Indian brands lead the gen AI adoption race: Adobe report

Adobe released its Digital Trends 2024 Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) report indicating how Indian brands are embracing the rise of generative AI. Brands all over the Asia Pacific and Japan region are set to make major near-term organisational changes to scale up adoption, revealing a dynamic shift in the region’s digital landscape. As per the report, Indian brands are leading the charge, showcasing their data capabilities and commitment to governance frameworks. These strengths are driving their prominent position in the adoption of generative AI, setting them apart as pioneers in technological innovation. The report also highlights India’s role in shaping the future of AI, emphasizing its influence in advancing industry standards and ensuring ethical use of emerging technologies.

About the research

The Digital Trends 2024 Asia Pacific and Japan research is derived from a global survey of 8,600 executives and practitioners and 6,800 consumers conducted in January and February 2024. The Asia Pacific and Japan analysis includes responses from 1,426 executives and practitioners and 998 consumers, from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

According to executives among Indian brands, 52% leverage data and algorithms to deliver personalised website experiences, the highest in the region. Additionally, 38% employ generative AI to craft customised emails, messages, and other content.

However, while executives are confident their generative AI rollouts are advancing to plan, many day-to-day users hold a different view. Across APJ, just 4% of executives say their organisation doesn’t have a formal generative AI adoption strategy, which rises substantially among practitioners. In India, 45% of Indian organisations have generative AI solutions in place and are assessing their effectiveness, while 27% have pilots underway.

Anindita Veluri, Director of Marketing, Adobe India said, “Indian brands are confidently deploying generative AI while enhancing their productivity on a larger scale. This innovation offers a distinct path to integrate data, anticipate customer needs, and provide more targeted and timely content delivery. Those at the forefront are leading with higher consumer loyalty, efficient conversion, and trust."

The company is working closely with brands across Asia Pacific as they transition generative AI initiatives from experimentation into enterprise-level deployment. By integrating generative AI into the Adobe apps that marketers already use including Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop and apps within Adobe Experience Platform, it can more easily be adopted into existing workflows, all in a commercially safe way, backed by enterprise-grade security, privacy and compliance.

The report notes that among APJ brands, generative AI integration is a key digital initiative that is most likely to support brand growth in 2024. As a result, most brands are developing guidelines for responsible use of AI (73%) and aligning a comprehensive AI roadmap with broader business goals (71%). In India, 70% of senior executives feel well-prepared to implement governance and ethical guidelines for generative AI, and 58% are actively investing in governance frameworks—14 percentage points above the APJ average.

Brands to adapt organisation structures, skills and data capabilities for AI era

Brands anticipate significant changes to operating models and organisational structures to support generative AI adoption. By the end of 2024, Indian brands plan to leverage generative AI extensively for content production, demonstrating their commitment to enhancing digital customer experiences. Specifically, 80% of Indian brands expect to use generative AI for idea creation and conception, allowing skilled employees to finalise these concepts. Additionally, 76% aim to utilise generative AI to auto-update live content—ranking highest globally and to adapt existing content for different audiences, products, and regions.

Executives are also prioritising initiatives to help employees upskill and provide clear guardrails for using generative AI. The top-rated is advanced AI skills training for key staff (47%), followed by policies for ethical and secure generative AI usage (45%).

Over two-thirds of APJ brands also believe that generative AI will transform data analytics and management more than any other part of the organisation. They also recognise that data capabilities and governance are cornerstone capabilities, with most planning to increase investment in customer data management in 2024. Within APJ, this is highest in India (75%).