India is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic markets for AI adoption. IDC projects that India’s AI technology spending will grow at an annualized rate of 38% from 2023, reaching US$10.4 billion by 2028. A major driver of this surge is the rise of agentic AI, with more than 90% of Indian organizations expected to deploy AI agents in the next 12 months demonstrating a clear shift from experimentation to large-scale adoption.

“The paradigm shift to agentic AI in India is accelerating. Enterprises are increasingly looking to leverage agentic automation workflows and deploy AI agents to improve productivity, efficiency, and business growth. In 2026, companies that succeed with AI won’t be the ones with the flashiest pilots they’ll be the ones with the best deployment strategy to orchestrate people, processes, and technology together in a well-governed, trustworthy framework,” said Deb Deep Sengupta, Area Vice President, South Asia, UiPath.

In this special UiPath report, six defining trends reveal how India and the broader APJ region are emerging as global AI innovation hubs and how the agentic era is reshaping businesses, industries, and the workforce.

Trend 1: APJ Becomes the AI Launchpad of the World

By 2026, the APJ region will not only adopt but export world-leading AI innovations, marking a major evolution in its global role. India is at the heart of this transformation with its vast developer ecosystem and more than 1,950 Global Capability Centers (GCCs). Once back-office support units, GCCs now act as strategic innovation hubs, designing and exporting AI solutions worldwide.

Across Southeast Asia, fast-moving ecosystems in Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia act as real-world testbeds for AI-first applications. Meanwhile, established tech powerhouses China (AI patents), Taiwan (semiconductors), Japan (advanced R&D) provide the deep technical expertise that anchors APJ’s rise as a global AI powerhouse. Australia continues to serve as a critical testbed for scalable AI deployment.

Trend 2: From AI Hype to Value Investments Demand Results

More than half of APJ organizations are reallocating budgets to double down on AI. Nearly 29% already have structured investment plans specifically for AI agents over the next two years.

C-suites now expect 2–4X returns within 12–18 months, pushing enterprises to adopt rigorous, outcome-based frameworks for AI deployment. AI is no longer a speculative investment it must show measurable business impact.

Trend 3: AI Evolves from Efficiency Tool to Growth Engine

While AI has traditionally optimized operations, the agentic era introduces new top-line opportunities. AI agents that can reason, plan, and execute autonomously are enabling industry-wide transformation.

• Financial services can accelerate loan processing, streamline claims management, and power personalized customer engagement.
• Manufacturers can use agentic AI for supplier management, inventory optimization, and dynamic production schedulingcreating agile, demand-responsive supply chains.

In 2026, AI becomes core to business growth strategies, not just cost savings.

Trend 4: Orchestration Unlocks Enterprise-Scale AI

Over 70% of APJ firms believe orchestration will deliver a major competitive advantage within 18 months. Orchestration enables AI agents, RPA robots, and humans to work together across interconnected workflows.

In India’s healthcare sector, orchestration is already reshaping operations. Omega Healthcare, for example, uses UiPath to orchestrate AR correspondence, denial management, ticket resolution, and payment posting combining AI agents, RPA bots, and human oversight to increase speed, accuracy, and efficiency.

Orchestration is now mission-critical for scaling AI across industries and markets.

Trend 5: Trust Becomes the Defining Variable in AI Adoption

In 2026, trust rooted in governance, transparency, security, and ethics will determine how far and how fast organizations scale AI.

Across APJ, governments and regulators are adopting frameworks to ensure responsible AI deployment:

• Japan’s AI Promotion Act prioritizes innovation while ensuring ethical guardrails.
• Australia’s Voluntary AI Safety Standard protects high-risk domains without slowing low-risk adoption.
• ASEAN’s AI Governance Guide establishes region-wide principles for trustworthy AI.
• China and Hong Kong increasingly balance rapid deployment with regulatory and ethical considerations.

The global conversation is shifting from “How fast can we deploy?” to “How responsibly can we scale?”

Trend 6: Welcome to the Agentic Workforce Era

Agentic AI is redefining work by distributing tasks across humans, AI agents, and robots. According to the World Economic Forum, 86% of employers expect AI to transform business operations by 2030.

In the new workplace:

• AI agents think interpreting data and making decisions in real time
• Robots do executing repetitive, rule-based tasks
• People lead overseeing systems, solving complex problems, and driving strategic outcomes

This shift moves organizations from “humans in the loop” to “humans on the loop.”

The skills landscape is transforming rapidly:

• By 2030, 70% of job skill requirements will fundamentally change.
• Australia’s AI-related job postings surged from 2,000 (2010) to 23,000 (2024).
• Hong Kong's AI skill demand rose from 1.6% to 1.9% in a year.
• Japan will require 4.98 million AI and robotics specialists by 2040.

The agentic workforce is becoming a reality across APJ.