Indian enterprises advance AI deployment, ROI remains key hurdle: Snowflake study

Indian enterprises are moving beyond pilot projects and are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence across core business functions, but most are still struggling to show clear financial returns, according to new research by analyst firm Ecosystm.

The study, titled Making AI Work: Strategy, Data, and the Power of Ecosystems, examines how organisations across the Asia Pacific and Japan region are adopting agentic and generative AI. It is based on a survey of more than 700 business and IT leaders and was commissioned by Snowflake.

In India, the research shows that AI is being tested and deployed mainly in customer-facing and operational areas. The most commonly evaluated use cases include customer interactions across channels, chatbot improvement, and marketing content generation. These projects indicate that enterprises are focusing on areas where AI can be applied at scale and tied to existing workflows.

Despite this progress, 77% of Indian respondents said proving return on investment remains the biggest challenge. Regulatory and compliance concerns were cited by 66% of organisations. The findings suggest that while interest in AI is high, many enterprises lack clear measurement frameworks to link AI initiatives to business outcomes.

Data-related issues continue to slow adoption. Respondents identified data quality, security, and accessibility as major barriers. Only 23% of Indian companies said AI is fully integrated into their business strategy, pointing to a gap between experimentation and enterprise-wide deployment.

The report also highlights limited readiness to handle unstructured data such as documents, images, and logs. Across all countries surveyed, only 38 percent of organisations have invested in technologies that allow analysis of unstructured data, which is critical for many AI use cases.

To address these challenges, the research notes a shift toward greater reliance on technology partners. Around 83% of Indian organisations are already working with, or plan to work with, external partners to support AI strategy, data management, and implementation.

Ecosystm’s analysis concludes that Indian enterprises need stronger data foundations, better integration across AI tools, and lifecycle-based ROI measurement to move from isolated deployments to sustained business impact.