Gartner Forecasts Indian IT Spending To Grow 10.7% In 2024

India information technology spending is projected to total $124.6 billion in 2024, an increase of 10.7% from 2023, according to a forecast by research and consulting firm Gartner.

While investments in artificial intelligence and generative AI will contribute to Indian IT spending growth, they will account for a small portion of IT spending through 2024, and their impacts will not be evident until 2025.

“Indian organisations are expected to make investments in AI and automation during this time, as a strategic effort to improve operational efficiency and address the ongoing shortage of IT talent. However, it is not until 2025 that GenAI will begin to carve its place in IT budgeting amongst Indian organisations,” said Naveen Mishra, VP, team manager at Gartner.

Impact Of Digital Priorities On Software And IT Services Spending

According to Gartner, spending on software and IT services in India is projected to experience the highest annual growth rates in 2024, with software spending expected to increase 18.5% and IT services forecast to grow 14.6%.

“As Indian organisations accelerate the adoption of digital technologies such as AI, machine learning, secure access service edge, there will be a greater implementation of cloud services, resulting in growth for both software and IT services,” said Mishra.

Despite facing a sluggish phase in 2022 and 2023, primarily due to inflationary pressures, devices spending is projected to revive in 2024, growing 10.1% year-over-year.

Spending on data centre systems is expected to clock a growth rate of 9.4% in 2024.

Define AI Ambition And Become AI-Ready

As generative AI continues to present opportunities for organisations and becomes part of IT budgets, Gartner recommends IT leaders to define their organisation's AI ambition by examining the opportunities and risks of using generative AI in four areas: the back office, the front office, new products and services, and new core capabilities.

According to Gartner, IT leaders should navigate decisions about AI by having lighthouse principles — a vision for AI that establishes the relationship between humans and machines.

To facilitate swift and safe adoption of generative AI in the next 12 months, Gartner recommends organisations must do three things:

• Establish AI-Ready Principles: Lighthouse principles must align with organisational values, which must serve as the guiding light for navigating the unknowns of human-machine interaction.

• Make Data AI-Ready: For data to be AI-ready, it must meet five criteria — it should be secure, enriched, fair, accurate and be governed by the lighthouse principles.

• Implement AI-Ready Security: AI technology is being put to use both positively and negatively. CIOs should prepare for new attack vectors and work with the executive team to create an acceptable use policy for public generative AI solutions.