Persistent, IIM Ahmedabad Roll Out Framework to Help Enterprises Measure Returns on AI Bets

Persistent Systems has partnered with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad to introduce a framework to help enterprises evaluate and scale AI investments, as companies increasingly grapple with turning experimental AI projects into tangible business outcomes.

The Pune-based IT services company on May 19 said the framework, called ‘AI Value Compass’, is designed to help enterprises assess AI readiness across business alignment, operational integration, data preparedness, governance and workforce readiness.

The move comes at a time when enterprises globally are accelerating spending on generative AI and agentic AI, but many continue to face challenges in scaling pilot projects into production deployments with measurable returns.

Unlike technology-centric AI adoption models, the company noted that the framework evaluates AI initiatives through an enterprise operating model lens. Persistent said the study was developed jointly with IIM Ahmedabad through a research collaboration combining industry and academic inputs.

“At the core of the research is a structured methodology that evaluates AI initiatives across five critical enterprise vectors: business alignment, people readiness, operational integration, data preparedness and risk and governance,” the company said in the statement.

The company added that the framework is intended to help enterprises identify readiness gaps early in the AI lifecycle, prioritise high-impact initiatives based on objective criteria, strengthen data, operational and governance foundations, improve adoption readiness by aligning teams, and increase the predictability and consistency of AI-driven business outcomes.

Jaideep Vijay Dhok, Chief Operating Officer, Technology at Persistent, said enterprises now have wider access to AI technologies, but the focus is shifting towards making the “right investment and execution choices at scale”.

“As organisations advance in their AI journeys, the need for structured approaches to assess readiness, sequence initiatives, and align AI efforts with business priorities is becoming more important,” Dhok said.

Ankur Sinha, Professor, Operations and Decision Sciences, IIM Ahmedabad, said many enterprises continue to focus on localised efficiency gains instead of using AI for broader strategic transformation.

“Our study with Persistent highlights fundamental gaps, including the absence of clear AI leadership, lack of a coherent strategic vision, poorly defined success metrics, and weak ownership and governance structures that significantly constrain the ability of organisations to unlock long-term value from AI,” Sinha noted.

Persistent said it is already using the framework in client engagements and plans to further refine it through continued industry-academia collaboration.

The announcement also reflects a broader trend of Indian IT services firms increasingly partnering with academic institutions, hyperscalers and AI ecosystem players to build frameworks, accelerators and governance models for enterprise AI adoption.