are expected to prioritise AI in their IT budgets, reshaping how they work and grow.

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Walk into any small business in India today—whether it's a garment manufacturer in Tiruppur, a food processing unit in Indore, or a tech startup in Pune—and chances are someone is talking about AI. Not just in theory, but in terms of what it can actually do for their business. From handling customer queries to making sense of large datasets, artificial intelligence is quietly becoming a part of daily decision-making.

This transformation isn't just anecdotal—it's backed by numbers. According to IDC's latest Future Scape: Worldwide Small and Medium-Sized Business 2025 Predictions – Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Implications, 50% of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in the region, including India, will significantly adjust their IT budgets by 2027 to focus on AI.

INDIA IS ALREADY AHEAD OF THE CURVE

Interestingly, India's SMBs seem to be responding to this shift even faster than many of their regional counterparts. According to a joint study by CPA Australia and ASSOCHAM, 23% of Indian small businesses had already adopted AI by the end of 2024. More strikingly, 73% plan to increase AI adoption in 2025—well above the global average of 52%.