Asia Pacific enterprises shift to genAI spend amid AI cloud push
The two recent Forrester reports, The State of AI, 2024 and Embrace the AI-Native Cloud Now, provide an in-depth look at how organisations in Asia Pacific and worldwide are approaching generative AI (genAI) investments, use cases, and cloud-native transformations.
Regional investment trends
Forrester's The State of AI, 2024 report shows more than half of enterprise AI decision-makers globally have allocated between USD $200,000 and USD $400,000 to genAI so far. These figures signal significant but selective engagement with AI, as adoption patterns differ according to regional objectives and regulatory environments.
Within Asia Pacific, one of the more distinct trends is a change in budget allocation. Enterprises in the region are more likely to transition funding from predictive AI initiatives to genAI. According to Forrester, this shift indicates "a pragmatic, value-driven approach" to investments in artificial intelligence.
Leaders across Asia Pacific continue to place a premium on employee productivity and customer experience (CX), two goals that mirror global priorities. However, Asian Pacific organisations stand out by leading slightly on data literacy efforts, with 50% of respondents indicating a focus on upskilling employees for more informed, data-driven decision making.
Adoption and key use cases
GenAI applications are gaining traction in both operational and development domains. While IT operations is a top AI use case globally, 43% of Asia Pacific respondents said their firms are deploying genAI to support software development. This reflects the region's intent to bolster engineering productivity and accelerate the pace of digital transformation.
Despite ongoing investment, barriers continue to influence adoption rates. Data privacy is the primary risk cited by firms in the region. At the same time, Asia Pacific organisations report a more acute lack of specialised technical skills compared to their counterparts elsewhere. This underlines the need for expanded workforce enablement and training to meet enterprise AI ambitions.
Expectations for returns on investment (ROI) also demonstrate variability. Half of organisations surveyed anticipate realising returns within one to three years. Meanwhile, 38% are targeting a three-to-five year time frame. These figures suggest a diversity of approaches based on the scale and complexity of AI projects currently underway. Generative AI continues to spur conversation and investment across industries, albeit at varying levels depending on regional priorities and challenges. Companies that strategically align their AI efforts with measurable outcomes around customer experience and employee productivity are already reaping returns. However, addressing barriers such as data privacy, governance, and skill shortages is critical to ensuring that AI investments deliver sustainable value.
That assessment comes from Frederic Giron, Vice President and Senior Research Director at Forrester.
Cloud strategies for the AI era
The Embrace the AI-Native Cloud Now report explores the evolving nature of public cloud platforms under the influence of widespread AI adoption. The report asserts that as genAI capabilities advance, Asia Pacific enterprises and governments must pursue AI-native cloud strategies to remain competitive and operate efficiently at scale.
AI-native clouds are described as moving beyond conventional infrastructure services to offer intelligent, automated operations and application capabilities. Key features highlighted in the research include predictive operations, autoscaling, and automated handling of security updates and system patches.
There is also a rapid expansion of AI-enabled development tools, such as TuringBots and low-code platforms that help streamline application design and deployment. These tools aim to raise developer productivity by automating much of the coding and debugging process while freeing teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
Furthermore, embedded AI APIs are increasingly underpinning both software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and bespoke applications, providing elements such as predictive analytics, personalisation, and intuitive agentic AI-driven user experiences. The report notes that to fully benefit from the AI-native cloud, organisations should integrate technologies such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and adopt composable architectures. The AI-native cloud is not just the next iteration of cloud technology; it is the paradigm shift enterprises need for their cloud strategies to remain competitive in an AI-driven world. Leaders must prioritise AI-native cloud strategies to improve operational efficiency, advance development capabilities, accelerate business innovation, and differentiate their customer experiences.
Those comments were made by Charlie Dai, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester.
