AI could be a major driver of India’s economic growth adding $28 billion to $84 billion annually to GDP. But an IT services company Cognizant’s new study shows that even though productivity of employees is improving, businesses aren’t turning AI investments into money.
The study (released on November 3, 2026) looks at how AI-enabled productivity improvements could impact India’s economic output. It is based on a survey of 700 enterprise employees and 75 senior executives across 10 major industries.
As per the survey results 97% of employees in India said some productivity improvement occurred after using AI tools. Employees reported an average productivity improvement of 15%, which means that AI is increasingly being used in everyday business operations.
But not everyone is getting the benefits. While 74% of surveyed Indian employees had AI training, business leaders estimated that only 36% of their employees had access to AI tools within their organisations that’s where employee readiness ends and workplace adoption begins.
Why Are Companies Struggling to Make Profits
The biggest challenge identified in the study was that productivity improvements don’t translate into financial returns.
Only 35% of business leaders said they saw productivity gains in their workforce; 84% had not seen AI reduce operating costs; 91% said no revenue impact; and 37% had paused or discontinued AI projects because ROI was unclear.
So that doesn’t mean faster work equals higher profits either. Companies also have to ask whether AI is reducing expenses, increasing sales or creating new business opportunities.
Another cost is the implementation cost. Businesses need to spend money on computing infrastructure, cloud services software data management cybersecurity and specialized talent. These costs will increase before the financial benefits are realized.
Organisations also find it hard to embed AI into their systems and scale pilot projects across their operations. Without planning and clear objectives businesses may not know what value they are getting from their investments.
Which Industries Are Benefiting Most
The report also shows differences in productivity improvements across industries. Healthcare employees saw the highest share of productivity gains above 20% (38%).
Communications had 31%; technology and banking each had 28%. Retail and consumer packaged goods were both 18%.
These results show that AI adoption is creating opportunities in several sectors but the degree of impact varies.
India's $84 Billion AI Opportunity
Cognizant’s study says that under realistic adoption scenarios AI-enabled productivity could add $28 billion to $84 billion per year in additional GDP. It also gives a theoretical upper limit of $830 billion (wide workforce adoption and full conversion of productivity improvements into output) this higher figure is not a forecast.
The report says wider access to AI tools, continued training for employees and better measurement of business outcomes will be required.
Ultimately India’s AI opportunity will be about not just how many companies take the technology on but also how well they turn productivity gains into lower costs, higher revenues and sustainable profits.
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