A Score of 60.8: How Digital Are India's Small Firms, and Who Is Measuring?

The Vi Business 2026 Study

CXOToday published on 26 June 2026 the findings of the Vi Business MSME Growth Insights Study 2026, conducted by Vi Business, part of Vodafone Idea Limited. The insights come from the company's "Ready for Next" platform, which it said engages more than 2.5 lakh MSMEs across 16 sectors. The article did not give the number of respondents for the AI-specific questions or the survey methodology. Because the study is a vendor's own, the figures reflect its customers and platform, not necessarily all MSMEs.

The headline figures

• The Digital Maturity Index, or DMI, was 60.8 in 2026, up from 58.0 in 2025 and 55.9 in 2023. • Over 57% of surveyed small and medium enterprises saw AI as a core tool for growth, and 25% had integrated it into their operations. • About 46% had adopted cyber-defence solutions. • Women-led enterprises scored 61.6 on the DMI against 60.4 for men-led enterprises. • The digital workplace pillar rose from 57.5 in 2023 to 65.7 in 2026; the digital operations pillar rose from 56.5 to 62.0. • By sector, financial services led at 67.3, followed by IT and ITeS at 66.2, transportation at 63.6, energy and utilities at 62.9, and tourism and hospitality at 62.0. Retail showed the second-largest gain, from 52 to 61.9. • By state, Telangana scored 68.3, Karnataka 65.7, Maharashtra 65.2, Kerala 63.7 and Gujarat 62.8.

“An index tells you which way the wind is blowing; it does not tell you where to build.”

An internal conflict

The article's subtitle said AI adoption among MSMEs was lagging, which does not sit easily with its headline and the 57% and 25% figures. It can be read consistently if "lagging" means actual use (25%) trails belief (57%), but the article did not say so. We flag it rather than choose.

Reading the index: our analysis

A composite index is useful for tracking direction but opaque on content. We do not know how the DMI is built, what weights it uses or what a score of 60 means in practical terms. The rise from 55.9 to 60.8 over three years suggests steady progress, but with a changing sample from a vendor platform the trend may partly reflect who joined. Treat it as a hint. The pillar detail is more informative: the digital workplace pillar rose faster than digital operations. That suggests that email, collaboration and communication tools are being adopted faster than systems that run production, inventory and logistics. For a small firm, the harder and more valuable change is often in operations. The gap between 57% who see AI as core and 25% who use it is typical of new technology. The Nasscom-Meta paper discussed in our PR4 piece found a similar gap between optimism and use.

What the sector and state rankings suggest

Financial services and IT lead, which is unsurprising, since their work is digital. The retail gain, from 52 to 61.9, is notable because it covers many small shops adopting payments, inventory and online selling. The high-ranking states are those with strong technology and services economies. Firms elsewhere may find fewer local peers and service providers, an argument for cluster-level support.

What a small firm can do: our guidance

1. Benchmark yourself. Without relying on the index, list the main processes in your business and note which are on paper, which are in spreadsheets and which are in software. 2. Pick one operations process to digitise. Inventory, quotations or job tracking are good candidates. Digitise the process you spend most time on. 3. Strengthen basic security. Use strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, regular backups and updates. Only about 46% in the study reported cyber defences. 4. Train staff at the same time. A tool is worth what your team can do with it. 5. Review annually. Reassess what is working and drop tools that are not used.

Cautions

We cannot verify the study. A telecom company has an interest in portraying MSMEs as digitising and in selling connectivity and business tools. That does not make the data wrong, but readers should seek independent surveys before relying on them.

A one-page self-assessment: our template

Score each area from 1 (paper) to 4 (integrated software): sales records, customer communication, inventory, purchasing, production or service scheduling, accounting, payroll, and security. Add the scores and note the two lowest. Pick one of those for the next quarter. Repeat each year. The aim is not a high score but a deliberate order of improvement. Editorial analysis based on CXOToday (26 Jun 2026) reporting the Vi Business study. Our analysis and guidance are labelled as such.