The article argues that while artificial intelligence continues to attract attention and investment globally, its real economic impact depends on how deeply it is integrated into everyday systems and institutions — something that has proven surprisingly hard even in a large, digitally advanced country like India. India’s vast digital infrastructure, including systems that authenticate users or process massive numbers of financial transactions, shows what true scale looks like, but also highlights that integration is more than deploying tools — it requires institutional adaptation and trust.
One example highlighted is India’s digital identity and payment systems, which handle tens of billions of authentications and transactions each month. These systems work at scale not because the technology is cutting-edge by itself, but because institutions adopted shared standards, accountability frameworks, and reliable workflows that embed digital processes as ordinary practice. This institutional support — including clear rules, risk handling, and everyday use — contrasts with how many AI pilots are run today, where the technology remains separate from core organizational processes rather than woven into them.
A persistent challenge for large-scale AI adoption is trust and accountability. Many AI initiatives stall not because the tools are technically insufficient, but because organizations treat adoption as a tooling problem, failing to rethink workflows or clearly assign responsibility for AI decisions. When uncertainty and risk are left with individual users or isolated teams, AI efforts often remain isolated pilots and never become routine parts of how an organization works.
Ultimately, the article concludes that the nations and organizations best positioned to benefit from AI won’t be those with the most powerful models, but those that build institutions and internal capability to absorb uncertainty and adapt workflows. Only when AI systems become trusted, dependable parts of everyday decision-making — rather than experimental add-ons — will they unlock lasting economic and productivity gains at scale.
