Right now, the global economic landscape reads like a geopolitical thriller—fast-moving, volatile, and without a clear protagonist. Coordinated military strikes have pushed the world into a fresh crisis. On the flip side, conversations around AI are gaining momentum. A few weeks back, global leaders, leading policymakers, researchers, and industry titans gathered in New Delhi for the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The summit underscored the country’s potential to become a global AI powerhouse—a co-creator rather than consumer of AI, given its extraordinary talent pool and digital infrastructure.
And yet, PwC’s 29th Annual Global CEO Survey: India perspective—with insights from over 4,400 global CEOs, including nearly 50 from India—presents a sobering counterpoint. India CEOs realise the urgency to act —66% said they were concerned about keeping pace with technology and AI, compared to 42% globally. But a troubling gap persists between aspiration and execution. While CEOs believed their organisations enabled AI adoption, application to core business functions remained limited. Only 37% of India CEOs applied AI for demand generation to a moderate or large extent, versus 54% globally. Just 36% used AI in products, services, and experiences at scale, compared to 52% worldwide. Most companies have not yet realised higher revenues or lower costs from AI, though a telling minority has achieved both. Among India CEOs who applied AI to business functions to a moderate extent, 32% report a revenue uplift.
This underlines a pivotal shift: for India CEOs, AI is no longer an experiment but an existential lever, and one where scale makes the difference. As companies move from pilots to enterprise-wide deployment, AI is emerging as a powerful value driver. Our research highlighted that organisations with stronger AI foundations are 2.3 times more likely to report revenue growth and 1.7 times more likely to achieve cost reductions. The competitive advantage lies not in isolated use cases, but in embedding AI across operating models, decision-making, and culture.
As companies move from pilots to enterprise-wide deployment, AI is emerging as a powerful value driver. Our research highlighted that organisations with stronger AI foundations are 2.3 times more likely to report revenue growth and 1.7 times more likely to achieve cost reductions.
Innovation capability was another spotlight. It showed that innovation today is less about isolated R&D and more about diversification, collaboration, and co-creation. This mindset is reflected in expansion strategies. The survey findings indicated that nearly six in ten India CEOs were competing in new sectors—up sharply from the previous year. On average, companies entering new sectors were generating 20% of their revenues from these new avenues. Technology (20%), industrial manufacturing (16%), and aerospace and defence (14%) emerged as the most attractive frontiers for India CEOs over the next three years.
India’s moment, then, is not merely about optimism; it is about orchestration. And orchestration demands intent. For CEOs, that intent translates into five clear action steps:
• Build AI foundations, not pilots: Move beyond experimentation to enterprise-wide AI deployment, supported by data, governance, and an AI-centric culture
• Rewire innovation through partnerships: Pursue co-innovation with startups, academia, and global partners to accelerate diversification and reduce time to market
• Align growth bets with trade realities: Factor FTA utilisation, duty structures, and supply chain resilience into expansion strategies early, not as afterthoughts
• Invest aggressively in skills at scale: Treat skilling as a strategic investment, especially to sustain India’s services edge and enable advanced manufacturing.
• Compete beyond core sectors: Actively pursue adjacencies and new sectors where India’s policy momentum, talent depth, and capital flows intersect.
The roll out of Labour Codes, sustained GST rationalisation, and deliberate diversification of the export basket have strengthened India’s economic fundamentals.
The reforms have not only improved ease of doing business but also enhanced policy predictability. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that India has risen to become the joint second-most-preferred investment destination for global CEOs, with 13% expressing intent to invest in India, tying with Germany and the UK, and trailing only the United States at 35%. Last year, India sat in the fifth place. The ascent therefore is unmistakable—and, in the context of a world searching for stability, all the more significant.
India’s advantage today lies not just in being resilient—but in being ready. For CEOs, the opportunity is clear. The winners of the next decade will be those who move decisively from pilot to scale, from ambition to impact—while building the resilience to weather storms that no survey can fully predict. For India Inc., the window of opportunity is wide open: the differentiators will be speed, scale, and the courage to act.
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