93% of Indian biz surveyed see positive returns on AI investment in 3 years

Nearly 93 per cent of Indian organisations surveyed expect positive returns on their AI investments in less than three years, underlining the rising confidence of businesses in value and potential of Artificial Intelligence, according to SAP Value of AI Report 2025.

Driving the AI momentum, businesses across the country are investing an estimated USD 31 million in AI this year - ahead of global average - with focussed spending on software, infrastructure, talent, and consulting, SAP said.

"Indian businesses are investing USD 31 million in AI across IT, infrastructure, talent, and consulting, ahead of the USD 26.7 million global average," said the report released by enterprise application software and business AI firm.

Unveiled at SAP's flagship event, TechEd 2025, the Value of AI Report 2025, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, surveyed 1,600 senior business leaders across eight countries, including 200 respondents from India, according to a release.

The AI adoption study released by SAP highlighted the growing confidence of Indian businesses in the value and potential of AI.

According to its findings, 93 per cent of Indian organisations expect positive returns on their AI investments in less than three years the highest level of confidence recorded among all countries surveyed.

"Organisations are already realising tangible value from AI, with Indian businesses reporting an average return on investment (ROI) of 15 per cent from AI initiatives in 2025, projected to reach 31 per cent within just two years," the release said.

The majority of businesses expect AI to be central to business processes, decision-making, and customer offerings by 2030 with only 3 per cent saying otherwise.

"Most businesses are scaling AI automation and experimenting with generative AI, leading to AI supporting 23 per cent business tasks today, rising to 41 per cent in two years," it added.

Listing out the challenges to its uptake in India, it said AI adoption remains fragmented, with 48 per cent of organisations reporting piecemeal investments and 27 per cent pursuing department-led initiatives.

AI skills remain a barrier to scale, it added.

About 67 per cent of organisations remain concerned about 'shadow AI', with risks across inaccurate outputs (63 per cent), data leakage (53 per cent), security vulnerabilities (42 per cent), and compliance violations (34 per cent).

In simple terms, shadow AI' refers to unsanctioned use of AI tools by staff or end users sans clearance or oversight of the IT department.