Persistent And IIM Ahmedabad Put A “North Star” On Enterprise AI

Anirudh Jain May 21, 2026 410 Views

Persistent Systems and IIM Ahmedabad have teamed up to launch the AI Value Compass, a framework designed to bring discipline, transparency and measurable outcomes to enterprise AI investments. In a world where many companies are dabbling in pilots without clear payback, this tool aims to answer the simple question: is our AI actually delivering business value.

The partnership blends Persistent’s hands on experience in building and deploying AI solutions with IIM Ahmedabad’s academic rigour and management insight. Together, they are trying to give CXOs a practical way to prioritise AI projects, track returns and avoid shiny object syndrome, where proof of concept after proof of concept never quite turns into impact.

What The AI Value Compass Tries To Solve

Most large organisations now have multiple AI experiments running, but struggle to compare them or decide which to scale. The AI Value Compass is pitched as a structured way to map AI initiatives to business goals like revenue growth, cost optimisation, risk reduction or customer experience, and to set clear metrics from the outset instead of reverse engineering success later.

How It Can Change AI Conversations In Boardrooms

If used well, such a framework can shift the tone from “let’s try this cool model” to “what problem are we solving and what result will we accept as success.” It encourages teams to think about data quality, process change, user adoption and governance alongside algorithms, so that AI programmes are not run in isolation from the rest of the business.

Why This Matters For Indian And Global Enterprises

For enterprises in India and abroad, the pressure is now on to prove that AI budgets are more than experimentation spend. A tool co developed by a technology services player and a respected management institute can give decision makers a more neutral, structured language to discuss which AI bets to double down on and which to quietly retire.

AI Governance And ROI Highlights

Focus on linking AI investments directly to business outcomes
Framework to compare and prioritise multiple AI initiatives across a portfolio
Emphasis on measurable KPIs rather than vague “innovation” goals
Push for including data, process and adoption factors in AI planning
Designed to help enterprises scale only those AI projects that truly create value