IDC Outlines Seven Pillars of AI Success to Guide Asia/Pacific Japan (APJ) Enterprises in Driving Innovation, Efficiency, and Revenue Growth
At the recent IDC FutureScape event in Singapore, IDC unveiled its latest technology predictions for 2025-2029, revealing that Asia/Pacific* business leaders will demand 80% success rate on GenAI initiatives by 2027. This ambitious target aims to boost efficiency and revenue growth.
The AI Pivot will move from the initial “scramble” of GenAI experimentation, currently at a 62% success rate, to comprehensive AI integration within enterprises. This shift urges businesses to move beyond pilot projects and embed AI into core operations, aiming for measurable success and strategic outcomes by 2027.
IDC also forecasts that AI will be a major driver of economic growth in the Asia/Pacific region. AI-related spending is projected to grow 1.7x faster than overall digital technology investments over the next three years. This surge is expected to generate a projected $1.6 trillion economic impact by the end of 2027 across Asia/Pacific Japan.
Leading the team of IDC subject matter experts, Sandra Ng, group vice president and general manager for IDC stated, “2025 will be the year of the AI Pivot. It marks the shift from seemingly endless AI experimentation to executing AI at scale. Organizations must integrate AI into their business strategies to stay ahead of the competition, moving beyond isolated pilot projects to achieve real, measurable business outcomes through structured approaches, governance, quality data and scalable fit-for-purpose infrastructure.”
To guide Asia/Pacific businesses through this transition, IDC outlines seven critical pillars to become an AI-fueled business:
Strategy: Effective scaling AI hinges on close collaboration between IT and business teams. Poor coordination remains a key reason for low success rates. By 2026, IDC predicts that over one-third of organizations will be stuck in the experimental, point-solution phase of AI experimentation. To get out of this muck, organizations must shift focus to enterprise use cases to deliver ROI.
Governance: Organizations with high GenAI success integrate responsible AI into governance frameworks. By 2025, IDC forecasts that 70% of organizations will formalize policies and oversight to address AI risks (e.g., ethical, brand, PII), aligning AI governance with strategic business goals.
People: Training and alignment between executives and employees are crucial to overcoming early AI deployment hurdles. By 2027, IDC predicts that more than 50% of A2000 enterprises will rely on GenAI-enabled platforms to automate, accelerate, and optimize IT training and skilling outcomes.
Applications: GenAI-infused apps transform business decisions, raising the stakes for production launches. By late 2026, IDC estimates that 50% of organizations in APJ will leverage AI to bring immediate employee and business value with AI-driven technology assistants, advisors, and agents enabling improved decisions.
AI Platforms: Businesses often struggle with disparate AI tools. Unified platforms will streamline AI efforts at scale. By 2028, IDC forecasts that 75% of enterprises that establish an AI platform strategy built on a foundation of connecting processes to broader business functions will achieve enhanced value from their investments.
Data: High-quality data is critical for AI success, and many organizations are grappling with “dark data.” To optimize costs, reduce vendor dependencies, and improve data governance, IDC predicts that by 2025, 45% of A2000 companies will adopt multicloud data logistic platforms. And by 2027, the use of data-as-a-product architectures will significantly break down data silos in 50% of large APJ enterprises.
Infrastructure: Current infrastructure solutions support experimentation but scaling AI to production challenges ROI due to high costs. By 2028, IDC estimates 75% of enterprise AI workloads will be deployed on hybrid fit-for-purpose infrastructure to turbocharge time to value while optimizing performance, cost, and compliance
“IDC’s predictions underscore the transformative impact AI will have on APJ businesses. The AI Pivot is not just an option but a necessity to drive growth, enhance efficiency, and compete in an increasingly data-driven world. Added Ng, “With AI investments set to outpace other digital technologies, companies that address and go beyond the 7 AI blockers in 2025 will be best positioned to capture new revenue streams, improve customer experiences, and build long-term competitive advantages.”
