From experiments to enterprise impact: How Godrej AI Lab shaped AI-first decision-making in 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, artificial intelligence has moved decisively from experimentation to execution across Indian enterprises — and at the centre of this shift within the Godrej Industries Group is the Godrej AI Lab. For diversified conglomerates like Godrej Industries Group, the challenge has not merely been adopting AI, but doing so responsibly, at scale, and with measurable business impact. At the heart of this transformation sits the Godrej AI Lab — a central AI hub building reusable platforms and shared data pipelines to embed intelligence across businesses while keeping data integrity, governance, and human judgement firmly in the loop.
In an exclusive year-ender conversation with Express Computer, Jyothirlatha B, Chief Technology Officer, Godrej Capital, who also heads the AI charter for the Godrej Industries Group, reflects on how the AI Lab has evolved over the last two years — from early, decentralised experimentation to a strategic driver of underwriting precision, operational efficiency, and ethical AI adoption across the group.
Before the AI Lab: Proof that AI could deliver value
Even before the formal establishment of the Godrej AI Lab, teams across Godrej businesses had already begun exploring AI-driven initiatives, guided by the group’s long-standing belief in leveraging technology to create tangible value for both businesses and people.
At Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), AI-driven demand forecasting achieved accuracy levels of over 75 percent, significantly improving planning and pricing decisions across markets such as India and Indonesia. In parallel, computer vision models were deployed to strengthen in-store execution in modern trade, enabling better shelf visibility, planogram compliance, and execution quality.
At Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL), AI adoption extended across both consumer-facing and agri-led operations. In Creamline Dairy Products Limited, geo-fenced retail audits delivered close to 95 percent accuracy, while AI-enabled promo compliance tracking and share-of-shelf visibility enhanced on-ground execution and decision-making. In the oil palm business, around 40,000 hectares came under satellite monitoring. Advanced satellite imaging provided plantation-level insights, including tree uprooting visibility, early detection of water stress and pest infestation, and data-led yield improvement interventions.
“These early successes gave us confidence,” Jyothirlatha explains. “They demonstrated that AI was not theoretical — it could solve real problems, improve outcomes, and scale across very different kinds of businesses.”
Why Godrej set up an AI Lab: From shared vision to scalable intelligence
With multiple proof points already in place, the next challenge was scale and consistency. Hence, driven by a firm belief in not just adopting AI but shaping the future of AI-driven business success, Godrej AI Lab was formally established in May 2024.
The lab was set up as an internal Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence for the Godrej Industries Group, anchored in a business-first, scalable capabilities approach. The objective was clear: AI could not remain a collection of disconnected pilots spread across business units. For a conglomerate operating across consumer goods, financial services, real estate, chemicals, and agri-businesses, intelligence needed to be centralised, reusable, and governed.
“The intent was never to build AI for the sake of it,” says Jyothirlatha. “The idea was to create a central hub where AI capabilities could be developed once, strengthened continuously, and then deployed across the group based on each organisation’s maturity and business context.”
Acting as the central AI hub for the Godrej Industries Group, the lab builds reusable platforms, shared data pipelines, and common AI frameworks to accelerate product launches, unlock smarter customer insights, and drive operational efficiency. It prioritises high-value areas where AI can shift the needle fastest — accelerating decision-making, automating repetitive processes, and enhancing productivity across functions.
Data quality remains foundational. “If the data is not right, no AI model can deliver meaningful outcomes. Data is the heart of every intelligent system we build,” Jyothirlatha emphasises.
Rather than replacing business teams, the Godrej AI Lab operates as an enabler and, in some cases, an outcome owner. For more mature organisations such as Godrej Capital, AI Lab teams are embedded directly within core technology functions, owning delivery end-to-end. In other businesses, the lab focuses on capability building, reusable components, experimentation support, and structured knowledge transfer.
This hybrid operating model allows the AI Lab to function both as a centre of excellence and a marketplace of intelligence — where businesses can adopt proven models, platforms, and accelerators instead of building everything independently.
