Investment in emerging markets must go beyond models to ecosystems: Report

A new World Bank Group report argues that AI is shifting from experimental tools to general-purpose technology, potentially affecting production, productivity, and economic growth. The paper, released in New Delhi, notes that AI is evolving from traditional pattern-recognition systems to generative AI and then to agentic AI capable of planning and executing multi-step tasks with limited human input. While adoption is accelerating globally, the report says AI benefits in emerging markets will depend on building sustainable local ecosystems rather than importing models alone. It cites opportunities for “leapfrogging” constraints in areas like education, healthcare, and finance, where defined tasks and large datasets exist, but warns that development is concentrated in a few high-income economies. The report outlines “hard” infrastructure (connectivity, data centers, high-performance computing, edge devices), “soft” infrastructure (skills programs, accelerators, research hubs), and digital public infrastructure for identity, payments, and data exchange. It highlights proprietary and open-source/open-weight approaches, and describes impact horizons from productivity gains to long-term institutional strengthening. Challenges include fragmented markets, low purchasing power, global player concentration, and rapid commoditization.