With brands across the Asia Pacific and Japan region being focussed on making major near-term organisational changes to scale up adoption, revealing a dynamic shift in the region’s digital landscape, Adobe’s recent study titled- ‘Digital Trends 2024 Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ)’ suggests that Indian brands are leading the charge, showcasing their ‘exceptional’ data capabilities and ‘unwavering’ commitment to governance frameworks setting them apart as pioneers in technological innovation.
As per the findings of the report, these strengths of Indian brands to embrace the generative AI deployment is what is driving their prominent position in adopting Generative AI and setting them apart as pioneers in technological innovation.
The report also highlights India’s role in shaping the future of AI, emphasising their influence in advancing industry standards and ensuring ethical use of emerging technologies.
“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, further demonstrating their leadership,” the report stated.
Stage of generative AI adoption within the organisation according to senior executives (evaluation vs implementation of full or initial solutions/pilots)
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 organizations have generative AI solutions in place and are assessing their effectiveness, while 27% have pilots underway.
Agree that no formal generative AI adoption strategy exists (senior executives vs practitioners)
“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. However, despite a broad desire for adoption, only a few brands are adjusting their strategies to fully leverage these benefits. Those at the forefront are leading with higher consumer loyalty, efficient conversion, and trust,” said Anindita Veluri, Director of Marketing, Adobe India.
The report also confirms 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,” it mentioned.
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 concepting, allowing skilled employees to finalize these concepts. Additionally, 76% aim to utilize generative AI to auto-update live content—ranking highest globally—and to adapt existing content for different audiences, products, and regions.
Changes to organisational structures expected by mid-to-end of 2024 to support generative AI adoption
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 a cornerstone capability, with most planning to increase investment in customer data management in 2024. Within APJ, this is highest in India (75%).
Sub-regional highlights and comparisons
