Autodesk released its AI Pulse Report 2026 revealing that India is rapidly establishing itself as one of the world's most AI-ready economies. As per the report, compared with regional and global peers, Indian businesses are leading on AI investment, enterprise adoption, leadership commitment and market ambition, signalling a shift from experimenting with AI to integrating it into core business operations.
Overall, the report shows that 91% of Indian organisations have increased AI investment over the past year, exceeding both the APAC average (85%) and the global average (81%). AI adoption continues to broaden across organisations, with 63% now using AI assistants and chatbots, the highest adoption rate in APAC while no surveyed organisation reported operating without AI tools.
Indian businesses are also demonstrating strong confidence in AI adoption. 93% of respondents believe their organisation can keep business data secure while using AI, the highest level recorded globally, while 87% are actively exploring new markets, making India the most expansion-focused country among all markets surveyed.
The top two highlights of the report are:
Indian businesses are moving beyond experimentation to measurable business outcomes
As AI adoption matures, organisations are reporting tangible business benefits. Nearly 88% of Indian respondents say AI has improved productivity, while 84% report stronger innovation outcomes and 75% believe AI is enabling better decision-making.
Investment priorities are also evolving. Generative AI remains the highest investment priority (74%), followed by process automation (58%) and decision-support AI (54%), while 51% of businesses now prioritise investment in AI agents. Looking ahead, 69% expect to adopt agentic AI within the next year, highlighting growing confidence in more autonomous AI capabilities.
These findings indicate that Indian organisations are increasingly viewing AI as a strategic business capability rather than a standalone technology initiative.
"India's rapid AI adoption reflects far more than technology uptake- it signals the country's growing leadership as a global innovation and engineering powerhouse", said Haresh Khoobchandani, Vice President, APAC & Japan at Autodesk. "For industries that design and make the world around us- from infrastructure and manufacturing to architecture and construction, AI is becoming a strategic enabler of design innovation, productivity and resilience. As India progresses towards the vision of Viksit Bharat, the ability to combine world-class talent with trusted, industry-specific AI will strengthen its position as a global technology innovation leader."
India's AI talent readiness is higher than its regional peers
While talent development remains a global AI challenge, India is closing the capability gap faster than many of its peers.
According to the report, 70% of Indian respondents believe their organisation provides sufficient AI training, significantly higher than the APAC average of 57% and the global average of 59%, making India one of the highest-ranked markets globally on workforce preparedness.
Leadership commitment is equally strong, with 88% saying senior leaders actively encourage AI adoption, compared with 81% across APAC.
However, businesses recognise that scaling AI responsibly will require continued investment in people and governance. Organisations continue to cite regulatory uncertainty (50%), AI skills shortages (49%), data quality (45%) and system integration (47%) among their biggest implementation challenges.
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