Over half of Indian CMOs expect 5-9% revenue boost from AI: Report
New Delhi, June 15
India is fast emerging as the world's most marketing-led AI transformation market, with Chief Marketing Officers reporting the highest expectations for AI-driven revenue growth globally and taking direct ownership of AI investments.
The country is expected to witness 5-9 per cent topline growth from AI, beating the 43 per cent of the global average, as per a survey report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The report noted that India is channelling investments toward the highest-impact growth use cases, positioning the country as the world's most marketing-driven AI transformation story.
"53 per cent of Indian CMOs project 5-9 per cent incremental topline growth from AI use cases, against a global average of 43%," the report said. Additionally, 57 per cent of the CMOs report that AI is funded by the marketing function, against 47 per cent globally, which makes "India one of the most marketing-led AI investment markets in the world," it said.
It further noted that India stands out as the global leader in agentic commerce, with 73 per cent of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) placing it among their top three strategic priorities, against the global average of 63 per cent and the EMESA average of 54 per cent.
"India's quick commerce density and digital-native consumer base make agentic commerce an immediate go-to-market priority rather than a future-state concept for Indian marketing leaders," the report said.
India also tops in terms of personalization as "52 per cent of Indian CMOs expect GenAI to have a significant positive impact, the highest of any region, against 47 per cent globally. A further 88 per cent of Indian CMOs agree that GenAI will help their teams sense signals and act in near real time, underscoring the speed imperative that defines India's AI marketing agenda," the report added.
Additionally, Indian CMOs are more confident in India's talent readiness than their global peers. "Only 13 per cent view GenAI skills as a severe risk, against 22 per cent globally," the report said.
Furthermore, this confidence comes from actions, as "42 per cent of Indian CMOs have fully deployed AI upskilling for junior and mid-level employees, against 34 per cent globally, and 43 per cent are actively hiring AI-native talent, against 35 per cent globally," the report added.
Apart from this, 43 per cent of Indian CMOs have AI skills embedded in job descriptions as against 37 per cent globally. On the other hand, around 80 per cent of CMOs are significantly investing in AI-specific upskilling programmes and adding responsible AI and ethics training, up 10 percentage points from 2025 globally.
— ANI
Reader Comments
This makes me proud as an Indian marketer! Quick commerce like Zepto and Blinkit are already using AI so effectively. Agentic commerce sounds like the next big thing. But we need more focus on responsible AI training too. 🤔
57% of CMOs funding AI from marketing budget? That's a big shift. In the US, tech teams usually own this. India's marketing-led approach is refreshing. Let's see if the results match the hype though.
BCG report says 88% CMOs think GenAI helps sense signals in real-time. That's great for personalized marketing but privacy concerns remain. We need stronger data protection laws in India before going all-in on AI.
As someone working in digital marketing, I see AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney being used daily. But only 42% have fully deployed upskilling? That needs to improve. My team still struggles with basic AI tools. More training please! 🙏
As a CMO in India, I can confirm the pace of AI adoption here is incredible. Quick commerce density truly gives us a unique advantage. But 13% still see GenAI skills as severe risk - we need to address that gap urgently.
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