The austempered ductile iron (ADI) material is widely used for automotive and structural applications. However, it is considered a difficult to machine material due to its strain hardening behavior and low thermal conductivity characteristics; thus delivering higher mechanical and thermal loads at the tool-chip interface, which significantly affects the tool wear and surface quality. The paper thus overviews the cutting performance and wear behavior of different cutting tools during dry drilling of newly produced ADI material. Cutting performance was evaluated in terms of specific cutting energy, workpiece surface integrity and tool wear behavior. Tool wear behavior shows crater wear mode and workpiece adhesion. The surface alteration at the machined subsurface was confirmed from the hardness variation. Multilayer (Ti,Al,Cr)N coated tool shows improved cutting performance and wear behavior due to its enhanced tribological adaptability as compared to another PVD coating leading to the reduction in specific cutting energy by 25%. © 2016 Author(s).