Barriers to scaling AI are less about cost (12%) and infrastructure (5%), and more about governance and operating-model changes.

Access to AI by workers has grown by about 50% in a year, rising to roughly 60%, but comprehensive transformation remains limited to a subset of firms.

At-scale AI deployment in India is strongest in Product Development, Strategy and Operations, Marketing & Sales, and Supply Chain, signaling AI embedding across growth-focused functions.

Moreover, 94% of Indian organizations anticipate their AI budgets increasing in the next year, signaling sustained investment in AI initiatives.

Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise 2026 urges leaders to move beyond pilots and integrate AI into core operations, redesigning processes and operating models while preserving essential human strengths.

The study points to a broader deployment of AI rather than isolated pilots, indicating a shift toward enterprise-wide adoption.

Industry leaders cite three evolving AI trends: Sovereign AI, Agentic AI with governance needs for autonomous reasoning, and Physical AI that blends digital and physical worlds under strong human oversight.

Deloitte India emphasizes shifting from experimentation to enterprise-wide execution, underscoring governance, institutional capability, and talent as critical to sustaining advantage.

S Anjani Kumar, Deloitte India Partner, notes the move from ambition to enterprise-wide execution and highlights governance and workforce alignment as essential.

The emphasis is on governance, institutional capability, and workforce alignment as the pillars underpinning sustained AI advantage in India.

Despite widening access to AI tools, many organizations have yet to deeply transform their businesses or redesign core processes; 84% have not redesigned jobs around AI.

Indian enterprises are leading global AI adoption, with 40% of Indian respondents using AI significantly or fully, well above the global average of 28%, and 97% expect productivity gains from AI in the near term.