CIOs to leverage AI for real RoI: Ankit Bose, Nasscom AI

AI is evolving fast as a mega trend and an ecosystem play given the scale, diversity of varied solutions and the maturity levels of AI across each organisation. Ankit Bose, Head, Nasscom AI talks in detail on AI adoption trends, the foreseen challenges, the significance of talent development and strategies for CIOs to emerge as a AI leader.

Q. What is the state of AI adoption across Indian organisations and what are three megatrends driving AI investments for CIOs?

Ankit: AI adoption is on the rise amongst Indian organisations. As per Nasscom’s AI Adoption Report 2.0, 87% of the Indian enterprises are in the middle stages of AI maturity – Enthusiast and Expert – with 45% at the Expert stage up from 35% in 2022 indicating the positive trend.

AI investments are increasing since organisations are experiencing better return on their investments gradually. As per a McKinsey survey, organisations reported cost decreases in human resources, and commonly reported meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management. For analytical AI, organisations reported seeing cost benefits in service operation as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.

Q. What according to Nasscom, are three biggest barriers for Indian enterprises to go all out on investments on AI?

Ankit: Despite progress, certain systemic shortfalls (as outlined in the Nasscom AI Adoption Index 2.0) are limiting companies from advancing their AI initiatives:

Lack of alignment of AI outcomes with business goals and inadequate top leadership commitment. It is crucial to demonstrate PoC success, quickly move to production, and plan for scalability for business goal alignment, and to drive an enterprise-grade AI strategy

Inconsistent supply of standardized,   compliant, and quality data – critical to maintain enterprise data discipline and enable risk-managed use of AI

Expertise shortfall despite abundance of skilled AI workforce – as companies consistently flag shortage of tech+domain experience of AI workforce  and expertise in strategic thinking and building advanced AI solutions To overcome these challenges, enterprises will benefit from thinking of a leap strategy, becoming an AI-first company and prioritizing data discipline as the new company value.

Q. What are the key parameters for CIOs to build an IT teams for the AI-enabled organization?

Ankit: Indian enterprises need to invest much more in building “right-sized” operating models for their AI initiatives, combining both internal and external talent sources with consistent leadership oversight and centers of excellence (AI CoEs) to streamline and scale-up disparate AI programs across the organization. As per our AI Adoption Index 2.0, 75% enterprises prefer starting AI foray as-a-service, since inhouse talent building can be a challenging route. Additionally, 50% companies find at least two of these three – hiring, retention, and best-fit reskilling, as major challenges in building the right AI skills.

Companies also struggle with hiring dedicated AI leadership and rely on IT heads to own AI initiatives, with ad-hoc execution team. Only 8% companies have designated a dedicated AI leader, majority of which are mature adopter organizations. AI leaders are known to be able to envision and drive enterprise-scale AI initiatives more effectively. And only 13% enterprises have dedicated AI teams, reflecting the limited availability of specialist AI talent.

Q. As per Foundry’s State of the CIO Study 2025, almost 79% of CIOs respondents say they have additional responsibility of driving AI / Gen AI projects at their organisation. How can CIOs balance IT infra, AI investments and business outcomes?

Ankit: CIOs can balance IT infrastructure, AI investments, and business outcomes by adopting a strategic, integrated approach.

• Prioritize scalable cloud infrastructure to support AI workloads while optimizing costs.

• Focus on high-impact AI use cases aligned with business goals, ensuring measurable ROI.

• Foster cross-functional collaboration between IT, data teams, and business units to drive  innovation and adoption.

• Implement strong governance frameworks to manage risks, compliance, and ethical AI practices.

Q. How is Nasscom evangelising AI and Gen AI amongst Indian organisations and their teams?

Ankit: Nasscom AI implements a range of initiatives to foster AI innovation and nurture the entrepreneurial ecosystem to bolster India’s competitiveness in AI innovation, under the following pillars:

Catalysing AI innovation: Nasscom AI collaborates with academic institutions to bolster India’s research capabilities in frontier AI research. 

Monitoring the rate and level of AI adoption: Nasscom collaborates with industry partners annually to develop the Nasscom AI Adoption Index, the first-of-its-kind assessment in the Indian context to track and measure the degree of AI penetration in India and arrives at a composite score both at the country and sector levels. 

Enabling AI adoption in Industry and Government: Through the Nasscom GenAI Foundry Program and the Revv Up Program (led by the Telangana AI Mission – a joint initiative of the Government of Telangana and Nasscom), Nasscom AI supports 200+ AI startups in developing products for global markets through partnerships with government entities, major corporations, and venture capital community. The inaugural cohort of Nassom’s GenAI Foundry in 2023 experienced 1.7x growth, increased headcount of 50%, raised ~$150k with $2MM to be raised, and filed over 40 patents. 

AI Enablement for MSMSEs: Nasscom AI also supports MSMEs in AI adoption through the ‘AI Enablement for MSMEs’ Program with the objective to (1) promote AI awareness and capacity building among MSMEs, (2) understand challenges in wider AI adoption and solutions to overcome these challenges, and (3) catalyse AI adoption to enhance productivity and business growth, thereby providing a competitive edge in an AI-centric global environment. 

Championing AI adoption in the public sector: Through Telangana AI Mission, Nasscom has introduced AI to government departments: Telangana Forests (identification & classification of 20 animal species), Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (mapping potholes in Hyderabad), Law Enforcement (GenAI chatbot for substance abuse) among others. In all, ~220+ startups showed interest and 3 received the opportunity to work with the departments

Responsible AI: At Nasscom, we are committed to advancing safe and trustworthy AI-enabled futures for all. Through the Nasscom Responsible AI Hub, Nasscom implements and supports a range of strategic programs and activities aimed at mitigating AI-related risks while unlocking its socio-economic potential.

Recently, Nasscom unveiled The Developer’s Playbook for Responsible AI in India that provides a voluntary framework for developers to systematicallyidentify and mitigate the potential risks associated with the commercial development, deployment, and use of AI in India.

Q. Amidst all the frenzy about AI, there is also fearmongering about AI’s impact on business scape. Do you want to debunk some common myths about AI in the corporate world?

Ankit: AI’s breakneck evolution has been ground breaking across practically all industries, but confusion about its abilities has also led to unfounded suspicions. Few of the top of the mind myths are:

Myth: AI Will Replace All Jobs.

Reality: With AI handling mundane responsibilities and automating repetitive tasks, employees are free to focus on higher-value, creative, and strategic work, making better use of their human potential and acumen. According to a World Economic Forum report, AI will create 97 million new roles by 2025.

Myth: AI Is Only for Tech Companies.

Reality: The reality is far from this myth. Artificial Intelligence has found implementation across industries and verticals, from personalized customer experience in retail, predictive maintenance in manufacturing to revolutionary cybersecurity solutions.Generative AI has helped make modern applications more accessible to underdeveloped parts of India.

Myth: AI Delivers Immediate ROI.

Reality: AI projects often require upfront investment in data, infrastructure, and talent. ROI is delayed as organizations experiment, iterate, and scale use cases. 85% of AI projects fail because the data is messy, incomplete or just plain bad, according to IDC.