Asia Pacific (APAC) businesses are boosting investments in generative AI (GenAI). According to Infosys Research, spending on this technology will almost triple to $3.4 billion in 2024 across Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, and Singapore.
Although spending in APAC lags behind North America, its adoption, effectiveness, and growth rates are among the highest worldwide.
“Companies across Asia-Pacific are quickly ramping up investments in generative AI and entering a higher stage of maturity,” the IT major’s research arm, Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), said in the research.
Although companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) currently trail North American counterparts in GenAI spending, the research predicts a significant increase of 140%, surpassing the growth rate in any other region.
“This translates to an estimated $3.4 billion to be invested across Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, and Singapore,” it said.
Infosys’ Generative AI Radar APAC report gathers insights from interviews with business leaders and AI practitioners and a survey of 1,000 respondents in Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, and Singapore.
Enterprises in the APAC region are making substantial investments in Generative AI (GenAI). China takes the lead, with investments projected to surge by over 160% to reach $2.1 billion, while Australia and New Zealand follow suit in growth.
“ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) investment is expected to grow by more than 150%, from $60 million to $151 million in 2024,” the research findings showed.
The main hurdles hindering the adoption of AI in APAC include caution regarding responsible AI, concerns about potential impacts on reputation, and the readiness of employees.
Concerns about responsible AI, encompassing data privacy, data usability, ethics, and bias, are prevalent across APAC countries. However, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) are less apprehensive about data usability than other regions.
“APAC is more cautious about GenAI’s business impact than North America and Europe; almost 10 per cent expect a negative impact on reputation versus less than 5 per cent for North America and Europe, it said.
