India’s enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) investment surged 119% in a single year, significantly outpacing the global growth rate of 110%, according to the ServiceNow Enterprise AI Maturity Index 2026. However, the rapid adoption of AI is being accompanied by a significant gap in governance, with only 22% of Indian enterprises having AI testing, auditing and risk-assessment processes in place.
The research indicates that AI is becoming an increasingly important component of enterprise technology spending in India. AI currently accounts for 16.6% of the average IT budget in the country, a figure that is projected to rise to 21.3% by 2027.
Despite this investment momentum, enterprises remain cautious about allowing AI to operate autonomously. While 54% of Indian organisations are deploying AI agents, only 11% have progressed to autonomous workflows.
The report identifies transparency and the potential for misinformation as the leading AI consideration for Indian organisations, cited by 60% of respondents. Regulatory and compliance complexity was highlighted by 55%, while 50% pointed to data privacy and security concerns.
ServiceNow said building governance around AI agents will become increasingly important as these systems gain access to enterprise data, systems and decision-making processes.
The research also highlights challenges around the technology foundations needed to scale AI. Only 18% of Indian organisations have replaced fragmented legacy systems with an integrated platform. Meanwhile, AI-enabled workflows received a score of 41 out of 100 in the study.
Data accuracy, access and management emerged as the biggest area requiring improvement, cited by 74% of respondents, while 56% identified legacy-system integration as a key challenge. India’s overall AI governance score currently stands at 55 out of 100.
The report suggests that stronger foundations could help Indian enterprises narrow the gap with AI leaders in the Asia-Pacific region. APAC Pacesetters recorded an AI return on investment of 149%, which is projected to reach 181% within two years. These organisations also recorded an AI governance score of 78 out of 100, compared with India’s 55.
The ServiceNow study, conducted in partnership with ThoughtLab, surveyed 4,500 senior leaders globally, including 350 respondents from India.
