In conversation with CIO & leader Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo ISG, India, on how Indian enterprises scaled AI in 2025, why hybrid infrastructure became the default, and what CIOs must prioritise next.
CIO&Leader: How has the Indian enterprise technology landscape evolved in 2025, and what key trends stood out among your customers?
Amit Luthra: In 2025, Indian enterprises moved decisively from experimentation to execution. It was no longer enough to pilot AI or test emerging technologies; organizations asked deeper questions about how AI could tangibly improve productivity, support faster and more informed decision-making, and scale reliably across large and complex operations.
We have seen hybrid environments combining edge, on-premise, and cloud becoming the standard approach. These setups allowed companies to keep AI workloads close to the data while balancing performance, governance, and security requirements, making operations more efficient and resilient.
Another notable trend was that Indian enterprises thought strategically about infrastructure, not just technology. According to Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025, nearly 63 % of organizations preferred hybrid or on-prem setups for AI workloads. This reflected careful planning around scalability, operational control, and energy efficiency; decisions that were critical when moving AI from pilot projects into production-scale operations.
Overall, 2025 was a year where strategy met execution. Enterprises considered how AI and hybrid infrastructure could solve real business problems, rather than adopting technology rather than deploying technology without a clear business outcome in mind.
CIO&Leader: Which technologies or solutions saw the highest adoption this year, and what challenges did they help your clients overcome?
Amit Luthra: This year, generative AI and agentic AI tools saw some of the highest adoption across Indian enterprises. These technologies proved particularly useful in automating routine tasks, enhancing decision-making, and creating new opportunities for employees to focus on higher-value work.
Enterprises increasingly prioritized solutions that were integrated across devices, infrastructure, and enterprise systems. Integration is no longer optional; it is essential for ensuring consistent performance and reliability, and for deriving measurable business outcomes.
Hybrid AI platforms played a key role in helping organizations scale AI from pilot programs to full production deployments. Modern infrastructure solutions not only provided performance and security but also optimized energy usage, cooling, and compute utilization, addressing operational challenges that can otherwise limit AI adoption.
The Lenovo CIO Playbook 2025 highlights that integration of complexity and demonstrating ROI remain significant barriers to adoption. Enterprises that focused on unified platforms, ones that brought together AI tools, workflows, and data management, have been able to overcome these
challenges effectively. These platforms helped businesses move beyond experimentation to measurable business impact, which is now expected by the senior leadership
CIO&Leader: Looking ahead, which emerging technologies or sectors do you expect to see the most growth in 2026?
Amit Luthra: Looking into 2026, agentic AI and hybrid AI platforms are likely to see continued growth, particularly where they enable better productivity, decision-making, and operational efficiency. These technologies are moving from pilot stages into real-world business applications, where they can impact everything from workforce efficiency to customer experience.
Infrastructure modernization, including optimized storage, efficient compute, and hybrid deployments, will be critical to sustaining AI at scale. Organizations are recognizing that scaling AI is not just about software; it requires the right underlying architecture and infrastructure to support growing workloads while managing costs and energy efficiency.
The Lenovo CIO Playbook 2025 suggests that planned investments in hybrid workloads are particularly strong, which indicates that scalability, operational efficiency, and reliability will continue to drive growth across sectors such as manufacturing, financial services, telecom, and healthcare. In essence, the focus for 2026 will be on practical, measurable adoption of AI underpinned by infrastructure that can scale effectively.
CIO&Leader: What advice would you give CIOs and enterprise leaders as they plan their technology investments and governance strategies for next year?
Amit Luthra: My advice to CIOs and enterprise leaders is to remain grounded in outcomes. Choose technologies that deliver measurable productivity gains and streamline workflows, rather than being driven by hype or the latest trend.
Investing in flexible hybrid infrastructure is critical for supporting growth while maintaining operational stability. This includes planning for performance, energy efficiency, and lifecycle costs. Govern responsibly.
With nearly two-thirds of Indian enterprises now preferring hybrid deployments, planning infrastructure and governance together is essential to enable growth while mitigating risk. Finally, initiatives should empower people, streamline workflows, and deliver tangible business value, ensuring technology investments translate into real outcomes.