AI adoption & governance advisory in India — deploy AI responsibly. Govern it defensibly.
End-to-end advisory for enterprises adopting AI tools and workflows. From initial risk assessment and policy framework development to vendor due diligence, employee acceptable use policies, and regulatory compliance mapped to India's AI Governance Guidelines, DPDPA, RBI, and SEBI requirements.
Getting the gap right, and the framework's actual name
The adoption-governance gap in India isn't "83% vs 12%." It's roughly 80% vs 23% — and there's a specific document behind the number now.
Some AI governance content cites an "83% deploying / fewer than 12% governing" gap for Indian enterprises. A current, India-specific study covering Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 gives a somewhat different but equally striking picture: enterprise AI adoption in India sits at roughly 80%, making India the world's most aggressive AI adopter, ahead of the United States at approximately 59%. Against that, only around 23% of Indian firms report having a formal AI ethics or governance framework — a gap of roughly 57 percentage points between how fast organisations are deploying AI and how far their governance has actually kept up.
What's genuinely changed since generic "governance gap" statistics were the whole story is that India now has a specific, named framework behind the gap. It is not the "MeitY National AI Strategy" — that's a different, earlier, broader document. The operative framework is the India AI Governance Guidelines, finalised by MeitY on 5 November 2025 and formally unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, 16 to 20 February 2026. It's a voluntary, principle-based framework built around seven guiding "sutras" — trust as the foundation, people-first governance, innovation over restraint, fairness and equity, accountability, understandability by design, and safety and resilience — organised across six governance pillars, with new coordinating institutions including an AI Governance Group and an AI Safety Institute.
For an organisation building an AI governance programme today, that reframes the task usefully: it isn't starting from zero on a brand-new AI-specific law, it's mapping AI use cases against obligations you're likely already subject to under DPDPA and your sector regulator, then documenting that mapping in a form a board or a regulator will actually credit.
Evidence, not guesswork
The seven sutras — India's actual governing principles
The framework every AI governance engagement should be mapped against, not a generic international checklist.
Source: India AI Governance Guidelines for Enabling Safe and Trusted AI Innovation, MeitY, finalised 5 November 2025, unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit, 16–20 February 2026. Consult the current published Guidelines for complete text and the six-pillar recommendations.
Responsible AI adoption framework
AI governance services across the full deployment lifecycle
AI adoption without governance is a liability. SIRI builds the legal and technical framework that lets you deploy confidently.
AI Risk Assessment
Pre-deployment risk scoring of AI use cases across fairness, transparency, privacy, security, and regulatory compliance dimensions specific to Indian regulations.
AI Acceptable Use Policy
Drafting of enterprise AI policies covering employee use of generative AI tools, data input restrictions, IP ownership clarification, and prohibited use cases.
Vendor AI Due Diligence
Legal-technical assessment of AI vendor contracts, data processing terms, model governance commitments, and contractual liability allocation.
AI Regulatory Compliance
Gap analysis against the India AI Governance Guidelines' seven sutras, RBI AI guidelines, SEBI AI/ML directives, and IRDAI requirements for regulated entities.
Shadow AI Discovery
Identification of unsanctioned AI tool usage across the organisation. Risk quantification. Integration into governance framework or controlled sunset.
AI Data Governance
Data classification, consent management, and access control frameworks for AI training data, inference inputs, and model outputs under DPDPA.
AI Ethics & Bias Auditing
Fairness assessments, bias detection in model outputs, and documentation of algorithmic decision-making for regulatory transparency requirements.
AI Incident Response Planning
Playbooks for AI-specific incidents — model hallucination causing harm, data leakage through AI, adversarial attacks on production models, and regulatory inquiries.
Quarterly AI Governance Review
SIRI Shield subscribers receive quarterly reviews of AI tool inventory, policy compliance, regulatory changes, and risk register updates.
Evidence, not guesswork
India's adoption-governance gap, by the numbers
Current figures from an India-specific study, not a generic global average.
| Metric | Figure | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Indian enterprise AI adoption | ~80% | Highest globally, ahead of US (~59%) |
| Formal AI ethics/governance framework | ~23% | A ~57-point gap against adoption |
| Agentic AI exploration (India) | 74% | 24% already deployed |
| Global AI governance framework maturity | ~8% | Comprehensive frameworks globally, per Deloitte 2026 |
Sources: State of Enterprise AI: India 2026 study (Q4 2025–Q1 2026, 500+ Indian enterprise AI deployments); Deloitte State of AI in the Enterprise 2026. Figures vary by methodology and survey population — treat as directional rather than precise for any single organisation's benchmarking.
Client outcomes
Measurable results
Policy framework delivered fast, without sacrificing the legal rigour a board actually needs to sign off on.
Record from a single enterprise engagement — 18 integrated into the approved stack, 29 sunset, zero business disruption.
No governance framework we've produced has been rejected on first submission.
India AI Governance Guidelines, RBI, SEBI, and EU AI Act, where European exposure applies.
Our process
How we engage
AI Inventory & Discovery
Catalogue every AI tool, model, and automated decision system in use across your organisation, including shadow AI.
