Shop or drop: What is India Inc.'s take on AI agents?

Time of India

3 days ago

AI agents
are no longer just assistants—they're turning into autonomous actors. With the global launch of OpenAI's
ChatGPT Agents
and Perplexity's Comet in July 2025, Indian enterprises are now piloting systems that can execute full workflows—research, report generation, and task automation—without manual triggers.
The technology has arrived. The promise is real. But the question remains: Is
India Inc.
ready to trust it?
ChatGPT Agents vs. Perplexity Comet: What's the Difference?
While both platforms aim to empower
autonomous AI
execution, their design philosophies differ.
ChatGPT Agents are goal-driven workers that operate across tools and APIs. Enterprises can define custom instructions, connect to data sources, and delegate end-to-end tasks—from summarising legal documents to orchestrating backend operations. The emphasis is on flexible, programmable workflows, often embedded within corporate tools like Slack or Notion.Perplexity Comet, by contrast, leans heavily into research and reasoning. It's designed as an autonomous knowledge assistant that continuously searches, validates, and synthesises information from the web to generate insights or reports—with citation and traceability baked in.
Enterprise pilots begin, but trust lags behind.
According to a new PwC survey, 79% of global executives are already piloting AI agents, and two-thirds report measurable gains in efficiency. Yet only 36% say they're confident in managing the risks.
In India, early adopters like ABB Energy Industries and Raychem RPG are already experimenting—but with guardrails.
'Absolutely, my team and I have actively explored ChatGPT's AI agents and similar autonomous AI solutions across pilot projects and internal innovation sandboxes. My first impression centred on both their versatility and the speed at which they could deliver actionable results from complex datasets. The agentic model, especially when layered atop a robust, single-source-of-truth data platform, revealed remarkable potential to automate routine decisions and even initiate complex analytic tasks end-to-end with minimal human input,' said Chandan Vijay, Chief Data Officer at ABB Energy Industries.
'While the technology is powerful, its real impact emerges only when it has access to well-governed, high-quality data—underscoring the immense value of our investment in foundational data architecture,' adds Vijay.
At Raychem RPG, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Mehjabeen Taj Aalam struck a similar chord:
'Yes, we've started experimenting with
agentic AI
tools, including those from OpenAI and other platforms. Our first impression? Equal parts fascination and caution. The ability of these agents to not just respond but initiate actions across systems is a game-changer. But it also forces you to rethink control, context, and trust in a very fundamental way.'
CIOs prioritise internal ops amid regulatory fog
Most Indian enterprises are deploying agents in internal operations and analytics—report automation, anomaly detection, and consent workflows—where regulatory and reputational risks are lower.
'While the technology is powerful, its real impact emerges only when it has access to well-governed, high-quality data—underscoring the immense value of our investment in foundational data architecture,' said Vijay.
The caution comes as regulatory frameworks like India's DPDP Act and the EU AI Act push CIOs to reevaluate AI risk, explainability, and accountability.
'Enterprises are navigating an evolving regulatory landscape (e.g., EU AI Act, India DPDP act, sectoral guidelines). Policy readiness is improving, with new corporate governance playbooks focused on responsible AI, but gaps remain—especially around explainability and real-time monitoring,' added Vijay.
'The tools are evolving rapidly. Culture and policy? That's where the gap lies. Many enterprises still have a command-and-control mindset, and introducing autonomous agents into that can be uncomfortable. There's a need to build digital trust, redesign workflows, and establish clear guardrails for autonomy to work responsibly,' Mehjabeen noted.
'For us, the most immediate opportunity is in internal operations and analytics. Think automated generation of daily reports, intelligent monitoring of IT infrastructure, or bots that can track anomalies and initiate alerts without human nudges. Over time, I see it expanding into customer-facing areas, but with tighter governance around decision-making boundaries', she added.
Analysts say stakes are high—and so are the rewards
According to McKinsey, Agentic AI could unlock $4.4 trillion in annual value globally, especially in industries like manufacturing and logistics. CIOs like Mehjabeen believe those gains are within reach.
'Absolutely. In fact, that's where I believe agentic AI could shine the brightest in industrial environments like ours. Imagine an agent monitoring sensor data in real-time, predicting a component failure, raising a purchase requisition, and even following up for approvals—all autonomously. That's not far-fetched anymore—it's where we're headed,' said Mehjabeen.
Agentic AI is here—and it's powerful. But for Indian enterprises, the real challenge lies not in what the tech can do, but in what the organisation is ready to let it do.