According to research released on Wednesday, 87% of the organizations polled have advanced their AI strategy for 2024, and 76% have already seen favorable returns on their investments, demonstrating the enormous progress Indian businesses are making in adopting AI.

In addition to making long-term investments in AI, businesses are increasingly using open-source technologies to spur innovation and optimize profits.

According to recent data by IT giant IBM, an astounding 89% of organizations polled had already started more than ten AI pilot projects in 2024.

In the future, 71% of respondents want to use open-source ecosystems to maximize their AI implementation, while 93% of respondents want to raise their AI investments by 2025.

But as companies realize how important it is to use AI responsibly, governance has become a major challenge.

A systematic strategy that guarantees fairness, openness, privacy, and explainability is necessary for the responsible implementation of AI.

Lack of governance (53 percent), inadequate AI knowledge (51 percent), technology integration hurdles (51 percent), data management problems (41 percent), and difficulty creating commercial value (39 percent) are the main obstacles to AI adoption.

Indian businesses are nonetheless dedicated to investing in AI in spite of these obstacles.

In 2025, almost 97% of the organizations polled intend to either maintain or raise their AI expenditures.

To improve their AI skills, they are concentrating on certain areas like data quality management, which is emphasized by 55% of organizations; software development, which is a priority for 56% of firms; and IT operations, where 83% of businesses are spending.

Sixty-six percent of businesses want to engage specialized AI personnel, seventy-one percent are prioritizing open-source technologies, and seventy percent are concentrating on managed cloud services in order to maximize AI expenditures.

In India’s AI ecosystem, open-source AI solutions are becoming more and more prevalent.

According to over 48% of Indian businesses, open-source technology forms the foundation of more than half of their AI solutions.

India is adopting AI quickly, with a distinct emphasis on promoting innovation and return on investment. “Increasing productivity and financial returns requires the use of open-source AI tools,” said Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India & South Asia.

He went on to say that if we want to expand the use of this technology, it is obvious that it must be used properly.

Larger businesses are more likely to depend on open-source solutions for their AI requirements, according to the survey.