'Indian CEOs must stop asking; start building with AI'

Irina Ghose, head of Anthropic India, urged Indian CEOs to stop merely asking questions about artificial intelligence and start building real products and solutions with the technology. At a panel discussion during The Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi, Ghose emphasized that AI should be used to build things, not just answer queries. She advised CEOs to identify their most complex business problems and establish dedicated task forces to address them using AI.

Anthropic is already collaborating with Indian enterprises and institutions across various sectors. Ghose mentioned that the company is working with Axis Bank and Kotak Bank on engineering productivity, NPCI on agentic AI solutions, and systems integrators like TCS and Infosys. The AI for Science team is collaborating with IISc on antivenom discovery, while Digital Green is utilizing AI-powered responses to farmers in multiple languages.

Ghose reiterated that there is no predefined playbook for implementing AI in India. Instead, she stressed the importance of co-creating a playbook specific to India's unique needs, which can then be adapted globally. McKinsey research estimates the economic potential of AI at $4.4 trillion. Currently, Indian companies are investing around $2.6-2.8 billion in AI, with plans to significantly increase this investment over the next two years, according to research cited during the discussion.

However, Cheryl Lim, a partner at McKinsey, cautioned that merely investing in AI does not guarantee business value. She noted that 80-90% of companies claim to be investing in AI, but a similar proportion have yet to see significant returns. Lim emphasized the need for companies to help their talent prepare for AI integration and address concerns about job displacement. Successful implementations, she added, will involve redesigning workflows, upskilling and reskilling employees, and managing change effectively.

SAP President – Asia Pacific, Verena Siow, highlighted SAP's 30-year presence in India, which has enabled the company to understand local requirements while developing global technology. SAP's Bengaluru labs, the largest outside Germany, contribute around 40% of the company's global innovations. Ghose pointed out that local data residency and inference capabilities could further accelerate AI adoption in regulated sectors such as banking, insurance, and healthcare.

Hans Christian Dall Nygård, Head of Private Equity at SPEC Finance, advocated for GIFT City's role not to replicate well-established financial hubs but to leverage India's growing market. He suggested that GIFT City could eventually serve as a platform for Indian companies expanding overseas. Lim concluded by highlighting that AI is transforming the consulting industry, producing work that once took weeks in mere minutes.

However, she emphasized that AI will augment rather than eliminate the role of consultants, as strategy ultimately depends on people, culture, and relationships.