AI adoption will continue to accelerate in India, says IBM's Sandip Patel

Patel noted that while over 30% of Cloud spending is wasted, the issue with AI is not waste but insufficient scaling

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Highlighting the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in the country, IBM India head Sandip Patel said India is witnessing a digital renaissance as the country leads in the adoption of AI.

“AI is clearly going to accelerate. Indian enterprises are outshining their global counterparts in AI deployment and adoption. According to a recent survey by IBM's AI adoption index, 59 per cent of Indian enterprises— the highest across all markets globally— are deploying AI in some form,” he said during the keynote address at IBM Think 2024, the company’s flagship event in Mumbai.

Patel added that hybrid cloud and AI are the two most transformational technologies of our time, as they help enterprises boost productivity and innovation.

However, he cautioned that while these technologies are transformational, they also pose challenges that businesses need to address first. For instance, Patel pointed out that hybrid cloud has seen massive adoption, with nearly 80 per cent of IT decision-makers operating in a hybrid environment. “But nearly two-thirds of companies report complexities in managing this environment— a challenge that will continue to grow as businesses deploy generative AI across multiple clouds,” Patel noted.

He further added that over 30 per cent of growing expenditure on cloud is being wasted.

“In the case of AI, while it's not about wasted expenses, the reality is that people are not scaling enough,” Patel added.

Ritika Gunnar, general manager, product management for data and AI at IBM, said in her presentation that AI, quantum computing, and hybrid cloud are transforming businesses like never before. “Over the next four years, at least one billion applications will be developed using the power of AI,” she stated.

The company also acknowledged that evolving regulations will impact tech spending for enterprises, both in India and globally.

Patel remarked that over the next year, regulations will begin to settle and become more definitive. “IBM has been at the forefront of providing a strong point of view to the government, and we do that proactively. Earlier this year, our chief privacy officer, Christina Montgomery, who also leads government relations, had very active dialogues with regulators and ministries in terms of providing input,” he added.