Chennai: Indian enterprises are rapidly advancing from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide adoption, with a majority planning to increase investments and reporting measurable returns, according to Dun & Bradstreet’s latest AI Momentum Survey for India. However, the study also highlights a critical challenge, with only 4% of businesses saying their enterprise data is fully prepared to support AI at scale.
The survey found that AI adoption is now widespread across Indian organisations, reflecting growing confidence in the technology’s business value. While enterprises are seeing tangible returns from AI initiatives, the report notes that sustained success will increasingly depend on data readiness, governance and the ability to operationalise AI across business functions.
According to the findings, 100% of surveyed Indian businesses have AI-related projects underway. Of these, 44% are in the planning or pilot stage, 30% are scaling AI into production, 19% have operationalised AI across multiple core processes, and 7% are already deploying agentic AI workflows.
The report also indicates strong investment momentum, with 69% of organisations planning to increase AI spending. While 56% expect a moderate increase in investments, 13% anticipate a significant increase. The remaining 31% expect spending to remain at current levels, and none of the respondents foresee a decline in AI investments.
On returns, 73% of organisations reported measurable ROI from AI initiatives. Half of the respondents said they are seeing returns in specific business areas through successful pilot projects, while 23% reported broad or strong returns across multiple AI deployments.
Despite this progress, enterprise data readiness remains a significant hurdle. Only 4% of organisations said their data is fully ready to support AI at scale, while 58% described it as partially ready and 30% said it was mostly ready. The report suggests this gap could limit organisations’ ability to achieve consistent and repeatable AI-driven outcomes across the enterprise.
Commenting on the findings, Julian Prower, Executive Vice President, Global Business Operations & Transformation and Managing Director & CEO, India & Taiwan, Dun & Bradstreet, said, “Indian businesses are moving quickly from AI experimentation to enterprise adoption, with growing evidence of business value and return on investment. As organisations scale AI across the enterprise, the quality of their data will increasingly determine the quality of outcomes. Dun & Bradstreet enables organizations to build AI on a foundation of trusted business identity, context, and insight, helping translate the AI momentum into sustainable growth and competitive advantage.”
The survey reinforces a broader global trend of organisations shifting their focus from AI experimentation to enterprise-scale deployment. It concludes that while adoption and investment continue to accelerate, long-term success will increasingly depend on improving data quality, governance frameworks and enterprise-wide AI implementation capabilities.
The Dun & Bradstreet AI Momentum Survey is a quarterly global study covering 10,000 businesses across 32 countries, tracking AI adoption, investment, deployment and business outcomes over time.
