India’s AI surge and what it means for global companies today.
In my recent tenure at AWS, leading the consulting partner business, I had the opportunity to engage with system integrators, consulting firms, and enterprise CXOs across industries. What I witnessed was astonishing: the sheer scale of adoption inside enterprises and the agility of local partners who were attempting to build a solution for every use case articulated by their customers. This energy is undeniable. Yet beneath the enthusiasm lies a sharper reality—enterprises are not simply looking for experimentation. They are seeking AI companies that bring solutions with global relevance, established and tried use cases, transformative impact and scalability.
The narrative is not about prioritizing industries one after another over time. It is about solutions being relevant to industry transformation now. CXOs are focused on business outcomes—productivity gains, cost optimization, faster customer adoption, revenue growth and profitability. They want AI that augments their transformation journeys immediately, not in the distant future.
India’s momentum as a growth engine
India’s AI market is projected to reach $28.8 billion in 2025, growing at a 45% CAGR through 2030—outpacing most global regions. The generative AI segment alone is expected to expand from $1.02 billion in 2024 to $8.33 billion by 2030, a CAGR of 34.4%. Nearly half of Indian enterprises already report multiple AI use cases in production and more than ninety percent of business leaders expect positive ROI within three years.
Global players are reinforcing this momentum. Google has committed $15 billion to an AI hub in Visakhapatnam, AWS is investing $12.7 billion by 2030 in partnership with Tata Group, Microsoft has pledged $3 billion for AI and cloud infrastructure including a Hyderabad data center and OpenAI opened its first India office in New Delhi in 2025. These investments are strategic convictions, not speculative gestures.
Why India now against other markets
Other regions offer opportunities, but none combine India’s unique mix of scale, speed and support. Europe has strong market size but is slowed by regulatory friction, with GDPR and the AI Act creating compliance burdens that divert resources from innovation. The Middle East offers premium opportunities but limited scale and talent pools, heavily reliant on expatriates. Southeast Asia is fragmented, with smaller populations and uneven infrastructure. China has large investments but geopolitical restrictions limit access for global firms.
India alone offers a massive population of 1.4 billion driving diverse use cases, a talent pool representing 16% of global AI professionals projected to reach 1.25 million by 2027, government support exceeding $1.3 billion including subsidies for GPU access and national AI missions and digital infrastructure such as UPI and Aadhaar that accelerates integration and adoption. This concurrency of scale, talent, infrastructure and pragmatic governance makes India uniquely positioned as the market where global AI companies can validate, scale and lead.
Industry transformation now
Across banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and IT services, AI is already reshaping operations. Banks are deploying AI for fraud detection, AML and compliance, with IT spending projected at $15 billion in 2025. Healthcare is using AI diagnostics and predictive analytics to address structural shortages, with the market projected to grow at 23% CAGR to $44.8 million by 2030. Manufacturers are adopting predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization, with spending projected at ₹12.59 billion by 2028. Retailers are leveraging personalization and inventory optimization to drive revenue uplift, with seventy-one percent accelerating generative AI adoption. IT services, contributing 7.5% of India’s GDP and projected to exceed $400 billion by 2030, are embedding AI developer tools across workflows, amplifying adoption globally.
The critical point is that enterprises are not waiting to prioritize industries sequentially. They are demanding solutions that are relevant to transformation across industries now. CXOs want AI that can augment productivity, optimize costs and accelerate customer adoption today.
Leveraging India’s talent through capability centers
India hosts over 1,700 Global Capability Centers, employing 1.9 million professionals and projected to reach 2.5–2.8 million by 2030. GCCs have evolved from cost centers to value creation hubs, driving R&D, pro duct development and innovation. For global AI companies, the opportunity lies in hosted micro GCCs—fractional centers that provide access to India’s talent and delivery capacity without the statutory overhead of immediate incorporation. These centers allow companies to build agentic models, strengthen cybersecurity and localize products for multilingual and voice-first realities. When ARR and RFP thresholds justify permanence, contracts, IP and people can be transitioned into a full entity with continuity intact.
How Valam’m.AI augments this journey
Valam’m.AI helps global AI companies capture India’s momentum without friction. We provide two complementary rails: enterprise GTM and hosted GCC models. Through discovery workshops, readiness assessments and compact pods, we deliver outcome-led proofs of value tied to business KPIs, helping CXOs validate demand, secure references and accelerate adoption. Our hosted GCC models give access to India’s talent pool for R&D, security and localization, operating with governance and continuity, enabling seamless transfer to a full entity when commercial signals justify permanence.
Our role is to augment global strategies with India’s momentum—helping founders validate quickly, scale responsibly and commit to permanence when the signal is strong.
Closing perspective
India’s AI moment is here. Enterprises are scaling adoption, hyperscalers are investing billions and talent is abundant. CXOs are demanding solutions that deliver productivity, cost optimization, customer adoption and profitability now. Agentic AI and cybersecurity are at the forefront. For global AI companies, the choice is clear: enter India now with globally relevant, transformative solutions, or risk defending residual share later. With the right GTM and hosted capability models, India can augment your global strategy and accelerate your path to durable advantage.
