India’s workforce finds AI helpful: Adobe study

Adobe has recently conducted a study on Indian knowledge workers, examining their attitudes toward digital technology and how it impacts their productivity. The report, titled “The Future of Digital Work: India,” highlights the factors that enable and constrain productivity and the digital tools and processes that are most important for a productive and satisfied workforce.
The study reveals that digital literacy is high among Indian knowledge workers, with 82% stating that digital technologies play an essential role in their daily work. Around 8 in 10 rate their digital literacy higher than the global average.
Among all digital technologies, knowledge workers consider digital documents (76%), technology that supports collaboration (73%), and video conferencing (67%) to be the most indispensable.
As hybrid work becomes more prevalent, leaders tend to rely more on collaboration and video conferencing, whereas employees prefer instant messaging platforms and digital approval tools to meet their communication and workflow needs. Despite the increasing adoption of digital technologies, paper-based work continues to be used in many workplaces. More than half (55%) of knowledge workers say that at least half of their work is paper-based, while only 12% claim to be fully paperless.
Generative AI delivers accelerated work processes, eliminates redundant tasks, and produces high-quality output. However, only 59% of respondents reported that their companies currently use generative AI. The survey revealed that 88% of workers anticipate its regular use in the future. While 88% of knowledge workers and 94% of leaders believe their companies should leverage generative AI, 6% of respondents remain hesitant due to security concerns, executives’ resistance, and lack of understanding.
AI has revolutionised work for 57% of workers, and 64% of respondents recognize its positive influence. The research suggests that more businesses have adopted AI solutions than the workforce is aware of, with leaders experiencing increased speed, time savings, and elimination of mundane tasks.
Indians are redefining productivity at the workplace, prioritising impact over volume and speed. Knowledge workers link productivity with impactful work. 90% of employees emphasise the importance of impactful work. A 4-day work week could boost productivity. 74% of Indian knowledge workers are impacted by external factors like inflation. Digital tools are important for productivity, with 89% of knowledge workers acknowledging their importance. Poor technology tools negatively affect productivity, with 24% stating that it’s killing their productivity.
Poor technology tools can negatively impact productivity, erode the bottom line, and affect talent retention. 93% of leaders and 87% of employees agree on this. Leaders lose 2-4 hours per day due to poor technology, resulting in up to 25 weeks of loss per year. 44% of all workers believe that poor technology negatively impacts profitability by 20% or more. 62% of employees will look for a tech-based solution to use on their own, 14% would look for another job, and 16% would ‘quiet quit’. 40% of employees are considering quitting their job in the next 6 months due to poor technology. Access to technology is critical for knowledge workers in accepting a job offer.