Governance and privacy concerns hinder AI scale-up, say 57% of Indian executives

New Delhi: Indian enterprises are leading the Asia-Pacific region in turning generative AI adoption into tangible return on investment (ROI), according to Adobe’s 2025 AI and Digital Trends India snapshot released today.

Based on a survey of 345 business executives and 841 consumers across India, the report reveals that 23% of Indian businesses have already seen measurable results from generative AI adoption—the highest percentage across APAC.

Executives surveyed reported significant gains, particularly in content ideation and production (73%) and overall productivity and efficiency (67%). 

Adobe India’s Vice-President and Managing Director, Prativa Mohapatra, credited the country’s AI success to its ability to improve scale, speed, and operational efficiency. 

“Indian businesses are setting the global pace for realising ROI on AI initiatives,” Mohapatra said. “For further growth, businesses will need to invest in solving data challenges and adopting agentic AI to free teams from repetitive tasks and enable more meaningful interventions that deliver relevant and real-time personalised customer experiences.”

AI powers customer-centric transformation

The study indicates that customer journey optimisation has emerged as the top business priority for Indian firms in 2025, followed closely by personalised experiences and deeper AI integration.

Air India’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Satya Ramaswamy, highlighted how the airline is leveraging AI to reimagine the travel experience.

“AI is no longer a futuristic concept at Air India—it’s the engine powering our customer-first transformation,” he said. “From AI.g, our GenAI chatbot, to the intelligent eZ booking platform built using agentic AI capabilities, we’re creating a travel ecosystem that’s proactive, fast, intuitive, and deeply personalised.”

Consumer expectations outpace delivery

Despite business enthusiasm, a significant experience gap remains: while 77% of consumers want personalised recommendations and offers, only 53% currently receive them. The data reveals that consumer readiness for AI is rapidly growing, with more than half expressing comfort in using AI-powered assistants for:

• Scheduling appointments (56%)
  
  
• Tech support (56%)
  
  
• Placing orders (52%)
  
  

This signals a market increasingly open to more advanced AI functionalities, including agentic AI, which can proactively complete tasks based on evolving needs.

Data and governance challenges persist

While 85% of executives expect generative AI to significantly accelerate content production, data and governance challenges remain significant barriers:

• 55% of executives cited balancing AI with human creativity as a key challenge.
  
  
• 57% listed governance, compliance, and privacy concerns as top impediments to scaling AI initiatives.

Nevertheless, confidence in the technology remains strong, with 69% of Indian executives stating that AI and machine learning will heavily influence their technology stack decisions in the next 12 to 24 months.