Accenture warns: India risks missing $675 billion AI opportunity without bold action

With a projected $675 billion in additional economic value from generative AI (GenAI) by 2038, Accenture is positioning India as a strategic hub in its global AI playbook. The country offers the right mix of talent, scale, and digital infrastructure to lead in AI innovation, both as a supplier of capability and a major consumer of AI-driven transformation. Yet, the tech major believes that many Indian enterprises are still stuck in the early stages, and the gap between boardroom ambition and what is happening on the ground may decide how much of that potential is realised.

The sluggish pace of GenAI adoption remains uneven, threatening to undercut this potential and raising questions about how quickly the country can translate its promise into measurable impact.

In an exclusive conversation with Fortune India, Glenn Heppell, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Oceania, Accenture, points out that India is a very important market for the tech major, but there are areas that needs to be worked upon.

“India is a really important market in terms of capability and innovation. It's been the hub, both globally and particularly within the region as well. If you think about the growth in the Indian economy, we're seeing so much innovation and so much service-led orientation that’s been beautifully exported but also delivered within the domestic market,” Heppell says.

India’s AI paradox

Everyone is talking about AI, but only a handful are acting on it. Accenture’s recent research highlights this disconnect. 96% of Indian CEOs have acknowledged that AI is the strategic bet to take, but only 18% have actually put significant money behind it. And just 19% of companies in India have taken even one strategic AI bet to scale. This is abysmally behind the 34% globally and 36% in the Asia-Pacific region. Further, it is estimated that only around 5–6% of Indian enterprises qualify as true AI front-runners who have taken multiple large-scale bets and realized measurable value. Globally, that number is slightly higher at 8%.

Saurabh Kumar Sahu, Lead for India Business, Accenture, states, “That's a huge gap. The intent is strong, but the strategic execution is still lagging.”

Still, there are signs of progress. The number of Indian companies that have modernised core business processes with AI has tripled in just one year, bringing them in line with their regional peers. Among the early movers, the benefits have been tangible—with up to 12% growth in revenue and an 11% drop in costs within 18 months.

“Companies where the CEO backs and owns the strategy—meaning AI is at the core of your strategy and not relegated to an IT or digital thing—have realised 2.5 times higher return on investment,” Sahu adds.

India’s AI sectors look nothing like the world’s

Across global markets, sectors like life sciences, healthcare, and insurance are leading the charge in AI adoption. In the U.S. and parts of Europe, pharmaceutical companies are deploying GenAI to accelerate clinical trials, improve drug discovery, and automate compliance. Insurance firms, flush with structured data, are using AI to underwrite risk, detect fraud, and personalise premiums at scale.

“Outside India, particularly in the U.S., insurance and life sciences are way ahead in terms of digitisation and data maturity,” says Heppell.

The contrast in India is clear.

Here, it’s consumer goods, retail, banking, and public services that are driving early momentum. These are data-rich, customer-facing sectors where AI can deliver immediate, measurable results. And unlike healthcare or insurance, they face fewer regulatory bottlenecks.

In retail, the use of GenAI is already moving beyond pilots. Malabar Gold & Diamonds is using AI to hyper-personalise customer experiences by offering dynamic schemes based on individual purchase patterns and macroeconomic indicators. Banking, a sector already accustomed to tech transformation, is turning to AI for fraud detection, customer segmentation, and credit scoring. Even the public sector is experimenting with GenAI on the back of India’s robust DPI backbone—such as Aadhaar and UPI—that provides the scaffolding for scalable, citizen-facing AI solutions. The complexity is greater in asset-intensive sectors like infrastructure and manufacturing, where India’s unique mix of public-private ownership makes data consolidation difficult.

But in sectors like healthcare and insurance in India, the adoption is slower. Indian pharma companies, unlike their global peers, are still in the early stages of digitising R&D workflows. Meanwhile, regulatory ambiguity and fragmented data continue to limit how far GenAI can go in these industries.

India’s $5 trillion dream may run on AI

The potential for India is immense. Accenture estimates that responsible adoption of GenAI could unlock $675 billion in additional economic value by 2038.

"This is a number that could significantly contribute to our GDP targets," says Sahu. "We are currently at around $4 trillion. If we aim for $5 trillion in the next few years, AI could account for a significant portion of that leap.”

This value is expected to come from AI-driven transformation across sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, insurance, semiconductors, and manufacturing—especially where the government is making sizable capital outlays.

“India, as a country, after a certain level of investments, can really hyper-scale because nobody has the kind of talent as well as the scale of consumption. In the entire IT revolution, we have been a hub for the world as a supplier of talent. The time has come for us to be a consumer of AI, not just a supplier. If government, academia, and the private sector collaborate and come together, we can create a huge number of use cases and impact in these sectors, which can add $675 billion in value to our economy,” adds Sahu.

However, Accenture believes there are three key hurdles that are slowing India’s AI progress: data readiness, regulatory frameworks, and talent.

“Data is the key to GenAI. The more data you can access in the right way, the more effective any GenAI solution will be. A lot of clients are rushing forward, and it’s the old garbage in, garbage out. Many organizations are excited about GenAI, but they're only accessing 30–40% of their data. That means clearly 60–70% of potential AI value is left on the table,” says Heppell.

Skilling is another major concern. "AI is evolving faster than the workforce is," says Sahu. "It’s like when James Cameron had the concept for Avatar, but had to wait a decade for the technology. With AI, we have the tech, but not enough skilled people yet."

Despite the hurdles, Accenture remains bullish on India. Both Heppell and Sahu believe that India’s combination of talent, entrepreneurial energy, and policy support can create an ideal environment for AI—but only if the right execution steps are taken.

With GenAI still in its early maturity curve and agentic AI on the horizon, India’s ability to scale from pilots to platforms will define whether it captures this once-in-a-generation opportunity.