Dell Technologies Research: India Businesses Cite Driving Sustainable Innovations as Top Improvement Area

The Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) findings of the Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Research reveal how businesses are embarking on sustainability strategies. While 38% respondent across APJ cited that becoming more environmentally sustainable is one of the top 5 most important innovation goals, 45% respondents in India agreed.

With the benefits of remarkable transformation through Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption, industries will need to improve knowledge on how to sustainably manage power hungry AI deployments. The research discovered a top priority of respondents is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to inform and optimize sustainability efforts, six in 10 respondents in India believed that using the technology will compromise environmental sustainability efforts.

While challenges in complying with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards and driving sustainable innovation remain, over 9 in 10 respondents in India claimed to understand all the environmental regulations their organizations need to comply with. 56% admit that driving environmentally sustainable innovations, is an improvement area.

Leveraging AI, ML, and data science in order to improve the trajectory to meet sustainability goals remains a top priority for businesses across the region. Hiring the right talent with the required skills in another key area of focus.

Improving Energy Efficiency with Sustainable Technology

Improving energy efficiency was cited as one of the top sustainability priorities for businesses. Organizations in India are currently taking actions such as using alternative cooling solutions in data centers (95%), moving AI inferencing to the edge for greater energy efficiency (91%) and experimenting with as-a-Service solutions to manage IT environments (95%) more consciously. Through right-sizing AI models and infrastructure, they are able to minimize IT carbon footprint.

Role of GenAI Still to be Defined

Upon evaluating the impact of GenAI on sustainability in Indian organizations, almost eight in 10 believe using AI will compromise environmental sustainability efforts. 48% claim that environmental concerns about the increased energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions needed to train AI models, are holding them back from embracing AI and GenAI.

On the contrary, 51% of respondents believe GenAI should be first applied to improve environmental footprint as well as inform decisions around energy reduction and sustainable practices. This indicates some interest in exploring the potential of AI to fast-track sustainability efforts.

Third-Party Technology Vendors Play a Crucial Role

As businesses continue to refine and optimize their sustainability strategies, 86% of respondents in India cite seeking help from third-party partners to achieve their goals and aid in their sustainability drive.

Working closely with technology vendors to advance sustainability initiatives requires more accountability, trust, communication between businesses and their ecosystem partners - 95% expect their tech vendors to have transparent and clear sustainability goals and demonstrate accountability for the emissions generated across their value chain.