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 with insights by IDC. This study is based on a global study of 2,900+ respondents, including 900+ IT and business decision-makers (ITBDMs) from 12 AP markets, including India, Korea, Japan, ASEAN+ (Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia) and ANZ.

This rapid growth in AI investment highlights the region’s accelerating readiness, with ASEAN+ markets – particularly the Philippines – making foundational moves to scale AI adoption. As part of its national strategy, the Philippines is prioritizing innovation, digital infrastructure, and talent development to drive AI integration across key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, BPO, and healthcare. Initiatives like the National AI Roadmap (2021–2028) and plans for a National Center for AI Research reflect a coordinated push to enable research, upskilling, and practical deployment of AI technologies, contributing to a broader effort to position the country as a meaningful player in the regional AI ecosystem.

Lenovo’s “Smarter Technology for All” vision aligns with these priorities. As a global technology leader, Lenovo is advancing secure, ethical, and accessible AI solutions across consumer, enterprise, and public domains. Leveraging its comprehensive end-to-end AI portfolio, Lenovo is well-positioned to contribute to Philippines’ ambitions – empowering enterprises and individuals to harness the transformative potential of AI driving productivity, innovation, and measurable value.

Early stages of AI adoption – ROI the greatest barrier

While there is gradual rise in AI spending, the journey toward full-scale adoption is still evolving AI with 47% ASEAN+ 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, while other ASEAN+ nations are still in the early stages of adoption due to limited resources and AI 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.

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 percent 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 percent 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 Kumar Mitra, Executive Director, Infrastructure Solutions Group, CAP & ANZ, Lenovo.

"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 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 an outcome-led approach. Solutions like Lenovo’s AI Fast Start further accelerating this process, helping businesses quickly pilot, optimize, and scale AI initiatives with expert guidance and tested frameworks,” said Debdut Maiti, Director, Solutions & Services Group, Greater Asia Pacific, Lenovo

“As the Philippines advances its vision of becoming a key player in the regional AI landscape, Filipino businesses are accelerating their digital transformation with a clear focus on AI solutions that are innovative, responsible, and ROI-driven,” said Michael Ngan, President and General Manager of Lenovo Philippines. “With decades of presence in the Philippines, Lenovo remains deeply committed to supporting local enterprises in overcoming AI adoption challenges—from infrastructure readiness to skills development. Through our portfolio of AI-ready devices, solutions, infrastructure, and services, we are helping build a strong foundation for long-term growth, improved competitiveness, and inclusive participation in the AI-driven economy.”