As AI adoption across Southeast Asia rapidly evolves from early experimentation to accountable, operational deployment, Informa has released its latest special report, Staying Ahead in the AI Era, developed by its technology research and advisory group, Omdia. Produced in support of Informa’s upcoming Asia Tech x Enterprise, the report delivers timely insights that will inform industry discussions ahead of the event’s return from 20–22 May 2026 at Singapore EXPO.
The Reality Check for Sovereign AI
A recent Omdia survey revealed that while 64% of enterprises are in favour of ‘sovereign AI’ to protect local data and align with national priorities, the strict definition of AI sovereignty is highly demanding and unachievable for most countries outside of the United States and China. To compete, the report indicates that APAC nations will increasingly need to support their national AI ambitions by forming strategic regional alliances and leveraging the capabilities of big tech.
Agentic AI Rewrites the Workforce Contract
Agentic AI budgets are ramping up faster than Generative AI did in comparable stages of the market. Currently, nearly half (42%) of surveyed organisations are allocating USD1 million or more to AI agents over the next 12 months. As these systems initiate actions, coordinate workflows, and execute tasks without continuous human involvement, they are fundamentally breaking the long-standing business software contract where ‘humans decide, and technology assists’. This shift will force businesses to redefine roles and accountability, concentrating human value on exception handling, judgment, and oversight.
Building the Future Enterprise: Defensible ROI, AI Infrastructure and Digital Trust
As organisations shift from proof-of-concept to production-ready enterprise systems, over three-quarters (82%) of businesses surveyed by Omdia are now willing to commit larger budgets, provided measurable and defensible business value can be delivered. To support this operational scale, traditional IT infrastructure across Asia is transforming into ‘AI Factories’. These are heavy industrial facilities purpose-built to continuously produce intelligence.
This infrastructure boom is concurrently accelerating the physical AI economy as humanoid robotics matures in 2026. Beyond the US and China, Asian markets are aggressively leaning into this hardware supply chain, with South Korea heavily investing in its robotics ecosystem and Taiwan positioning itself as the critical contract manufacturer for humanoid robotics vendors.
However, securing these advanced systems is vital to ASEAN’s economic stability. Organisations must now balance a four-pronged cybersecurity strategy – Security with AI, Security by AI, Security against AI, and Security for AI – to counter AI-turbocharged threats. At the same time, they face a looming 2030 deadline when quantum computing is projected to break current encryption methods like RSA and AES. Recognising this threat, almost one third (32%) of organisations are already actively exploring quantum-resistant protections.
“The decisions enterprise leaders make in the next 18 months will define their competitive position,” said Joyce Wang, Event Director for Asia Tech x Singapore at Informa. “We created this special report with Omdia to serve as a strategic orientation tool for the region. By mapping out these critical shifts, from agentic AI to quantum readiness and physical AI, we are ensuring that when delegates arrive at the Singapore EXPO this May, they are ready to transform these innovations into measurable business impact. At Asia Tech x Enterprise, our goal is to equip leaders with the comprehensive insights needed to not just track the market, but to confidently lead it.”
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Research Methodology
This report is based on Omdia’s proprietary research, including quantitative surveys and interviews conducted across the world, and complemented by extensive secondary research and market analysis. The findings reflect Omdia’s independent assessment of market dynamics at the time of study. For details of the methodology used, please contact us directly.
