Indian CEOs place great importance on AI governance, with a significant 71% believing that trusted AI is impossible without effective AI governance in organizations. A global study of 3,000 CEOs conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value, in cooperation with Oxford Economics, reveals a number of interesting aspects about workforce, culture and governance challenges faced by Indian CEOs while navigating AI journeys.
According to the study, 75% Indian CEO respondents say governance for generative AI must be established as solutions are designed, rather than after they are deployed. At the same time, the study also noted a contrast in actual adoption of AI governance policies with only 42% Indian CEO respondents saying they have good generative AI governance in place today.
The survey also highlights other key challenges around workforce. 75% of Indian CEO respondents say that inspiring their team with a common vision produces better outcomes than providing precise standards and targets. Yet 31% acknowledge that their employees don’t fully understand how strategic decisions impact them.
Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India & South Asia said, “As Indian CEOs navigate AI-led transformations within their organizations, they recognize the need for AI guardrails so that they derive real business value responsibly for growth and competitive success. However, our study reveals a gap between their intention and actual implementation. This scenario highlights the complexity of implementing AI governance, hence making a strong case for partnering with trusted experts to develop and execute effective practices and policies.”
Other key study findings include:
People and skills are at the heart of successful generative AI adoption
- 71% of Indian CEOs surveyed say that succeeding with AI will depend more on people’s adoption than the technology itself
- 49% of Indian CEO respondents says they are hiring for Gen AI roles that didn’t exist last year
- CEOs surveyed from India say 34% of their workforce will require retraining and reskilling over the next three years – up from just 6% globally in 2021
Indian CEOs recognize it takes a cultural shift to successfully scale AI, but face organizational collaboration and adoption challenges.
- 70% of Indian CEOs surveyed say their organization’s success is directly tied to the quality of collaboration between finance and technology, yet nearly half (48%) say competition among their C-Suite executives sometimes impedes collaboration.
- Nearly half (48%) of those surveyed from India acknowledge that cultural change is more important to becoming a data-driven organization than overcoming technical challenges.
- 58% of Indian CEO respondents say they are pushing their organization to adopt generative AI more quickly than some people are comfortable with
Customer experience and product & service innovation are top priorities, regulatory constraints might be hindering long-term progress
- Indian CEOs surveyed ranked customer experience and product & service innovation as their highest priorities for the next three years
- 59% of respondents say they are willing to sacrifice operational efficiency for greater innovation.
- However, nearly half (48%) of Indian CEOs surveyed point to regulatory constraints as their top barrier to innovation.
- Today, only 32% of the Indian CEO respondents are primarily funding their generative AI investments with net new IT spend, with the remaining 68% reducing other technology spend.
