With India emerging as one of the fastest-growing markets for generative AI (GenAI), businesses across various industries are rapidly transitioning from exploration to widespread deployment.
Driven by focused top management commitment, access to a large pool of technological skills, and innovation led by government efforts that drive adoption, India is becoming a global hub for AI-led transformation. However, alongside this enthusiasm lies a critical challenge—the readiness of enterprise information systems to support AI at scale. In an exclusive interaction, Saurabh Saxena, Regional Vice President, OpenText India, shares insights from the latest OpenText–Ponemon Institute 2025 study, highlighting how Indian enterprises are embedding GenAI into mission-critical areas such as security operations and business reporting, outpacing several global counterparts. He also discusses the major roadblocks—unstructured data, policy gaps, and governance issues—that hinder AI scalability and how trusted, well-governed information can bridge the gap between ambition and execution.
Why is India emerging as one of the fastest-growing GenAI markets globally?
India’s rise in the GenAI space is being shaped by strong executive intent and enterprise-level adoption. The OpenText–Ponemon Institute 2025 study reveals that 48% of Indian enterprises have already embedded AI into IT and business strategies—one of the highest rates globally. At the same time, 59% of boards and CEOs in India rank AI as extremely important, higher than peers in markets such as the UK and France. What’s notable is that this adoption is not limited to experiments. Indian enterprises are embedding GenAI into mission-critical use cases such as security operations (46%) and business reporting (44%), both significantly higher than global averages. The outlook is highly positive, with growth expected to multiply as cloud and software platforms become business necessities. India’s strong technology talent pool, government-led innovation, and thriving digital ecosystem are all fueling this momentum. Platforms like OpenText Aviator make deployment at scale more secure and practical, helping organisations move beyond pilots to measurable outcomes in productivity, automation, and customer experience.
What is holding back AI at scale in India, from unstructured data to a lack of governance frameworks?
Even with this ambition, India faces real barriers when it comes to scaling AI across the enterprise. The primary challenge is what we call the “information readiness gap” — the disconnect between AI ambitions and the information foundations needed to support them. The single biggest roadblock, cited by 44% of organisations in the research, is unstructured information like documents, emails, multimedia content, and legacy data that remain largely inaccessible to AI systems. Beyond data complexity, only 15% of Indian enterprises feel confident in measuring ROI from their information management investments, while more than half reported a cyber breach in the past two years, averaging three incidents each. There are additional challenges: policy gaps, copyright risks, bias in AI models (flagged by 46% of Indian leaders versus 32% globally), and regulatory uncertainty. These hurdles often keep projects stuck at the pilot stage.
OpenText helps close these gaps with Zero Trust governance, encryption, classification, and compliance solutions. But the message is clear: India does not lack ambition; it lacks readiness.
How can trusted and well-governed information become the missing link in delivering on AI’s promise?
For AI to live up to its promise, companies need trusted and well-managed information. Nearly 70% of leaders in our study agree that simplifying data is critical to AI readiness. Without clarity on where information sits, who has access, and how it is applied, AI projects face delays due to compliance and security doubts. This is where governance becomes the missing link. Trusted information enables enterprises to scale AI with confidence, ensuring responsible, bias-free outcomes. Practices such as consistent labeling, access controls, encryption, and compliance checks not only protect data but also build trust internally and with customers.
OpenText Aviator brings governance, security, and classification under one roof, so organisations can act on their information confidently. Once companies can rely on their data, AI moves from promise to performance—delivering speed, security, and trust.
How can better information practices unlock the real value of AI investments?
Better information practices turn AI from experimentation into measurable enterprise value. When organisations simplify data complexity, strengthen governance, and embed Zero Trust security, they reduce risk and unlock board-level confidence for larger investments. Today, only 41% of Indian leaders say they are confident in measuring ROI on information security investments, but more than half expect to demonstrate returns within 6–12 months. This shows both the urgency and the opportunity: boards want results, and better information practices accelerate them. OpenText supports this journey with solutions that reduce information sprawl through secure workspaces, automate compliance, and enable hybrid and multicloud management. Enterprises that invest in governance see tangible outcomes: higher productivity, faster innovation cycles, reduced cyber risk, and more reliable AI deployments.
Over time, these practices are what will allow India not just to lead in GenAI adoption, but to sustain that leadership with responsible, enterprise-scale success.