The research indicates that as organisations in Asia Pacific move towards more data-driven operations and cloud-native models, the focus will increasingly fall on workforce competence, governance, and risk management to ensure AI and cloud investments translate into sustained value and competitive differentiation.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Techday NZ
a day ago
- Techday NZ
Sensitive data exposure rises with employee use of GenAI tools
Harmonic Security has released its quarterly analysis finding that a significant proportion of data shared with Generative AI (GenAI) tools and AI-enabled SaaS applications by employees contains sensitive information. The analysis was conducted on a dataset comprising 1 million prompts and 20,000 files submitted to 300 GenAI tools and AI-enabled SaaS applications between April and June. According to the findings, 22% of files (total 4,400) and 4.37% of prompts (total 43,700) included sensitive data. The categories of sensitive data encompassed source code, access credentials, proprietary algorithms, merger and acquisition (M&A) documents, customer or employee records, and internal financial information. Use of new GenAI tools The data highlights that in the second quarter alone, organisations on average saw employees begin using 23 previously unreported GenAI tools. This expanding variety of tools increases the administrative load on security teams, who are required to vet each tool to ensure it meets security standards. A notable proportion of AI tool use occurs through personal accounts, which may be unsanctioned or lack sufficient safeguards. Almost half (47.42%) of sensitive uploads to Perplexity were made via standard, non-enterprise accounts. The numbers were lower for other platforms, with 26.3% of sensitive data entering ChatGPT through personal accounts, and just 15% for Google Gemini. Data exposure by platform Analysis of sensitive prompts identified ChatGPT as the most common origin point in Q2, accounting for 72.6%, followed by Microsoft Copilot with 13.7%, Google Gemini at 5.0%, Claude at 2.5%, Poe at 2.1%, and Perplexity at 1.8%. Code leakage represented the most prevalent form of sensitive data exposure, particularly within ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, and Baidu Chat. File uploads and risks The report found that, on average, organisations uploaded 1.32GB of files in the second quarter, with PDFs making up approximately half of all uploads. Of these files, 21.86% contained sensitive data. The concentration of sensitive information was higher in files compared to prompts. For example, files accounted for 79.7% of all stored credit card exposure incidents, 75.3% of customer profile leaks, and 68.8% of employee personally identifiable information (PII) incidents. Files accounted for 52.6% of exposure volume related to financial projections. Less visible sources of risk GenAI risk does not only arise from well-known chatbots. Increasingly, regular SaaS tools that integrate large language models (LLMs) - often without clear labelling as GenAI - are becoming sources of risk as they access and process sensitive information. Canva was reportedly used for documents containing legal strategy, M&A planning, and client data. Replit and were involved with proprietary code and access keys, while Grammarly and Quillbot edited contracts, client emails, and internal legal content. International exposure Use of Chinese GenAI applications was cited as a concern. The study found that 7.95% of employees in the average enterprise engaged with a Chinese GenAI tool, leading to 535 distinct sensitive exposure incidents. Within these, 32.8% were related to source code, access credentials, or proprietary algorithms, 18.2% involved M&A documents and investment models, 17.8% exposed customer or employee PII, and 14.4% contained internal financial data. Preventative measures "The good news for Harmonic Security customers is that this sensitive customer data, personally identifiable information (PII), and proprietary file contents never actually left any customer tenant, it was prevented from doing so. But had organizations not had browser based protection in place, sensitive information could have ended up training a model, or worse, in the hands of a foreign state. AI is now embedded in the very tools employees rely on every day and in many cases, employees have little knowledge they are exposing business data." Harmonic Security Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Alastair Paterson made this statement, referencing the protections offered to their customers and the wider risks posed by the pervasive nature of embedded AI within workplace tools. Harmonic Security advises enterprises to seek visibility into all tool usage – including tools available on free tiers and those with embedded AI – to monitor the types of data being entered into GenAI systems and to enforce context-aware controls at the data level. The recent analysis utilised the Harmonic Security Browser Extension, which records usage across SaaS and GenAI platforms and sanitises the information for aggregate study. Only anonymised and aggregated data from customer environments was used in the analysis.
Techday NZ
2 days ago
- Techday NZ
Quest Software boosts Australian channel strategy with new leaders
Quest Software has announced new leadership appointments to strengthen its channel partner strategy across Australia, signalling an increased commitment to the country's enterprise sector and its partner ecosystem. Maureen Perrelli has been appointed as Chief Channel Officer to lead Quest Software's global channel strategy. Perrelli's previous roles include Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales at NCR and Chief Revenue Officer at Brivo, alongside her experience at Oracle, GE and Secureworks. Within the Asia Pacific and Japan region, Angela Maniscalco steps into the Head of Channel post after five years leading erwin sales across APJ and ANZ, including during and after its integration into Quest. Maniscalco's earlier experience includes serving as Head of Strategic Partnerships and Marketing APAC at Insight. Channel focus These appointments are positioned as part of a targeted effort to grow Quest's local presence by delivering enhanced partner programs, increased enablement, and new opportunities for enterprise collaboration. Quest sees the Australian partner ecosystem as a central component in driving growth, particularly in sectors faced with high regulatory requirements. "Australian partners are at the heart of Quest's growth strategy as we expand our cybersecurity, data, and modernisation portfolios. Our goal is to build deeper and more strategic partnerships that deliver strong customer outcomes, especially in complex, highly regulated sectors such as finance, government and healthcare," said Maureen Perrelli, Chief Channel Officer at Quest Software. The company has outlined plans to expand and improve its partner program. Central to this refreshed approach are enhanced enablement resources, new certification pathways, and a suite of benefits across Quest's solution areas. Three solution pillars Quest Software is grouping its offerings into three primary areas. The first is Cybersecurity & IT Resilience, which includes tools for Active Directory protection, threat detection and recovery. Among the upcoming products, the GenAI-enhanced Security Guardian is scheduled to launch later in 2025, promising to enhance detection and response capabilities for environments using Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID. The second area, AI-ready Data & Governance, equips organisations with support for discovering, governing, and preparing enterprise data for compliance, analytics and future AI initiatives. This emphasis responds to increasing regulatory scrutiny and the drive toward making enterprise data audit-ready for statutory compliance and analytics. The third core pillar, Migrations & Modernisation, encompasses migration solutions for Microsoft platforms such as Active Directory, Exchange, and SQL Server. Quest points to its On Demand Migration platform, the first migration product to achieve Microsoft 365 Certification, providing assurances to partners involved in cloud transformation projects. Quest expects these solution pillars to be strengthened by the new leadership structure and targeted partner program enhancements. Deeper partner engagement The company is also investing in joint go-to-market initiatives and field engagement, aiming to equip its Australian partners to address customer challenges more effectively and grow their own businesses. "Our strategy is simple: put customer outcomes first by working closely with trusted partners. It's not just about building great products, it's about how we take them to market together and create real value for customers," Perrelli added. Quest Software states its ongoing commitment is to deliver technology and solutions that support enterprise needs around data management, cybersecurity and platform modernisation. The company's larger client base includes over 45,000 organisations worldwide, among them more than 90% of the Fortune 500.
