India leads global AI workplace readiness, JLL says

Indian companies are the best prepared globally for AI in workplace planning and real estate operations, according to JLL. Yet fewer than one in five have started changing their office space.

The survey found that 77% of senior business leaders in India believe AI will change what they need from offices, but only 19% have begun adapting workplaces to reflect that shift.

That gap sits alongside a broadly optimistic view of AI's effect on jobs. Some 58% of Indian business leaders expect their workforce to grow over the next three to five years, while 62% believe AI will make human roles more valuable rather than replace them.

Another 65% said employees will increasingly be assessed on the quality of their work rather than the hours they spend on the job, pointing to a broader shift in how output is measured.

Skills barrier

The study suggests the main obstacle to change is no longer money. In India, 46% of companies said shortages in AI, technology and data skills would be the main constraint on real estate delivery over the next three to five years, compared with 35% that cited budget.

This is the first time in JLL's 15-year survey history that capability constraints have overtaken cost concerns in India. The skills gap was also more pronounced than the Asia Pacific average of 42% and the global average of 36%.

Other barriers included inexperience in managing change, the view of real estate as a cost centre, weak reporting metrics and departmental silos. The findings suggest many companies recognise the need to act on AI but have yet to build the internal expertise to do so.

Ajit Kumar, Managing Director - Work Dynamics Accounts, West Asia, JLL, said the difference between companies that had moved first and those still waiting came down to execution skills rather than spending power.

"Indian companies have both ambition and awareness; India leads the global average on every AI readiness measure we track. What separates the 19% who have begun implementation from the 77% who recognise the need is not conviction or capital, it is capability. For the first time in 15 years of tracking this data, 46% of Indian companies cite skills shortage as their primary barrier versus only 35% citing budget, capability now outweighs cost. This is actually a positive inflection point, because skills can be developed internally and sourced externally far more readily than waiting for capital allocation cycles. The companies that reframe this as a skills development challenge rather than a budget constraint-and invest in the 50% who are prioritising AI support and infrastructure-will define India's workplace transformation over the next decade," Kumar said.

Global lead

India scored above the global average on all eight AI readiness measures tracked by JLL. Companies in the country also reported more funded work under way than peers elsewhere, from monitoring AI trends to assessing what the technology means for real estate teams.

On tracking AI trends, 56% of Indian companies said they were already doing so, compared with 46% globally. On assessing implications for real estate teams, the figure was 48% in India versus 40% globally. India also led on staff training and change programmes, at 45% against 36%, and on scouting new locations as automation spreads, at 42% versus 34%.

That lead extended to implementation. Some 19% of Indian companies had reached the most advanced stage of applying AI in real estate operations, ahead of the global level of 15%. Including those still scaling up, 47% were actively rolling out AI, compared with 42% worldwide.

Even so, the survey points to a disconnect between strategic intent and practical changes to office layouts, occupancy models and workplace design. Many companies are still waiting for broader corporate decisions on AI before changing physical space.

Office patterns

Indian offices remain heavily used. Businesses require staff in the workplace for an average of 3.8 days a week, slightly above the global average of 3.7 days.

Nearly 62% of companies require four or five days in the office, while 61% apply the same attendance policy across all locations. That suggests employers are not easing office use as they prepare for AI, even as they rethink what those spaces will eventually need to deliver.

The survey also found that long-term investment priorities are shifting. Half of Indian companies said their top spending focus was advanced technology and AI support, while 49% pointed to reliable infrastructure as a key area for improving productivity.

At the same time, the biggest perceived risks were closely tied to technology. Cybersecurity and data privacy were cited by 46% of respondents, the same share that pointed to technology and AI-driven disruption. A further 39% highlighted uncertainty about AI's effect on space requirements.

Cost pressures

Rising office costs are also being reshaped by technology. Energy bills and AI automation costs were each identified by 49% of respondents as the main drivers of expense growth over the next three to five years.

Rent ranked only sixth, at 29%, suggesting property costs are no longer the single biggest pressure in office budgets. The result is a changing cost structure in which digital systems and energy consumption carry more weight in workplace decisions.

Respondents also showed a preference for longer-term choices over short-term savings. Some 73% said they would invest in AI-enabled buildings over basic maintenance, 72% preferred long-term locations over flexible leases, and 71% favoured long-term change over immediate cost cuts.

Access to talent remained central to those decisions. More than half, or 54%, said they would prioritise proximity to skilled workers over closeness to data centres, underlining how far people, rather than property alone, are shaping the next phase of office strategy in India.