During the pandemic, India has reported the highest increase in the use of AI at 45 per cent, as compared to other major economies (the US at 35 per cent, the UK at 23 per cent and Japan at 28 per cent). 

"In fact, AI startups in India attracted total funding of $836.3 million in 2020. Also, despite the total number of high-value funding shrunk, the companies that received funding almost doubled in 2020 compared to 2019," according to homegrown independent Transaction Advisory firm, RBSA Advisors. 

"The future of Indian ecosystem is poised to witness the rapid penetration and adoption of AI and investors should make full use of this opportunity," said Rajeev Shah, MD and CEO of RBSA Advisors. 

According to the study titled ‘Artificial Intelligence & Its role in Delivering Economic Value to Indian Enterprise, investment in AI has accelerated in India during the pandemic and the country has a potential to be a global epicentre of AI. 

IT services and technology sectors contribute to more than 60 per cent of the AI market, followed by BFSI, engineering and retail. 

The BFSI sector has recorded highest adoption (20 per cent) due to increasing penetration of digital banking and cashless payments in India, the findings showed. 

"Energy and utilities and retail sectors report adoption of 15 per cent each with lot of untapped market opportunities for AI penetration, followed by pharma and healthcare, telecom, manufacturing and other sectors," it added.