Inclusion, accessibility, and the human-centred lens
A defining early initiative that reflects this philosophy is Godrej EVAA (Empowered Voice AI Assistant). EVAA is a voice-enabled browser extension that allows users to interact with the web using natural speech — summarising content, answering questions, navigating pages, and performing actions such as clicking or filling forms. Built using speech recognition, natural language understanding, and safe automation, EVAA was designed with accessibility at its core and unveiled at the group’s recent Assistive Tech Conference 2025.
Notably, EVAA was not driven by immediate ROI metrics. “This was a conscious choice,” Jyothirlatha says. “It reflects Godrej’s belief that technology should contribute to inclusion and ease of use, not just business efficiency.”
This human-centred lens continues across AI initiatives, reinforcing the principle that impact is measured not only in cost savings, but also in usability, safety, and social value.
2025: From proof-of-concepts to platform thinking
If 2024 was about experimentation, 2025 marked a clear inflection point. Early pilots around intelligent document processing (IDP), multilingual voice understanding, computer vision, and summarisation delivered measurable outcomes. This success prompted a deliberate shift away from isolated use cases towards enterprise-wide AI roadmaps.
“Small, fragmented implementations don’t create visible business impact,” Jyothirlatha explains. “So we moved to structured, year-long AI roadmaps for each organisation, supported by reusable components and shared platforms.”
A key outcome of this shift is a centralised experimentation and governance platform, designed to continuously test, observe, and refine AI models while embedding predefined guardrails. Compliance, ethics, and data privacy checks are built directly into platforms, allowing developers to innovate faster without compromising governance.
AI across the lending lifecycle at Godrej Capital
In digital lending, AI’s impact at Godrej Capital now spans the entire lifecycle — from sales and onboarding to servicing and collections.
Intelligent document processing at the sales login stage has reduced manual data entry by upto 75 percent. Bureau reports are summarised into actionable insights for credit teams, while automated income validation and bank statement analysis have significantly improved turnaround times. These capabilities are embedded into Salesforce-driven journeys, combining workflow automation with AI-led intelligence.
“AI is not delivering value in just one pocket,” Jyothirlatha notes. “It’s improving outcomes across the entire lending journey.”
Responsible AI by design
With scale comes responsibility. In 2025, Godrej formalised its AI policy and governance framework, aligned with global standards. All initiatives are anchored in Responsible AI principles, with strong emphasis on safety, transparency, cybersecurity, and customer-centricity.
Dedicated steering committees oversee sensitive AI deployments, ensuring that high-impact decisions always retain human oversight. Even internal GenAI tools such as Ask Capital operate within clearly defined boundaries.
“Responsible AI is not optional for us — it’s foundational,” Jyothirlatha says.
Collaboration at scale: From finance to factories
The influence of Godrej AI Lab now extends across factories, farms, and front offices. Video analytics platforms integrated with CCTV systems in GCPL factories are being extended to other manufacturing-heavy entities such as GAVL and GIL (Chemicals). Factory safety bots, policy bots, call analytics platforms, and Customer 360 systems are being rolled out across businesses, tailored to organisational maturity.
“The AI Lab functions as a central hub — building reusable platforms, shared data pipelines, and operational intelligence that every group company can tap into,” Jyothirlatha adds.
Looking ahead: Skills, scale, and sustainable ROI
As Godrej looks beyond 2025, priorities are sharpening. Skill upgradation for both technology and business teams will be critical as AI adoption deepens. Infrastructure strategies are evolving, with a more nuanced approach to deployment models as AI workloads scale. While early phases focused on learning and experimentation, future initiatives will be guided by clearer, long-term ROI expectations.
“The next phase is about maturity,” Jyothirlatha reflects. “We now know where AI creates impact, what kind of intelligence we want to scale, and how to do it responsibly.”
Year-end takeaway
In 2025, Godrej AI Lab emerged as more than an innovation centre — it became a blueprint for enterprise AI done right: business-first, platform-driven, responsibly governed, and deeply human-centred. As Indian enterprises move from AI curiosity to AI confidence, Godrej’s journey underscores a powerful lesson — intelligence delivers its greatest value when it is shared, scalable, and aligned with purpose.