Risk Scoring & Classification
Score each AI use case on fairness, privacy, security, transparency, and regulatory exposure. Map to high/limited/minimal risk categories.
Policy Framework Development
Draft enterprise AI policies — acceptable use, data governance, vendor management, incident response, and board oversight.
Technical Controls & Implementation
Implement data access controls, model monitoring, output validation, consent mechanisms, and audit logging.
Board Approval & Regulatory Filing
Finalise documentation for board presentation, regulatory submission, and ongoing compliance monitoring.
Representative matters
Typical AI governance engagements
Real engagement patterns. Client details anonymised. All findings delivered under attorney-client privilege.
Board approved in 28 days, RBI-aligned
Built a complete AI governance framework for a 2,000-employee NBFC deploying AI across credit scoring, KYC, and customer service. Policies approved by board in 28 days.
Investors cited governance maturity in term sheet
Drafted an AI acceptable use policy, vendor due diligence framework, and IP ownership clauses for a Series A startup preparing for institutional funding.
Risk assessment across 12 hospitals
Risk assessment and governance framework for diagnostic AI deployment across 12 hospitals — DPDPA health data compliance, patient consent design, and clinical liability allocation.
47 tools found, zero disruption
Discovered 47 unsanctioned AI tools across departments. Built a governance framework, integrated 18 tools into the approved stack, sunset 29, with zero business disruption.
Sectors we serve
Regulated and high-adoption industries
Why SIRI
Govern AI before regulators tell you how
SIRI helps you build governance frameworks that satisfy current Indian regulations while remaining adaptable as the AI regulatory landscape evolves.
India-specific AI law fluency
We track the India AI Governance Guidelines, RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI AI guidance as it develops — most AI governance frameworks on the market are built for EU or US contexts and adapted after the fact.
Legal privilege on findings
AI governance assessments are delivered under attorney-client privilege, protecting findings from regulatory discovery — a structural advantage no standalone consultancy can offer.
Deployment-ready policies
Framework and policy documentation ready for board approval within 30 days, not months, without sacrificing the legal rigour a board or regulator actually needs.
Iterative governance
SIRI Shield subscribers receive quarterly AI governance reviews as regulations and your AI portfolio evolve, so the framework doesn't go stale the way a one-time consulting deliverable does.
Frameworks & standards
Governance built on
Frequently asked
AI adoption & governance, answered directly
Do we need AI governance if we only use third-party tools like ChatGPT or Copilot?
Yes. Using third-party AI tools creates data governance, IP ownership, and regulatory compliance obligations under the DPDPA. Employee inputs into AI tools may constitute personal data processing requiring consent management, and India's AI Governance Guidelines are explicit that existing laws — the DPDP Act, the IT Act, and sector-specific RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI regulations — already apply to AI use regardless of whether you built the model or are simply a user of someone else's.
What is India's actual AI governance framework called, and what does it require?
The framework is the India AI Governance Guidelines, finalised by MeitY on 5 November 2025 and formally unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit, 16 to 20 February 2026. It is a voluntary, principle-based framework anchored in seven guiding "sutras" — trust, people-first governance, innovation over restraint, fairness and equity, accountability, understandability by design, and safety and resilience — organised across six governance pillars, with new coordinating institutions including an AI Governance Group and an AI Safety Institute. It does not create a standalone AI law; instead it clarifies how existing laws, including the DPDP Act and sector regulator rules, already apply to AI systems, and signals where enforcement is heading.
How large is the gap between AI adoption and governance in India specifically?
Very large. A Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 study of Indian enterprise AI deployments found adoption at roughly 80%, making India the world's most aggressive enterprise adopter of AI, ahead of the US at approximately 59%. Against that, only about 23% of Indian firms report having a formal AI ethics or governance framework — a gap of roughly 57 percentage points between how fast organisations are deploying AI and how far their governance has kept up. That gap is where regulatory, contractual, and reputational risk concentrates.
How long does it take to build an AI governance framework?
Policy framework draft in 15 business days. Board-ready documentation in 30 days. Full technical implementation varies by organisation size, typically 60–90 days.
What regulations apply to AI in India right now?
The India AI Governance Guidelines, DPDPA 2023, RBI AI guidelines for banks and NBFCs, SEBI AI/ML directives for market entities, and IRDAI guidelines for insurers. The EU AI Act applies if you have European users or operations.
Can you help with shadow AI — employees using unauthorised AI tools?
Yes. Shadow AI discovery is a core service. We identify unsanctioned tools, quantify risk, and build a framework to either integrate approved tools or sunset risky ones, without disrupting workflows.
How is this different from hiring a management consultant?
Consultants produce recommendations. SIRI produces legally enforceable policies, delivers findings under attorney-client privilege, and provides regulatory representation if needed. Our governance frameworks have legal teeth, not just internal-memo status.
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30-minute consultation. No commitment. Privilege-protected from the first conversation.
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Other ways SIRI Law LLP supports AI-deploying organisations
Visit or contact us
SIRI Law LLP — Hyderabad, India
| Registered office | HITEC City, Madhapur, Hyderabad, Telangana 500081, India |
| Telephone | +91 79819 12046 |
| info@sirilawllp.com | |
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