A nationwide survey conducted by a leading HR solutions provider found that almost 59.1 per cent of HR leaders believe that lack of trust in AI-driven decision-making is the single biggest barrier to its adoption. Biz Staffing Comrade Pvt Ltd’s survey findings highlighted that 27.3 per cent pointed to insufficient communication and change management, indicating that many organisations are struggling to articulate the purpose, impact and expected outcome of AI adoption.

Nearly 9.1 per cent of HR leaders pointed to leadership hesitation or a lack of clarity, signalling uncertainty at the top about how to steer AI initiatives. In contrast, only 4.5 per cent cited fear of job loss, challenging the common assumption that resistance to AI is primarily driven by job insecurity. These insights emerged from Biz Staffing Comrade’s HR Leaders’ Roundtable on “The Human Enterprise in an AI World”, moderated by Achyuta Ghosh, Executive Research Leader at HFS Research, which brought together more than 30 senior HR and talent acquisition leaders from India’s leading product and technology organisations.

High ambition, low readiness: Only 8% scaling AI effectively

While optimism around AI adoption runs high, readiness to scale AI transformation remains limited. Only 8% of HR leaders said their organisations were fully prepared and already scaling human + AI collaboration.

Around 40 per cent described themselves as partially prepared, experimenting in select functions, while 44 per cent said they were at the pilot stage with limited adoption. Another 8 per cent admitted they had not yet started and were still evaluating possibilities. Jasvinder Bedi, Managing Partner at Biz Staffing Comrade, said that the focus must now move from intent to implementation.

India’s AI opportunity is massive, but it needs speed, structure, and leadership clarity to translate ambition into real adoption.

Upskilling existing workforce takes priority over fresh hiring

A key shift highlighted during the roundtable was the move from hiring for skills to building them internally. Around 38 per cent of leaders said upskilling existing employees on AI-related competencies had become their top workforce priority.

Around 25 per cent were focused on hiring AI or data specialists, while 21% said they were restructuring roles to promote deeper collaboration between humans and machines, and a minority of 16 per cent suggested that it is still too early to determine the impact of AI on talent priorities.

Puneet Arora, Managing Partner at Biz Staffing Comrade, said the shift reflects a deeper evolution in leadership mindset.

“Upskilling is no longer an HR initiative - it’s a core business priority. The key to success lies in building a resilient and adaptable workforce, equipped with the skills and mindset to thrive in a rapidly changing world,” he said.

Legacy systems and enterprise debt slow down AI progress

The discussion also underscored how enterprise debt, the accumulated inefficiencies of legacy systems and siloed processes, continues to slow AI adoption. Many organisations are finding that automation exposes structural weaknesses rather than eliminating them. Globally, such inefficiencies are estimated to represent trillions of dollars in lost productivity each year.