In the Asia Pacific region, respondents of one survey cited various challenges faced in AI digital transformation efforts.
In an October and November 2023 survey of 1,050 CIOs and IT decision makers around the world (including 400 in the Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan within APAC), to understand how organizations can use integration, automation, and application programming interfaces (APIs) to build successful AI strategies, some opportunities and challenges were identified.
Firstly, 86% of respondents in APAC expected AI to increase developer productivity at their organizations over the next three years, and also reported a 39% increase in IT requests in the last year alone.
However, 69% also cited their organization being ill-equipped to harmonize data systems to fully leverage AI. This was impeding the transition and further heightening the strain on IT teams.
Adding to these concerns, 98% of APAC respondents reported experiencing at least some degree of challenge with their digital transformation efforts, with 34% citing data silos and 77% grappling with systems that are overly dependent on one another.
Other findings
Within APAC, the data showed:
- AI adoption was on the rise: APAC respondents (IT leaders) expected a 89% increase in the average number of large language models they will use over the next three years, compared to 69% globally; 88% of APAC respondents cited they already used multiple predictive and generative AI models at the time of the survey.
- Integration challenges: An average of 28% of apps within APAC respondents’ organizations were connected, and 82% of APAC respondents cited that integration challenges were hindering digital transformation within their organizations.
- Barriers to adoption: 64% of APAC respondents (IT leaders) were concerned with ethical AI usage and adoption, in terms of security and trust issues.
- Silos were hindering digital transformation efforts: 82% of APAC respondents cited that:
- 77% found that their current infrastructure was “overly interdependent”, with 69% reporting their organization was not equipped to harmonize their data systems to leverage AI technologies, compared to respondents in the US (55%) and Europe (60%).
- 74% of APAC respondents cited they were struggling with integrating data insights into user experiences.
- 26% of organizations cited providing a “completely connected user experience” across all channels.
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Overburdened IT teams largely controlling automation: 25% of APAC respondents (IT leaders) cited that their strategy to help non-technical business users integrate apps and data sources via APIs was up to date. Simultaneously, a skills gap within IT teams was posing a hurdle:
- IT teams were under immense pressure to integrate efficiently: 98% reported facing challenges regarding digital transformation. Skills gaps and compliance concerns topped the list of IT challenges.
- 86% of APAC respondents expect AI to boost developer productivity.
- 31% preferred to use Robotic Process Automation to ease the burden, compared to 13% in a similar survey in 2021.
- APIs were being used as a strategic lever: 33% of revenue was accrued to API and API-related offerings among APAC respondents, a level that has remained steady over the past three years.
- 41% of APAC respondents cited APIs had contributed to increased revenue; 37% cited APIs having decreased operational costs.
- 50% cited increased productivity, 48% cited increased agility and self-service, and 43% cited APIs helping business teams meet performance demands.
- 51% cited that APIs continue to help them “successfully build integrations”.
According to Brian Kealey, Vice President (APAC), MuleSoft, which commissioned the survey: “The potential of AI is limited only by the data that organizations can connect it to, and the outcomes they can drive from it,” noting that integration and automation challenges need to be addressed with “a robust data strategy, with a focus on data currency, reuse and access.”
