BENGALURU: A new TrendAI report says companies in India are adopting artificial intelligence faster than they can secure it, with business pressure pushing deployment ahead of governance, oversight and accountability.
The global study, conducted by SAPIO Research for TrendAI, surveyed 3,700 business and IT decision-makers worldwide, including 200 respondents in India. It found that nearly 80% of respondents in India said they had felt pressure to approve AI despite security concerns.
At the same time, only 42% of IT managers and 49% of business managers said they felt moderately prepared for the pace of adoption.
The report said this gap is widening as AI tools are embedded into critical systems before safety controls are in place. Among respondents, 81% of IT decision-makers and 77% of business decision-makers said AI was advancing more quickly than they could secure it.
Sharda Tickoo, Country Manager, India & SAARC, TrendAI, said: “Organizations are not lacking awareness of risk. They are lacking the structures to act on it. Fragmented ownership, pressure-driven deployment and limited expertise are creating conditions where AI becomes embedded in critical systems before the controls exist to manage it safely.”
The findings also pointed to weak governance structures, unclear ownership of AI risk and growing use of unsanctioned or “shadow” AI tools. According to the report, 60% of malicious behaviour remains undetected.
Concerns were also raised around more autonomous and agentic AI systems. Around half of those surveyed said such systems could transform cyber defence, but many also flagged risks linked to sensitive data access, misuse and lack of oversight.
Nearly 46% of IT decision-makers warned that malicious prompts could compromise security, while 43% of business decision-makers said AI was expanding the attack surface for cyber criminals.
Tickoo added: “Agentic AI is moving organizations into a new risk category,” adding that companies must prioritise security and clear internal ownership of AI risk management as adoption accelerates.