AI may be a boardroom priority, but most companies still lack the foundation to scale it: Report

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a top priority for companies worldwide, but most businesses still lack the technology, systems and skilled workers needed to turn their AI spending into real business results, according to a report by Tata Communications and Bloomberg Media Studios.

The report, titled Building Durable AI Advantage, argues that while AI is expected to generate trillions of dollars in economic value over the next decade, enterprises risk falling behind if they fail to modernise the digital foundations required to support large-scale deployments.

"AI will generate trillions of dollars in value across global industries by 2030," the report said, adding that the technology is expected to reshape cost structures, accelerate product development and improve decision-making across sectors. Yet, "65% of enterprises are still running on infrastructure that wasn't built for enterprise AI."

Must read: India’s semiconductor moment is bigger than outsourcing: UST COO Gilroy Mathew

The gap between ambition and readiness is becoming increasingly visible. According to the report, 77% of enterprises surveyed said AI is now a board-level priority. However, only 35% reported having the infrastructure required to scale AI initiatives across the organisation, while 65% continue to rely on legacy systems that were not designed for the data-intensive demands of modern AI applications.

The stakes are significant. Citing Morgan Stanley estimates, the report noted that full AI adoption across the S&P 500 could generate as much as $920 billion in annual net benefits. Over time, that could translate into between $13 trillion and $16 trillion in additional market capitalisation, roughly equivalent to a quarter of the index's current value.

Despite these opportunities, enterprises are struggling to move beyond pilot projects.

The report identified five reinforcing factors that determine whether AI investments compound into long-term competitive advantages: infrastructure foundations, enterprise integration, skills readiness, governance and return on investment.

Infrastructure emerged as one of the biggest challenges. Fewer than half of enterprises reported fully modernised network connectivity, hybrid deployment flexibility or data architecture. Just 29% said their infrastructure could scale alongside evolving business requirements.

"Modernisation is not a binary state," the report said. "Capabilities advance in pockets rather than as an integrated system, and that makes on-demand scale harder to sustain when AI moves from pilot to enterprise-wide adoption."

Must read: AI spending nightmare: Companies spend over $500 million in 30 days on Anthropic’s Claude

The research found that enterprises operating on advanced infrastructure are nearly twice as likely to report business value from AI compared with organisations still dependent on legacy systems.

Integration remains another major hurdle. Around 28% of business leaders cited difficulties integrating AI with legacy systems as a primary obstacle to realising value from AI investments. The report warned that fragmented platforms and siloed data environments often trap AI initiatives within isolated business units, preventing broader deployment.

"Without seamless interoperability, intelligence cannot move freely across the enterprise and value remains compartmentalised," the report said.

The talent challenge is equally pressing. Nearly one-third of executives surveyed identified skill gaps and shortages of specialised AI talent as major barriers to scaling AI. About 30% of enterprises specifically cited skills shortages as a top roadblock to realising AI value.

"AI is not only a technology problem. It's also a people problem," the report said, noting that organisations unable to attract, develop and reorganise talent around AI risk are slowing their own transformation efforts.