Indian Consumers Embrace AI, But Indian Brands Lag Behind: Report

In the rapidly evolving landscape of consumer preferences, Indian consumers have emerged as global frontrunners in embracing AI-driven interactions, however, Indian brands are trailing the world in harnessing the latest AI innovations, a new report shows.

According to the latest Adobe’s State of Digital Customer Experience report, more than half (57%) of Indian consumers would choose an AI-enabled tool or service over human interaction, far more than the global and APAC average of 39% and 48% respectively. However, human interaction remains a top choice when considering aspects of decision-making, customer support, and returns or cancellations. Many (39%) want both options to be available, particularly when exploring new products and services.

Despite these preferences and Indian consumers anticipating Customer Experience (CX) benefits from generative AI, Indian brands are falling behind global peers. Only 15% are leveraging generative AI to enhance CX initiatives compared to 18% globally. Brands in Europe and the US are also twice as likely to already have dedicated AI budgets and internal usage policies.

However, 41% of Indian brands are seeing CX as a business priority today and 87% of Indian brands are prioritizing CX enhancements over other business goals. That puts it at the top of the strategic agenda, equal to integrating the CX technology stack while accelerating the adoption and integration of generative AI. Moreover, in the next 12 months, 53% of Indian brands are committed to improving their generative AI capabilities whereas 76% of brands already have or will pilot generative AI solutions to support experience delivery.

“Advances in generative AI have been already transformational for consumers, and they now expect brands too to also adopt the technology for better and personalized experiences. Our latest research shows that Indian brands are embracing the shift to GenAI and devising avenues for its responsible usage to enhance personalization at scale, and digital customer journeys,” said Anindita Veluri, Director of Marketing, at Adobe India. Indian brands are world leaders in adopting customer data management (89%), and almost all have the data to balance personalization and privacy (95%). While brands lead the world in customer data capabilities, they are currently lagging in the adoption of technologies and tools that support personalization.

Both consumers and brands agree that data privacy and security concerns constrain personalization.

Brands say consumer reluctance to share data is a top barrier, but they underestimate the impact of data missteps. 59% of Indian consumers will stop or consider not buying from a brand that isn’t transparent about personal data use. Indian consumers are most concerned with the responsible and ethical usage of their data. 60% of them think that decisions would be made about their data without consent, 65% believe that brands will collect too much data and 56% say that brands won’t be able to build ethical AI tools.

68% of respondents expect to be informed when content is AI-generated, whereas 64% would be more diligent about fact-checking content due to generative AI.

In conclusion, while Indian consumers are leading the way in embracing AI-driven interactions, Indian brands need to catch up in harnessing the latest AI innovations to meet consumer expectations and enhance customer experiences. With a growing focus on CX enhancements and the adoption of generative AI, Indian brands have the opportunity to bridge the gap and deliver personalized, ethical, and secure experiences that resonate with their tech-savvy consumers.