Singapore falls somewhere in the middle, with 36% of businesses identified as first movers and 47% as pragmatic optimisers.
[SINGAPORE] Indonesia is actively positioning itself as an AI leader in Southeast Asia, with companies planning to aggressively invest in multiple artificial intelligence capabilities.
According to a regional survey by , just over six out of 10 domestic companies (62%) were considered “first movers”, ahead of Thailand (55%), Malaysia (46%) and Singapore (36%). business times showed.
the study, Business Times Insight: ASEAN Intelligence 2026We divided our respondents into three groups: first movers, realistic optimists, and cautious traditionalists. They were grouped based on their answers to a series of questions.
AI first movers are early adopters, defined as companies that feel strong pressure to transform and aggressively invest in multiple AI capabilities.
Pragmatic optimizers are those who recognize the need for AI, but adjust the pace of their investments and focus on initiatives that have proven impact.
The third category, cautious traditionalists, perceives less urgency and tends to invest more conservatively in AI.
Almost half (45%) of respondents identified as first movers. 42% were considered realistic optimists. The remainder (13%) turned out to be cautious traditionalists.
Singapore falls somewhere in between, with 36% of surveyed companies identified as first movers and 47% as pragmatic optimisers.
The city-state also ranked second only to Indonesia (69% vs. 70%) in identifying “moderate” to “strong pressure” to transform through new technologies such as AI, automation, and sustainability-related trends.
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The BT survey, conducted in February in collaboration with market research firm Kantar, surveyed more than 500 business leaders from six ASEAN economies: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Beyond the AI hype
Hanno Stegmann, managing director and partner at BCG X, said Singapore’s results can best be understood in the context of the market’s AI savvy.
“As AI advances and awareness of upcoming changes increases, respondents in Singapore may become more conservative in answering such questions than respondents in the region,” he noted.
Vivek Luthra, Asia Pacific AI and data lead at Accenture, added that the sectors that underpin Singapore’s economy are shaping the country’s approach to technology.
“Singapore’s workforce has moved beyond curiosity and hype to develop a more deliberate and intentional relationship with technology,” he said.
“This is primarily shaped by the sectors that support Singapore’s economy, such as financial services, healthcare and the public sector, and our research shows that organizations apply the strictest governance and compliance standards to AI.”
Luthra added that respondents in these areas “tend to be more cautious” in how they rate themselves.
“When you work in a highly regulated environment with clear governance expectations, you are less likely to call yourself a first mover because you have a complete picture of what responsible implementation actually requires.”
That said, Indonesia is showing “really exciting signs”, he said.
He pointed to the level of intention among Indonesian company leadership as one of the key driving points, noting that the majority of the country’s leaders have already recognized the need to prepare their workforce for generative AI in the next three years.
“That kind of top-down ambition is a strong foundation.”
AI adoption is becoming more widespread at the grassroots level. BCG X’s Stegman noted that Indonesia has the second highest rate of AI usage in the Asia-Pacific region, behind only India.
When it comes to where countries will focus their AI investments in 2026, most countries have chosen AI infrastructure and data platforms. Only companies in the Philippines and Vietnam chose risk, fraud, and compliance AI as a focus area for 2026.
For all countries except Vietnam, the biggest barrier to AI adoption was cost. Vietnam identified legacy infrastructure issues as the biggest barrier.
Sovereign AI model that takes control
Indonesia’s AI push is driven by high demand for sovereign AI infrastructure.
The Sahabat AI Initiative is an Indonesian national AI initiative developed in collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH), GoTo Group, Nvidia, and AI Singapore that aims to advance the country’s digital sovereignty by understanding the regional nuances of language.
Chirag Sukhadia, chief data and AI officer at IOH, said adoption of the Sahabat AI language model is very strong.
Unlike mainstream large-scale language models such as ChatGPT and Gemini, the value proposition of the Sahabat model is that it is trained on Indonesian data and dialects, better reflecting the nuances of local culture.
“The deployment is going beyond just experimentation,” he told BT.
IOH, Indonesia’s second-largest telecommunications operator, infrastructure provider and lead developer of this initiative, is integrating this model into its daily operations, particularly targeting human resources and sales.
The company is also leveraging AI to optimize the capital-intensive nature of its telecom business. Scadia said that by using AI, IOH was able to reallocate and optimize up to 22% of its capital expenditures.
Beyond optimization and reallocation, he estimates that AI could increase profits before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by US$200 million to US$300 million over the next three years.
He added that from a company’s perspective, this will improve return on investment.
Beyond cultural nuances, data sovereignty is another factor driving the high adoption rate of the Sahabat model.
“Leaders are recognizing that sustainably scaling AI is not just about accessing the best models,” said Accenture’s Luthra. “It’s important to have control over your data, models, and technology environment.”
He cited banking, telecommunications, energy, and consumer retail as areas where AI adoption is “moving forward with real purpose,” where AI is integrated into core workflows.
BT’s research found that this is not just the case in Indonesia. Among all respondents, the consumer, retail, and healthcare sectors were significantly more likely to be first movers.
Adopting AI is more than an investment in technology
AI adoption is expected to boom over the next few years, with 56% of survey respondents saying they expect there to be significant disruption to the role of operations and manufacturing by the end of 2026.
BCG X’s Stegman said quality control inspectors, demand planners, inventory managers, procurement analysts and logistics coordinators could be the most affected.
However, he noted that complete job reductions are less common than role changes. That being said, employers need to proactively reskill their employees and communicate clearly about role evolution.
Luthra added, “The most important thing is to recognize that AI adoption is not just about investing in technology, but also requires a focus on workforce readiness.”
Stegman noted that despite Indonesia’s promising trajectory, the country needs to overcome fundamental hurdles such as data readiness, AI infrastructure, and governance frameworks before it can call itself a frontrunner in the AI field.
“Indonesia has strong grassroots AI energy, and companies now need to channel it into structured, top-down transformation programs.”
Gain deeper insight into the future of your business and be more informed as you navigate what’s to come. Business Times Insight: ASEAN Intelligence.
this year, business times Market research firm Kantar commissioned a survey to get their finger on the pulse of leadership across the region.
The first round of the survey was conducted in February and surveyed 538 business leaders from six ASEAN countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Respondents come from a variety of industries, including manufacturing, consumer and retail, healthcare, and financial services. Most of them are executives, senior managers, or business owners.
Approximately 65% of respondents are large businesses and 35% are small businesses.
In April, a second wave of more targeted fieldwork was conducted to gauge the impact of the Middle East conflict on business sentiment. We conducted a survey of 246 business leaders with similar profiles.
“Our mission is to go beyond the surface-level narrative of regional growth,” said BT editor Chen Huifeng.
“By investing in our proprietary intelligence, we are ensuring our readers have access to the foundational truths that outside observers may miss. We bring home-grown perspectives to readers around the world and provide a catalyst for leaders to turn volatility into opportunity.”
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