Dry machining is being recognized as ecological machining due to its less environmental impact and manufacturing cost. However, the choice of dry machining is mainly influenced by the workpiece material properties, machining operation and cutting conditions. The recent emergence of austempered ductile iron (ADI) can be considered a significant economic advantage to the increasing industrial demand for cost- and weight-efficient materials. However, due to its microstructure-induced inherent properties, ADI is considered hard-to-machine material. Thus, the dry drilling of ADI is investigated in this paper. The ADI material used in the present study is produced using an innovative process route for near net shape casting production. Drilling experiments are conducted on a DMU80P Deckel Maho five-axis machining centre using PVD-coated carbide tools under dry cutting environment. The dry drilling of ADI under different cutting conditions is evaluated in terms of specific cutting force and tool wear analysis. The influence of cutting conditions on chip morphology and surface roughness is also investigated. The experimental results revealed that the combination of the low feed rate and higher cutting speed leads to the higher mechanical and thermal loads on the tool's cutting edge, resulting in higher specific cutting force values. This behaviour is further supported by the chip morphology analysis, which revealed the formation of segmented chips at higher cutting speed with segment spacing increase with an increase in feed rate. Depending upon the cutting parameters, different modes of tool failures including crater wear, flank wear, chipping, breakage and built-up edge were observed. Surface roughness analysis revealed the influence of tool wear and chip morphology on the machined surface finish. © Springer-Verlag London 2013.