It seems enterprise is entering the next stage of AI. The APAC AI Outlook 2025 report by IBM has revealed that Indian enterprises are moving beyond AI experimentation to enhance the impact of their AI investments. Those surveyed from India expect to see long-term benefits from AI investments in their businesses. As many as 26 per cent see benefits in innovations, 21 per cent expect better revenue generation, per cent expect AI to deliver cost savings, and 12 per cent hope for increased employee productivity. According to the report, the game changer lies in deploying cost-effective AI solutions.
“In 2025, AI is set to be the game-changer for Indian enterprises, revolutionising productivity and enabling unprecedented scalability,” said Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India & South Asia.
Patel added that as the company works toward the vision of a Viksit Bharat, the focus will be on leveraging AI responsibly to drive real business value—moving beyond low-risk experiments to strategic initiatives that provide a competitive edge and improved ROI. “Additionally, the rise of small, high-performing AI models will redefine efficiency, delivering task-specific results that rival larger models at a fraction of the cost,” he added.
The report also suggests that companies are evolving their approach to generative AI, meaning they are moving on from instant wins in low-risk areas toward deploying AI into core business functions for better ROI. The recent survey for IBM suggested that about 60 per cent of Asia-Pacific businesses expect to see AI benefits in two to five years, while 11 per cent expect returns sooner. Based on the report, this shift seems to be suggesting a deeper understanding of AI’s long-term potential by companies.
The report goes on to say that by 2025, Indian companies will prioritise AI investments in areas like customer experience, planning and strategy, and IT optimisation. However, achieving this would also require them to overcome challenges such as data accessibility, limited AI skills, and difficulties in integration and scaling.
Further, the APAC AI Outlook 2025 also highlights key trends and challenges for exploring AI potential, with insights from 17 industry leaders to streamline responsible adoption. The five strategic trends that will shape the region’s AI future include prioritising scalable AI projects that maximise ROI and balancing early wins with long-term strategies; smaller, specialised open-source models tailored to local contexts and languages are emerging; robust tools to streamline the integration of these models; AI agents to redefine workflows by autonomously executing tasks; and a focus on enhancing human capabilities, automating routine tasks, and fostering creativity while prioritising empathetic, customer-focused designs.
Content retrieved from: https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/artificial-intelligence/ai-indian-businesses-long-term-gain-operational-efficiency-9717072/.
