Around 54% of Asia-Pacific enterprises expect AI to deliver longer-term benefits for their business in innovation or revenue generation, according to the new “APAC AI Outlook 2025,” commissioned by IBM and conducted by Ecosystm.
Hans Dekkers, general manager of IBM Asia Pacific, said: “In 2025, the focus of AI will shift beyond low-risk experiments in areas of the business, such as employee productivity and customer experience, towards broader strategic goals based on competitive advantage and improved ROI. Smaller, targeted models will gain traction, with flexible open-source architecture and the ability to manage seamless integration of AI platforms from any tech provider.”
AI investments
Moreover, the outlook found that almost 60% expect to realise the benefits of their AI investments within two to five years, and only 11% expect returns within the next two years.
In 2025, APAC organisations will focus their AI investments on enhancing customer experience (21%), back-office business process automation (18%), and sales automation and customer lifecycle management (16%).
However, key challenges include data complexity (39%), high implementation and solution costs (36%), and a limited number of defined use cases (35%).
Human-centred innovation
The outlook also found that human-centred innovation drives the next phase of AI. AI is expected to augment their roles, automate routine tasks, and unlock new opportunities for creativity and innovation.
“Human beings are indispensable in the evolution of AI. People need to be involved at every stage of the technology – this includes maintaining oversight of critical applications…Progress should be premised on the idea that AI enhances rather than replaces humans, with both working and growing together,” said Ullrich Loeffler, CEO of Ecosystm.
