Based on a global IDC study of 2,900+respondents, including 900+ IT and business decision-makers across 12 AP markets, the 3rd edition of Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025 reveals a definitive shift toward ROI-driven-AI investments as organizations increase AI spends by 3.3x in AP and 2.7x in India markets
Business leaders and IT decision-makers confirm the accelerating shift toward ROI-driven-AI investments as organizations increase AI spending by 3.3x in AP and 2.7x in India, according to the third edition of Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025 – It’s Time for AI-nomics. Commissioned by Lenovo, the research is based on a global IDC study of 2,900+respondents, including 900+ IT and business decision-makers (ITBDMs) from 12 AP markets.
Early Stages of AI Adoption – ROI the greatest barrier
Despite the increasing spends, AI adoption in India remains in its early stage with 49% of organizations either evaluating or planning to implement AI in the next 12 months. This lags behind the AP average (56%) and aligns with the global average (49%) with ROI emerging as the key barrier to quick adoption.
Delivering ROI for AI is a long-term endeavor that requires balancing AI experimentswiththose that can be scaled.Interestingly, AP organizations expect a 3.6x ROI on average from their AI projects, which requires a measured approach to scaling AI and building internal capabilities.India’sgradual pacereflects a focus on improving regulatory compliance, enhancing customer experience, and accelerating time to market whileovercoming business challenges such asdata quality issues, unavailability of AI expertise and IT infrastructure costs.
“For 2025, governance, risk, and compliance have jumped 12 spots to become the top priority, highlighting the focus on secure and responsible AI.”
– Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo
Overcoming Organizational Readiness Challenges
Evolving business priorities each year reflect a deeper understanding of what it takes to drive AI growth, bringing greater awareness of its risks as well.Ethical issues and biases are the top AI risks this year, yet only 24% globally and 25% in AP have fully enforced AI GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) policies. In India,19% of CIOs report fully implemented enterprise AI GRC policies. This highlights the urgent need for a structured approach for what has emerged as the #1 priority for businesses in AP.
Effective AI governance requires explainability, ethical frameworks, accountability, model governance, enhanced privacy, security and integrated human oversight.
“Business priorities are shifting in Asia Pacific,” said Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo, “For 2025, governance, risk, and compliance have jumped 12 spots to become the top priority, highlighting the focus on secure and responsible AI. Employee productivity has also climbed from #7 to #2, underscoring its growing importance.Lenovo is committed to making AI accessible, ethical, and impactful—helping businesses of all sizes thrive in the AI era.”
“Globally, 63% of organizations prefer on-premise and hybrid infrastructures for AI, with India mirroring this trend. This alignment demonstrates a clear focus on driving innovation while staying secure and compliant forthe unique demands of AI.”
– Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo ISG India
GenAI Adoption Accelerates GenAI is set to transform enterprise workflows, commanding 43% of AI implementationspendsin 2025 in India:
IT operations lead as the top AI use case across Asia Pacific, while in India, sales takes the top spot.
There is more focus on cybersecurity (#2) and software development (#3) in AP.
For India marketing (#2) and software development (#3) take precedence.
On-Prem and Hybrid Infrastructures Dominate The report reveals that 65% of organizations in Asia Pacific are opting for on-premise or hybrid solutions to power AI workloads. This preference is driven by the need for secure, low-latency environments, andoperational flexibility. Meanwhile, 19%still rely on public cloud services.
India reflects a similar trend, with 63% using hybrid or on-prem, while the remainder depend on public cloud.
“Hybrid architectures offer the best of both worlds—scalability and control,” noted Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo ISG India. “Globally, 63% of organizations prefer on-premise and hybrid infrastructures for AI, with India mirroring this trend. This alignment demonstrates a clear focus on driving innovation while staying secure and compliant forthe unique demands of AI. With its end-to-end cutting-edge AI solutions, smarter infrastructure, and strategic partnerships, Lenovo is driving Smarter AI for all.”
AI PCs: Early Adoption Signals Productivity Gains AI-powered PCs are gaining traction in AP, with 43% of organizations seeing significant productivity gains. While awareness is increasing, local adoption remains slow across markets. In India, 53% of organizations are already in the planning stage for AI-powered PC adoption. As the technology matures and demonstrates ROI, the adoption curve will accelerate, driving more digital workplace solutions.
The Need for Skilled Partnerships With organizations scaling their AI efforts, 34% of AP CIOs and 29% of Indian CIOs are actively leveraging professional AI services to navigate complexities in data management, talent shortages, and cost efficiency.Interestingly,an additional54%of CIOs in India are exploringor planning to engage these services in the near future. These collaborations help bridge internal capability gaps, enabling organizations to focus on upskilling their teams and building long-term resilience.
“AI adoption is not just about the short-term gains. Organizations need to invest in the efficiency of the design, deployment and integration of AI solutions to their operationsthat enable tracking of the impact. Professional AI services play a key role here and help organizations successfully adopt AI through outcome-led approach. Solutions like Lenovo’s AI Fast Start further accelerate this process, helping businesses quickly pilot, optimize, and scale AI initiatives with expert guidance and tested frameworks,” said Fan Ho, Executive Director and General Manager, Solutions and Services Group, Lenovo Asia Pacific.
