5 figures that show the importance of AI for APAC brands

Artificial intelligence (AI) stands as a cornerstone for innovation and growth in customer experience (CX) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and beyond. In fact, unlocking the potential of AI is becoming essential for brands to remain at the top of their CX capabilities.

Here are five compelling statistics from APAC that underscore the profound impact of AI on CX in the region, highlighting the rise of the technology’s adoption and also emphasizing its pivotal role in shaping the future of customer engagement.

AI spending in APAC

Spending on AI by organizations across APAC is projected to rise to US$78.4 billion by 2027. The latest Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Spending Guide from International Data Corp (IDC) predicts the compound annual growth rate of AI spending in APAC will be 25.5 percent for 2022-2027, with customer experience being a key focus area for the investment.

According to IDC, China leads the way, with the Asian superpower’s AI spending expected to reach nearly US$38.4bn by 2027, representing a compound annual growth rate of 24.8 percent.

Japanese organizations are also investing heavily in AI to revolutionize customer experience. The country’s AI spending is expected to reach US$12bn by 2027, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent.

Japan’s investment in AI is driving innovation in sectors like professional services, banking and retail, with a focus on personalized recommendations, fraud detection, and dynamic engagement strategies. AI-driven algorithms are making transactions more secure to help improve confidence, as well as predicting customer preferences and streamlining consumer choices.

Quality chatbots

The latest CX Trends research from Zendesk reveals a number of significant statistics regarding the use of AI for customer engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, with chatbots in particular coming under the spotlight.

According to Zendesk, 70 percent of CX leaders in APAC believe AI chatbots have evolved into capable digital agents that can forge stronger emotional connections with customers through accurate, helpful responses.

But the importance of quality customer engagement through AI is further underlined by Zendesk research showing that as many as 78 percent of consumers in APAC expect chatbots to be able to match the expertise levels of highly skilled human agents, with the capability to provide immediate and reliable responses.

Maureen Chong, regional vice president for Asia at Zendesk, insists that APAC businesses need to stay ahead of the AI curve as economic challenges persist in the region.

“We already see that consumers in the region are ready for change [and] 71 percent believe generative AI will completely change the way they interact with a company within the next two years,” she says.

Chong adds that businesses need to go beyond adapting to ongoing consumer needs. “They need to embrace transformative technologies like generative AI as a catalyst for a resilient and forward-looking CX strategy and make a commitment to ensure its ethical use,” she argues.

According to Adrian McDermott, chief technology officer at Zendesk, companies that thrive will shift to a “much more intelligent CX strategy”, using AI technology such as chatbots to manage volume, lower costs, increase quality, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.

“We’re on the verge of the most significant inflection point we’ve ever seen in CX with the latest advances in AI,” McDermott enthuses. “Businesses will need to rethink the structure of everything, from their tech stacks to their teams to how they deliver support.”

AI adoption in APAC

According to the CX Network research report Artificial Intelligence for Customer Engagement, a significant number of companies within the Asia-Pacific region are indeed heeding the advice of McDermott and other AI proponents. In a survey carried out for the report, 44 percent of CX Network members in APAC said their organization had deployed AI for customer engagement. This followed research in the Global State of CX 2023 report that found chatbots, conversational AI and virtual agents were among the top three investment priorities among members in APAC.

The breakdown of the areas in which APAC organizations have deployed AI for customer engagement is revealing: contact centers (46 percent) tops the list, followed by customer data analysis (41 percent), pre-sale customer service (34 percent), post-sale service (27 percent) and customer data platforms (25 percent).

However, with the headline statistic suggesting that 56 percent of APAC organizations have yet to deploy AI for customer engagement, it’s clear there is much unfilled potential.

“In recent years, AI technologies such as chatbots, virtual assistants and natural language processing have matured, making them increasingly accessible and effective for customer engagement,” observes Nicholas Kontopoulos, VP of marketing for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Twilio.

“Although the adoption rate is significant, there is room for growth as more businesses discover the benefits of AI for customer engagement,” he adds.

AI in contact centers

As the above adoption breakdown shows, AI has a significant and growing presence within contact centers in the Asia-Pacific region – which clearly has implications for the workforce.

To highlight this fact, another CX Network research report, Workforce Management For The Contact Center in 2024, surveyed members from multiple industries across Australia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines and found that AI ranks high on the list of contact center workers’ current considerations.

In fact, 51 percent of members said the quality of tools and technology available for use is among the top concerns for contact center agents. This topped a list that also included the threat of AI on job security (cited by 20 percent of members) as a source of anxiety.

According to Phil Zammit, head of CX in the APAC region for Zoom, these figures confirm that agents need access to quality AI tools and training to help them do their job effectively while not feeling threatened by the presence of AI within the contact center.

“With the rise of AI, agent tools and technology are improving rapidly” Zammit says. “Adopting the latest tools and consolidating them into a single, user-friendly interface is going to make training new agents much easier and make everyone more productive.”

So, the rise of AI does not mark the beginning of the end for the human agent, but rather emphasizes an increasing need for the two to work together efficiently, effectively and harmoniously.