Companies across Asia-Pacific are accelerating investments in artificial intelligence, but many are doing so with limited evaluation of returns as competitive pressure and fear of falling behind outweigh proven business outcomes, according to an IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Expereo.
The survey of 800 technology leaders across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the United States found that 61% of organizations in the region plan to prioritize AI or machine learning investments over the next 12 months, above the global average of 51%.
Around 70% of organizations globally are investing in AI because of its potential or fear of missing out, while 20% admitted investing aggressively with little evaluation.
In Asia-Pacific, that figure rises to 37%, nearly double the global average and ahead of the United States at 10% and Europe at 13%. Australia (45%) and Vietnam (44%) recorded the highest levels, while more than one-third of organizations in Singapore reported the same.
Despite the spending, returns have lagged. Only 40% of Asia-Pacific respondents said their AI implementations had exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations.
The main obstacles were poor-quality training data (49%), higher-than-expected costs or failure to achieve expected returns (54%), and AI failing to perform as expected (46%). In Malaysia, 80% cited cost overruns or unmet return-on-investment targets.
The report also identified network infrastructure as a major constraint.
Only 9% of organizations in Asia-Pacific said their networks were fully prepared to support AI, cloud and digital initiatives, while 37% said their infrastructure would need upgrading or replacing soon.
Demand for more flexible and scalable networks was strongest in Thailand and Singapore, and nearly half of Indonesian organizations said upgrades would soon be necessary.
Expereo CEO Ben Elms said the gap between AI ambition and business outcomes often comes down to inadequate network infrastructure, adding that resilient, scalable, and cloud-optimized networks have become critical to achieving returns from AI investments.
Despite the challenges, organizations with stronger technology foundations reported benefits. About 87% of Asia-Pacific respondents said AI had improved productivity, while 82% reported better work quality.
However, governance concerns are growing, with 41% of regional technology leaders worried about losing oversight of AI-related costs and returns as adoption expands. Another 38% identified digital sovereignty as a high strategic priority amid evolving regulatory requirements.