Gen AI: India Inc proceeds cautiously, upping AI game in global competition

The last of the three-part series shows how Indian firms are upping their AI play, but Gen AI progression remains focussed on HR and customer experience applications

Indian enterprises are upping their game vis à vis global counterparts in deploying and adopting artificial intelligence (AI). However, when it comes to Generative AI (Gen AI), the latest addition to the technology landscape, they are proceeding with caution. Similar to their global peers, most of India Inc’s experiments and deployments in Gen AI have been focused on the human resources sector and customer experience applications.
 

According to an EY analysis, 15-20 per cent of Gen AI proof-of-concepts by Indian enterprises have progressed to full-scale production. In comparison, IBM’s AI Adoption Index reveals that 59 per cent of large Indian enterprises (with over 1,000 employees) actively use AI in their business operations, the highest percentage globally. Companies of all sizes are ramping up their AI and Generative AI capabilities.
 

For instance, Genpact, the NYSE-listed IT services firm, in August this year, announced the appointment of Sanjeev Vohra as chief technology and innovation officer, the first for the company. His appointment also comes as the company accelerates its AI capability and advanced technology solutions.
 

Similarly, Yotta Data Services in May this year appointed Anil Pawar as chief AI officer and head of AI cloud business unit. Yotta is among the first data centre player to have partnered and received Nvidia’s H100 Tensor Core GPUs.

 

Conglomerates
 

Industry leaders such as Larsen & Toubro (L&T) are using AI-based solutions across various function including safety, supply-chain price discovery, tender/contract summarisation for risk prediction, IT coding assistance, and project performance/risk prediction.
 

“Real-time data from various IT systems and operational technology (OT) through connected IoT (Internet of Things) devices are synchronised into a data lake. This data is then translated into business dashboards, providing real-time status updates for business and functional leaders,” said R Ganesan, head, Corporate Centre, L&T Construction.
 

The engineering conglomerate is also seeing the start of AI influence on business decisions. “It will take some time to fully develop and realise the comprehensive benefits of AI across these areas,” added Ganesan.
 

The Tata group is taking initiatives based on AI for enhanced efficiency, customer service, and supply-chain management.

TCS, India’s largest software exporter, spearheads the AI transition for the conglomerate. The non-information technology and other tech companies of the group too are embracing AI to enhance efficiency, safety, customer care, and product innovation

Among the manufacturing companies, Tata Steel is leading the digital transformation by utilising AI to enhance efficiency, quality, and safety. Its Integrated Remote Operations Centre (IROC) allows remote supervision of plant operations, significantly boosting operational efficiency.
 

Tata Steel’s unified data platform, integrated with AI and machine learning (ML), provides early warning systems and enhanced safety protocols, according to its annual report. Additionally, Tata Steel’s Enterprise Gen AI model facilitates secure queries of organisational data, improving decision-making.
 

The group’s direct to consumer jewellery brand Titan is leveraging AI, ML, and advanced analytics to embed continuous intelligence across its operations. Tata Consumer Products, the fast-moving consumer goods giant, is utilising Infiniti, an AI-enabled commodity procurement platform, for seamless integration with real-time data analytics.

 

Auto
 

This segment has traditionally been at the forefront of adopting technology. From production planning and inventory management to predicting the supply of critical components and deciding on features, colours and variants that customers want, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are using data and employing AI and ML tools to manage their operations.

Not just predicting demand patterns, AI-ML tools are being used to reduce supplier risk management, according to OEMs.

Maruti Suzuki India, the largest passenger car maker in the country is doing this. Tata Motors is using AI-ML forecasting algorithms to analyse historical sales data, market trends, and socio-economic factors to predict demand in the industry, as well as their sales, enabling adjustments to production plans to meet shifting demand.

 

Telecom
 

While operators have been dabbling in AI for at least five years, concentrated efforts took off on the runup to the nationwide 5G rollout in October 2022. All three private sector telecom service providers -- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) -- have confirmed they are using AI tools to better map network expansion, engineering and monitoring user issues and complaints. Airtel has announced a long-term collaboration with Google Cloud to deliver generative AI-based cloud solutions to businesses apart from a partnership with Intel to leverage its AI accelerator solutions. Meanwhile, Vi has deployed AI and ML models to manage user data volumes.
 

The most pronounced AI plans have been outlined by Jio, with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani announcing Jio is adopting AI on a large scale, arguing the cutting edge technology needs to be accessible on all devices by Indians across socio-economic backgrounds. 
 

Unveiling Jio’s “AI Everywhere For Everyone vision”, Ambani committed himself to democratising AI, and offering powerful AI models and services to everyone in India at the most affordable prices. A case in point, the company would roll out JioPhonecall AI, which will allow users to record, transcribe, and translate phone conversations, making them easy to search, share, and understand across languages, he said. He also announced the “Jio AI-Cloud Welcome” offer, giving Jio users up to 100 GB of free cloud storage.

Industry matters

L&T is using AI-based solutions for safety, supply chain price discovery, IT coding assistance, and project performance/risk prediction
 

Tata Steel is midst of digital transformation, utilising AI to enhance efficiency, quality, and safety
 

OEMs are using data and AI/ML tools to manage their operations and reduce supplier risk management
 

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are using AI tools to map network expansion and for monitoring purposes

Inputs from Amritha Pillay, Dev Chatterjee, Subhayan Chakraborty, Sohini Das & Shivani Shinde