New Delhi, April 14 : India has emerged as a frontrunner in the adoption of agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the Asia-Pacific region, with enterprises moving rapidly from experimentation to real-world deployment and returns, according to a report.

A report of Tech Wire Asia said 97 per cent of organisations worldwide are exploring agentic AI strategies, and adoption levels vary significantly across regions.

In Asia-Pacific (APAC), India stands out with the highest proportion of 'expert' users of agentic AI among all countries surveyed, it said.

In contrast, markets such as Australia and Japan remain at an intermediate stage, transitioning projects from pilot phases to full-scale deployment.

India also leads globally in realising returns from agentic AI in IT development and productivity, with 50 per cent of respondents reporting measurable gains from applications such as code generation and workflow automation.

Meanwhile, Japan reported the highest gains in operational efficiency at 37 per cent, reflecting a different but tangible benefit profile, according to the report.

Globally, about 49 per cent of enterprises have moved more than half of their agentic AI projects from pilot to enterprise-wide production.

Moreover, India and Brazil recorded the highest transition rates, indicating stronger organisational readiness to deploy AI agents in live environments rather than controlled pilots.

The report also showed growing confidence in AI systems.

As per analysts, around 70 per cent of respondents globally expressed moderate to high trust in autonomous AI agents, a sharp increase from last year.

India again led the region, with 'high trust' being the most common response, suggesting greater willingness to deploy AI in mission-critical functions.

Over 40 per cent of respondents cited legacy systems and integration issues as key barriers to AI implementation, while 38 per cent said such constraints have stalled projects altogether.

In Japan, 44 per cent of respondents pointed to a lack of internal skills as a major hurdle.

According to the report, governance remains another area of concern, with only 36 per cent of organisations globally having a centralised framework for managing agentic AI.

/IANS