AI Investment Boom in Asia Pacific Fuelled More by Fear of Missing Out Than Actual Results

Enterprise AI spending is climbing rapidly, with boards racing to deploy the technology faster than they can measure whether it works. According to a new IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Expereo, around 70% of organisations are investing in AI — motivated by its potential or by the fear of falling behind the competition — yet they lag in disciplined ROI evaluation. One in five (20%) admit they are investing aggressively in AI with little evaluation, driven purely by the fear of being left behind.

APAC Leads on FOMO — and on Ambition

In Asia Pacific (APAC), that pressure is even more pronounced: 37% of organisations admit investing aggressively with little evaluation — nearly double the global average, and well ahead of the US (10%) and Europe (13%). The pressure is most acute in Australia (45%) and Vietnam (44%), while in Singapore more than one in three organisations admit the same.

AI has become one of the most prioritised technology investments globally, with 51% of organisations planning to prioritise AI or machine learning investment over the next 12 months — rising to 61% across APAC. Yet returns are failing to keep pace with the hype. Just 19% of global organisations say their AI implementations have exceeded expectations, and only 5% report they have significantly exceeded them.

Across APAC, 40% say implementations have exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations — ahead of the global average, but still leaving the majority falling short.

Why AI Is Underdelivering

The IDC InfoBrief, based on a survey of 800 technology leaders across APAC, Europe, and the US, found that the most-cited reasons for underperformance globally are:

• Inadequate or poor-quality training data (51%)
• Higher-than-expected costs or ROI not achieved (47%)
• AI not performing as well as expected (46%)

For APAC specifically, 49% cite poor-quality training data, 54% cite cost overruns or ROI not achieved — rising to 80% in Malaysia — and 46% say AI has simply not performed as expected.

Where organisations have the right foundations in place, the results speak for themselves. Across APAC, 87% report productivity improvements in the business units most affected by AI, and 82% say quality of work has improved.

The Network Readiness Gap

Underpinning many of these challenges is a network and infrastructure readiness gap. Globally, 26% of organisations whose AI implementations have failed to meet expectations cite inadequate network or connectivity performance as a contributing factor. Looking ahead, 54% of organisations say they need more flexible and scalable networks to thrive in an AI-driven environment, and 51% need greater resilience and reliability to maximise uptime.

In APAC, the gap is acute: only 9% of organisations describe their network infrastructure as fully ready to support new AI, cloud, and digital initiatives, and 37% say it will need upgrading or replacing soon. The need is most acute in Thailand (74%) and Singapore (58%).

“Every enterprise we speak to is investing in AI, yet the data shows a clear gap opening up between AI ambition and AI outcomes. More often than not, that gap comes down to the network underneath. AI only delivers on its promise when the infrastructure carrying it is built to support it. Without resilient, scalable, cloud-optimised networks, even the most well-funded AI programs will struggle to deliver ROI. Getting the network right is no longer an IT decision; it is one of the most important conversations happening in the boardroom today to help fulfil AI ambition.”

— Ben Elms, CEO, Expereo

APAC Leads on Adoption — But Foundations Still Lag

APAC is also leading on adoption, with 35% of organisations reporting extensive AI use across the business, against a global average of 25%. Yet adoption alone is not enough without the right foundations beneath it.

“Asia Pacific is moving aggressively on AI adoption, but many organisations are discovering that scaling AI successfully requires more than just investment in applications and models. The underlying network, cloud connectivity, and operational readiness matter just as much. Across the region, we are seeing enterprises reassess whether their infrastructure is truly ready to support AI at scale, particularly around performance, resilience, governance, and visibility. Organisations that address those foundations early are generally seeing stronger outcomes and faster operational impact from their AI initiatives.”

— Eric Wong, President, APAC, Expereo

Boardrooms Wake Up to Longer-Term Risk

Boardrooms are also waking up to the longer-term risks of unchecked AI investment. Fifty-four percent of global tech leaders cite the creation of new security risks as a significant potential future threat from their organisation’s use of AI, while 39% globally are concerned about losing track of AI-related costs and ROI once the technology is embedded across the business.

In APAC, 41% of technology leaders are worried about losing oversight of AI-related costs and ROI as adoption deepens — rising to 54% in Malaysia. Digital sovereignty is also moving up the strategic agenda, with 38% of APAC organisations rating it a high or top priority.

The full IDC InfoBrief, Enterprise Horizons 2026: Where Innovation Meets Reality (doc #EUR154457526-IB, May 2026), commissioned by Expereo, is available at expereo.com.

About Expereo

Expereo is a world-leading Managed Network as a Service provider that connects people, places, and things anywhere. Solutions include Global Internet, SD-WAN/SASE, and Enhanced Internet. With an extensive global reach, Expereo is the trusted partner of 60% of Fortune 500 companies. It powers enterprise and government sites in more than 190 countries, working with over 2,300 partners.