The AI conversation in corporate boardrooms is changing. After a period dominated by demos and experimentation, enterprises are now asking a much simpler question: what is the return?

During a panel discussion at the, ‘AI: The Next Frontier’, an initiative by Nasscom & CNBC-TV18, Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, said the shift is already well underway, with CEOs, boards and CFOs increasingly focused on measurable outcomes.

“This ROI debate is the most healthy thing we’re doing as an industry. I think this parade of pretenders on AI is ending. And if a CEO or a board or a CFO asks you about ROI, that means this pilot tourism that we’ve all been on for some time is over now, which is great,” Chandok said.

He said the growing focus on returns is healthy because it is forcing companies to move from experimentation to meaningful deployment.

“2024 was all about AI demos, 2025 was all about pilots, 2026 is P&L,” Chandok said, adding that he could not imagine a conversation with a CEO, board or CFO without discussing ROI.

But simply adding AI to existing systems will not be enough. “A lot of ROI is not showing up because we’re bolting on this flying car on really bad old legacy processes,” Chandok said, arguing that companies need to rethink workflows alongside AI adoption.

The bigger opportunity, he said, lies in making AI understand the context of individual enterprises. Frontier models may be powerful, but they remain “brilliant strangers” unless they understand an organisation’s knowledge, processes and way of working.

For Indian IT services companies, that creates a significant opportunity. Chandok said the industry is well placed to help enterprises make these models work in their specific context, combining domain expertise with AI capabilities.

Trust will be equally important. “Trust is not just a policy. It has to be built into how we ship products and how we lead with customers,” he said.

TCS’ Amit Kapur framed the change from the industry’s perspective, saying, “What used to be an industry known for effort has pivoted towards intelligence.”

Kapur said the industry is seeing a “shift of effort moving to output”, although only a small percentage has moved from output to outcomes. He also sees a three-year pathway towards an environment where “everything we do will be AI pervasive.”

At the same time, Kapur pointed to a broader change in how IT companies engage with customers, with the shift increasingly happening under the banner of a platform and a product.

Salesforce’s Arundhati Bhattacharya brought the discussion back to adoption, saying the technology has to make a tangible difference to users.

“Adoption happens when people see results. Adoption happens when people’s lives are easier,” she said.

The message from the panel was clear: AI adoption is no longer about proving that the technology works. It is about proving that it works for the business.