In a recent revelation, Gartner, a renowned consulting firm, has foreseen that the transformative potential of generative AI will not significantly influence the landscape of Indian corporate IT spending until the year 2025. This surprising forecast challenges the common perception that generative AI is an imminent game-changer for businesses worldwide.
Despite this seemingly conservative projection, the overall outlook for India's IT spending appears promising. In the period between 2022 and 2023, the country experienced a marginal contraction of 0.5% in IT spending, primarily attributed to inflationary pressures. However, the tide is expected to turn as the nation increasingly embraces digital technologies, necessitating a heightened adoption of cloud services and IT infrastructure. Gartner anticipates a noteworthy surge of 10.7% in corporate spending on IT infrastructure in 2024.
Naveen Mishra, VP, Team Management at Gartner, highlighted a critical challenge facing Indian Chief Information Officers (CIOs) - the need for enhanced skills. This challenge, persisting for the past few years, is set to intensify with the integration of generative AI, artificial intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity into corporate frameworks. A substantial portion of the augmented spending is earmarked for software and IT services.
As generative AI offers new possibilities for organizations and gradually consumes a larger share of their IT budgets, CIOs are urged to define their AI ambitions. Gartner recommends an in-depth examination of AI's opportunities and risks in four key areas - the back office, the front office, new products and services, and new core capabilities.
A global survey conducted by Gartner in June 2023 revealed a startling statistic: only 9% of organizations had an AI vision statement in place. More concerning was the finding that over one-third of respondents had no plans to create one, indicating a potential gap in strategic planning regarding AI adoption.
To guide organizations through the uncharted territory of generative AI, Gartner has proposed a three-step approach for the safe adoption of generative AI technologies in the coming year:
Establish AI-Ready Principles: Organizations are advised to define principles aligned with their values. These principles will serve as a guiding light for navigating the unknowns of human interaction with machines, encompassing both employees and customers.
Make Data AI-Ready: Gartner emphasizes the importance of AI-ready data meeting five essential criteria - security, enrichment, fairness, accuracy, and governance in alignment with the organization's core principles.
Implement AI-Ready Security: Acknowledging the dual nature of AI, Gartner warns about potential security threats and advises CIOs to prepare their organizations for new attack vectors. Additionally, creating robust usage policies for public generative AI solutions is recommended to mitigate potential risks.
As India Inc. stands at the cusp of a digital revolution, Gartner's insights and recommendations provide a roadmap for organizations to navigate the evolving terrain of generative AI, ensuring a secure and strategic embrace of this groundbreaking technology.
