Only 22% Indian firms have AI governance despite 119% investment surge: Report

New Delhi: Enterprise AI investment in India has surged by 119 per cent over the past year, surpassing the global average of 110 per cent, yet only 22 per cent of Indian organisations have established the necessary governance frameworks to manage the technology, according to a report.

The 'ServiceNow Enterprise AI Maturity Index 2026' revealed a widening gap between rapid capital deployment and the foundational auditing, testing, and risk-assessment processes required to scale AI safely.

The report, which surveyed 4,500 senior leaders, including 350 from India, projected that AI will account for more than 21.3 per cent of the average Indian IT budget by 2027, up from the current 16.6 per cent.


However, the lack of good governance is already impacting operational depth. While 54 per cent of Indian organisations are deploying AI agents, only 11 per cent have transitioned to autonomous workflows.

"India has proven it can commit to AI at a scale few markets can match. The next leap will be defined by how Indian enterprises pair that ambition with governance, connected data and workflows that let AI take on more consequential work. The organisations that build these foundations first will unlock AI's next tier of value for India," said Kulmeet Bawa, Managing Director and Group Vice President, ServiceNow India and SAARC.

The study identified several hurdles to AI adoption, with 60 per cent of respondents citing transparency and misinformation as top concerns. Regulatory and compliance complexity (55 per cent) and data privacy and security (50 per cent) also emerged as significant concerns.

Infrastructure remains another bottleneck. Only 18 per cent of Indian organisations have replaced fragmented legacy systems with integrated platforms.

Consequently, India's overall AI governance score stands at 55 out of 100, trailing behind "APAC Pacesetters", who score 78 out of 100. These leading regional peers are reportedly achieving a 149 per cent return on investment (ROI) on AI today.

"AI maturity is entering a new phase in India. As organisations scale AI across the enterprise, the opportunity is moving beyond individual use cases to reimagining workflows, decision-making and operating models. That requires equal attention to the foundations that make AI scalable and trusted, including data, talent, governance and accountability," Ashvin Vellody, Partner, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at Deloitte India, said.