Enterprises across Asia Pacific are moving from AI experimentation to execution, with 96% of organizations planning to increase AI investments over the next 12 months, according to the 4th edition of the Lenovo CIO Playbook 2026, developed with insights from IDC. On average, organizations expect AI spending to grow by 15%, across generative AI and agentic AI, public cloud AI services, on-premises AI infrastructure, and AI security tools. India shows particularly strong momentum, with 99% of organizations planning to increase AI investments over the next 12 months and the highest average year-on-year budget growth in the region at 19%. Investment priorities include AI infrastructure, internal AI training for both IT and non-IT staff, generative AI development and applications, followed by AI devices and AI security, trust, and transparency tools. Currently, 21% of Asia Pacific organizations report significant usage, while 59% are exploring or planning limited deployments, especially in telecommunications, healthcare, and government.Readiness, however, remains uneven.

Source: Economic Times March 07, 2026 09:08 UTC