Indian enterprises to up AI spending by 68% in 2024: Report

New Delhi, Jan 4: About 68 per cent of IT leaders stated they are gearing up for an increase in Artificial Intelligence (AI) spending over the next 12 months, a new report has revealed.

According to the CIO&Leader Annual State of Enterprise Technology report, the versatility of AI is prompting businesses to explore diverse applications in the context of business operations, driving growing interest in using AI.

The surge in AI investment can be attributed to successful outcomes of pilot projects, with 25 per cent of participants forecasting a substantial rise in spending, 43 per cent anticipating a moderate increase, and only 15 per cent are undecided about future spending on AI and Machine Learning.

"The marked increase in AI spending reflects a fundamental shift in enterprise technology investment strategies. It highlights the growing realisation of the transformative impact of AI on business operations and its tangible benefits," said R Giridhar, Group Editor and Head of Research at 9.9 Group.

The report surveyed over 300 IT decision-makers from India’s top organisations, between July and September 2023.

The survey underlined the substantial enhancement of AI capabilities, driven by increased availability of data and cloud-enabled processing power.

While business functions like IT operations, sales and marketing, and customer service have been quick to leverage the benefits of AI/ML, the report noted that supply chain, HR and finance-related processes also have a good potential for using specialised AI/ML solutions.

"This survey highlights AI's pivotal role in generating insights, optimising decision-making, and elevating customer experiences. It reflects AI's evolution from a technological tool to a strategic business growth catalyst," said Jatinder Singh, Executive Editor at CIO&Leader.

Moreover, the report mentioned that more than one-half of the respondents cited the challenge of selecting the correct technology as a significant barrier to scaling AI deployments.

Additionally, 54 per cent of participants are concerned about protecting AI systems from cyber threats, particularly in critical applications.

Ensuring AI's compliance with emerging regulatory standards is another significant concern that was highlighted by nearly half of the participants.