Techday NZ
2 days ago
- Techday NZ
Metaforms raises USD $9m to revolutionise market research
Metaforms, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup, has raised USD $9 million in Series A funding to support the development of AI infrastructure for the market research industry. The funding round was led by Peak XV Partners, formerly known as Sequoia India, and included participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Together Fund. With this investment, Metaforms will expand its team, enhance its AI agents, and broaden its platform to include report generation and voice-based research capabilities. The company's integrations already extend to widely used research tools such as Decipher, SPSS, and Confirmit. Addressing industry bottlenecks The global market research industry, estimated to be worth USD $130 billion, is experiencing rapid growth. However, agencies face increasing challenges from outdated operational systems, leading to capacity issues and compressed margins. Metaforms aims to address these challenges, enabling agencies to meet client demand without overburdening their staff or turning away work. "We're thrilled to partner with Akshat and Arjun as they reimagine what a market research agency could look like in an AI-first world. Metaforms is scaling rapidly, by enabling some of the largest research agencies globally to automate workflows such as survey programming and data processing through their suite of AI agents." Shailendra Singh, MD, Peak XV Research agencies traditionally spend significant time on manual tasks such as converting survey questionnaires into code, coordinating with multiple panel providers via email, and running complex validation scripts. Metaforms' AI agents automate these processes, fitting within agencies' existing workflows and improving efficiency without replacing human expertise. The platform's functions include converting questionnaires into survey code, identifying problematic data before it impacts projects, coordinating with panel vendors, and managing quotas across multi-country studies. For many agencies, these capabilities represent the difference between being able to scale up or having to refuse additional business. Industry traction Since launching commercially six months ago, Metaforms has secured contracts with four of the world's top twenty research agencies, including Strat7. The platform currently processes over 1,000 surveys per month and counts several Fortune 500 companies among its clients. Metaforms reports a 100% expansion rate among clients who started with a single AI agent and have since deployed additional AI functionalities. "Metaforms has been incredibly successful thanks to their uniquely thoughtful approach to modernising research operations - embedding seamlessly into the workflows, tools, and platforms that researchers and agencies already use. I'm excited to continue supporting the team as they build on that momentum with this Series A." Jonathan Tice, GTM Consultant [Prev: Chief Customer Officer, Forsta] Akshat Tyagi and Arjun S founded Metaforms in 2022, driven by their own difficulties accessing professional market research as early-stage founders. They identified that agencies were limited not by a lack of demand, but by their operational bandwidth, and set out to build a platform to increase efficiency. "Our goal is simple: help great research teams spend less time firefighting and more time doing the work that actually matters," said Akshat Tyagi, co-founder and CEO of Metaforms. "When you automate the grunt work, you make high-quality research more accessible to more companies." According to Metaforms, its AI platform makes high-quality, professional-grade market research more accessible both to large global companies and early-stage startups. By automating high-volume, repetitive tasks, the platform is enabling agencies to serve clients they may previously have had to turn away, improving their ability to scale and manage costs effectively. "Metaforms is a breakout example of the India-to-global play in AI," said Manav Garg, Co-founder and managing partner at Together Fund. "They're not just automating tasks - they're rebuilding research infrastructure for the modern era. With their early traction across global agencies, Akshat and Arjun are showing what's possible when deep customer empathy meets technical ambition." Agencies such as Strat7 have reported tangible benefits from deploying Metaforms' platform. Tabita Razaila, Head of Operations at Strat7, said, "Our partnership has delivered strong ROI, thanks to Metaforms' exceptional service and prompt support." "They're solving a major pain point for the entire industry. That focus and ability to deeply understand customer needs and address that using genetic AI is the hallmark of Metaforms team. We are thrilled to back Akshat and Arjun in their journey of building a remarkable company!", said Jishnu Bhattacharjee and Arjun Gandhi, Nexus Venture Partners. Future plans Looking ahead, Metaforms has plans to triple the size of its team and further expand its agent capabilities, including the development of automated reporting, voice research, and expanded language support. The company's long-term goal is to process over 100,000 surveys per year, further increasing access to comprehensive market research across industries and company sizes. "When research agencies grow, better business decisions get made," added Akshat Tyagi. "We're not here to replace the humans in the loop. We're here to give them leverage."
