AI-enabled productivity could add roughly 28 billion to 84 billion USD to India’s annual Nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) under realistic adoption scenarios, IT services company Cognizant said in a recent study. The same study found that most business leaders have not yet seen financial returns from artificial intelligence (AI).
The range depends on how broadly AI is adopted and how much of the productivity gain turns into economic output. Cognizant’s model also sets a theoretical ceiling of $830 billion a year, which assumes AI use across the entire workforce and full conversion of gains into output.
The company said that figure is not a forecast, and that all the GDP numbers are modelled estimates based on self-reported survey responses and should be read as directional. Actual outcomes will depend on the pace of adoption and how far productivity gains reach national output.
The research surveyed 700 enterprise employees and 75 C-suite and business executives at companies with revenues from $100 million to more than $10 billion, across 10 major industries.
About 97% of surveyed employees reported some productivity improvement from AI, with an average reported uplift of 15%. Employees in India are also preparing: 74% have completed AI training, compared with 56% globally.
Gains vary by sector. In healthcare, 38% of employees reported gains above 20%. The share was 31% in communications, 28% in both technology and banking, and 18% in retail and consumer packaged goods. Manufacturing had the lowest share reporting any gain, at 82%, though 27% of its employees expect gains above 20%.
Business leaders say only 36% of employees, on average, have access to AI tools, highlighting a gap between workforce preparedness and large-scale adoption within enterprises.
Leaders were more optimistic about infrastructure. Around 79% said their organisation’s technology infrastructure is accelerating AI rollout, and 68% view India’s national infrastructure as an accelerator.
The report notes that 35% of leaders report workforce productivity gains, 84% have not yet seen AI lower costs and 91% report no revenue impact.
Cognizant says organisations need to broaden access to AI tools, sustain workforce skills, extend AI into more complex and higher-value work, and strengthen how they measure business outcomes. The aim is to turn worker-level productivity gains into broader enterprise and economic value.
“India has a strong foundation to capture greater value from AI. Realising this potential will require adoption of AI tools across enterprises, continued investment in skilling, and an enabling environment for responsible AI at scale,” Rajesh Varrier, President of Global Operations and Chairman and MD of Cognizant India, said.
