Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25 February 2025 – Business leaders and IT decision-makers confirm the accelerating shift toward ROI-driven-AI investments as organizations increase AI spending by 3.3x in Asia Pacific (AP) and 2.7x in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN+1), according to the third edition of Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025 – It’s Time for AI-nomics. Commissioned by Lenovo, the research is based on a global IDC study of 2,900+ respondents, including 900+ IT and business decision-makers (ITBDMs) from 12 AP markets.
Early Stages of AI Adoption – ROI the greatest barrier
Despite the gradual rise in AI spending, AI adoption in ASEAN+ remains in the early stages, with 47% of organizations either evaluating or planning to implement AI within the next 12 months. This is lower than both AP (56%) and global (49%) averages, with ROI challenges emerging as a key barrier to faster adoption. Singapore leads as the regional hub with advanced AI maturity and infrastructure, while other ASEAN+ nations are still in the early stages of adoption due to constraints in resources and expertise.
Delivering ROI for AI is a long-term endeavor that requires balancing AI experiments with those that can be scaled. Interestingly, AP organizations expect a 3.6x ROI on average from their AI projects, which requires a measured approach to scaling AI and building internal capabilities. ASEAN+ gradual pace reflects a focus on optimizing supply chain, improving regulatory compliance, and boosting employee productivity while overcoming business challenges such as data management, AI expertise, and data security.
Overcoming Organizational Readiness Challenges
Evolving business priorities each year reflect a deeper understanding of what it takes to drive AI growth, along with a growing awareness of its risks. Ethical issues and biases remain the top AI risks this year, yet only 24% of organizations globally and 25% in AP have fully enforced AI GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) policies. In ASEAN+, 24% of CIOs report having fully implemented enterprise AI GRC policies, aligning closely with global and AP trends. This underscores the urgent need for a structured approach to what has become the #1 priority for businesses in AP.
Effective AI governance requires explainability, ethical frameworks, accountability, model governance, enhanced privacy, security and integrated human oversight.
“Business priorities are shifting in Asia Pacific,” said Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo, “For 2025, governance, risk, and compliance have jumped 12 spots to become the top priority, highlighting the focus on secure and responsible AI. Employee productivity has also climbed from #7 to #2, underscoring its growing importance. Lenovo is committed to making AI accessible, ethical, and impactful — helping businesses of all sizes thrive in the AI era. “
GenAI Adoption Accelerates
GenAI is set to transform enterprise workflows, commanding 42% of AI implementation spends in 2025 in ASEAN+:
- In Asia Pacific, IT Operations emerged as the top use case, while in ASEAN+, Customer Service took the lead.
- There is more focus on cybersecurity (#2) and software development (#3) in AP.
- For ASEAN+ IT Ops (#2) and Engineering / R&D (#3) take precedence.
On-Prem and Hybrid Infrastructures Dominate
The report reveals that 65% of organizations in Asia Pacific are opting for on-premise or hybrid solutions to power AI workloads. This preference is driven by the need for secure, low-latency environments, and operational flexibility. Meanwhile, 19% still rely on public cloud services.
ASEAN+ reflects a similar trend, with 68% using hybrid or on-prem, while the remainder depend on public cloud.
“Hybrid architectures offer the best of both worlds—scalability and control,” noted Varinderjit Singh, General Manager, Malaysia. “Globally, 63% of organizations choose on-premise and hybrid infrastructures for AI, and ASEAN+ is leading with a higher adoption rate. This demonstrates a clear focus on driving innovation while ensuring security and compliance for the unique demands of AI. With its end-to-end cutting-edge AI solutions, smarter infrastructure, and strategic partnerships, Lenovo is driving Smarter AI for all.”
AI PCs: Early Adoption Signals Productivity Gains
AI-powered PCs are gaining traction in AP, with 43% of organizations seeing significant productivity gains. While awareness is increasing, local adoption remains slow across markets. In ASEAN+, 65% of organizations are already in the planning stage for AI-powered PC adoption. As the technology matures and demonstrates ROI, the adoption curve will accelerate driving more digital workplace solutions.
The Need for Skilled Partnerships
With organizations scaling their AI efforts, 34% of AP CIOs and 44% of ASEAN+ CIOs are actively leveraging professional AI services to navigate complexities in data management, talent shortages, and cost efficiency. Interestingly, an additional 56% of CIOs in ASEAN+ are exploring or planning to engage these services in the near future. These collaborations help bridge internal capability gaps, enabling organizations to focus on upskilling their teams and building long-term resilience.
“AI adoption is not just about the short-term gains. Organizations need to invest in the efficiency of the design, deployment and integration of AI solutions to their operations that enable tracking of the impact. Professional AI services play a key role here and help organizations successfully adopt AI through outcome-led approach. Solutions like Lenovo’s AI Fast Start further accelerate this process, helping businesses quickly pilot, optimize, and scale AI initiatives with expert guidance and tested frameworks,” said Fan Ho, Executive Director and General Manager, Solutions and Services Group, Lenovo Asia Pacific.
For more information:
Download the Lenovo AP CIO Playbook 2025
Download the Lenovo Global CIO Playbook 2025
