Forrester concluded the last of its 2026 Predictions India roadshow in Bengaluru, following similar events in Gurugram and Mumbai, with top analysts spotlighting trends that will define the year ahead. Forrester’s predictions reports offer forward-looking insights into trends and signals that empower leaders and their teams to think beyond the conventional and ignite bold ideas in the year ahead.
In 2026, organisations in India will face a reckoning. As AI hype deflates, leaders will abandon performative gestures and premature calls in favour of evidence-based decision-making and operational rigor. Success will depend on prioritising long-term value over short-term gains — with trust, transparency, and measurable impact as non-negotiables.
Forrester’s top predictions for the Indian market and beyond include:
- Adoption across industries will force AI to cross the trust and value hills. Indian enterprises will move from experimentation to accountability as regulators and consumers demand transparency in AI outcomes. With half of G20 nations mandating domestically tuned AI models for public services, Indian firms must ensure compliance while building trust to unlock AI’s full potential.
- A quarter of CIOs will be asked to bail out business-led AI failures. Rapid deployment of generative AI without governance will lead to system errors and reputational risks. In India, where AI adoption is accelerating in banking and insurance, CIOs will become the custodians of responsible AI, tasked with implementing governance frameworks before high-profile failures hit headlines.
- A Global 1000 CIO will declare technical debt bankruptcy. Technical debt is strangling innovation, consuming up to 60–80% of IT budgets. For Indian conglomerates with decades-old ERP systems, outsourcing legacy operations will become a survival strategy, freeing resources for cloud-native platforms and AI-driven transformation.
- Digital and AI sovereignty drives private cloud renaissance with double digit year-over-year growth. India’s data localisation laws and the National Quantum Mission will amplify demand for sovereign hybrid cloud architectures. Enterprises will prioritise private cloud for sensitive workloads and AI model training to mitigate geopolitical risks and ensure compliance with emerging sovereignty mandates.
- ServiceNow will acquire Boomi, signaling further vendor consolidation. As integration platforms become the control plane for AI orchestration, Indian enterprises will need to rationalise overlapping iPaaS and workflow tools. Vendor consolidation will reshape procurement strategies and integration roadmaps across sectors, especially for firms pursuing automation at scale.
- 20% of Indian brands will miss cost targets or lose trust in vendors after overpromising on AI. Customer service leaders will fail to realise expected cost savings from AI, exposing gaps between vendor promises and operational reality. Indian customer service and customer experience leaders will face pressure to renegotiate contracts and reimagine stagnant service categories to restore trust and efficiency.
- Three out of 10 enterprises will restructure customer service organisations with AI talent. Indian firms will embed AI agents alongside human teams, applying operational discipline to AI roles. Success though will hinge on tacit knowledge management and next-gen agent workspaces that integrate seamlessly with legacy systems.
- GenAI misrepresentation will lead to one Fortune 500 company suing a B2B provider. As Indian enterprises scale AI-driven marketing and sales, governance lapses will result in misinformation and legal disputes. Vendors must provide clear accountability frameworks to avoid reputational and financial fallout, especially in sectors where compliance is critical.
“In 2026, Indian enterprises will recalibrate their AI strategies to deliver trust and tangible value,” said Ashutosh Sharma, VP and principal analyst at Forrester. “Leaders must move beyond the initial AI euphoria and embrace pragmatic innovation that drive business value. This means doubling down on governance, transparency, and measurable outcomes — especially as AI adoption accelerates across industry use cases. Organisations that prioritise sovereignty, security, and cultural readiness will not only mitigate risk but also unlock sustainable growth in an era where trust is the ultimate currency.”
