Indonesia ranks first in terms of AI implementation(65%), followed by China (63%) and India (62%)
Gathering and integrating big data remains keyobstacle to AI adoption in the region

TAIPEI,TAIWAN - Media OutReach - September5, 2018 - Appier, a leadingartificial intelligence (AI) company, has announced findings from acommissioned studyconducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Appier. The study, ArtificialIntelligence Is Critical To Accelerate Digital Transformation In Asia Pacific,revealed that among the eight countries surveyed, Indonesia ranks first interms of AI implementation, with 65% of respondents there stating that theyhave either implemented AI in their business or are even expanding or upgradingtheir capacity.

The study, which aimed to shedlight on trends in AI adoption across Asia Pacific, also found that across theregion, more than half (53%) of those surveyed reported that their biggestchallenge in adopting AI technologies is gathering and integrating big data.This demonstrates that enterprises are still struggling to cope with thegrowing volume of business data -- more than ten years after the term "big data"was first coined.^[1]

"Artificial intelligence is thekey to digital business; it has the potential to transform everything frombusiness operations to the customer experience," the study stated. "Byleveraging big data-driven AI platforms, enterprises can deliver business valuethroughout the entire customer life cycle."

Among the key findings from the study:

Emerging economies lead in AI adoption

Figure 1. Percentage of AI implementation in businesses across APAC

According to the study,Indonesia ranks first in terms of AI implementation (65%), followed by China(63%) and India (62%). These three topped more developed economies such asSouth Korea (57%), Singapore (50%), Japan (47%) and Taiwan (44%).

However, the survey revealedthat the gap is poised to narrow in the coming year: a higher percentage ofrespondents in mature economies reported plans to implement AI technologies inthe next 12 months. Plans to implement AI technologies are highest in Australia(35%), followed by Singapore (31%) and Taiwan (28%).

Improving business operations -- key goal driving AI adoption

AI is poised to reframe both howbusinesses operate and how they interact with consumers. Broadly speaking, AIoffers two primary types of benefits to companies:

• Operational benefits: simplerand more efficient business processes, greater scale, better risk prediction
• Customer engagement andexperience: better products and solutions, faster innovation, better insightsinto consumer behavior

Of the two, businesses acrossthe region expect to realize the greatest benefits from AI in businessoperations. Seventy-one percent of respondents identified improved businessefficiency as the benefit they most anticipated from implementing AItechnology, whereas 62% expected improved products or services. The loneexception is Singapore, where businesses see the greatest gains from AIaccruing to customer engagement.

Figure 2. Priorities of businesses across APAC in using AI technologies

Product gains: improving existing solutions vs driving productinnovation

That's not to say businessesdon't expect AI to deliver better customer engagement, products and services.When it comes to the role enterprises expect AI to play in product development,the survey identified two overarching goals:

• Improvingexisting solutions
• Drivingproduct innovation

Interestingly, when mappedbetween the two, companies across the region fell on different parts of thespectrum. In markets such as Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia, respondentsprioritize driving innovation with AI, whereas those in Japan, Singapore andAustralia want to use AI to improve their existing solutions.

Figure 3. Roles of AI implementation for businesses across APAC

Challenges threaten to slow AI adoption, impede gains

However, while the upside ofAI may be clear, there are still significant hurdles standing in the way ofbroader AI adoption. More than 1 in 2 (53%) of Asia Pacific respondents statedthat the biggest problem they faced in adopting AI is gathering and integratingbig data. And, companies looking to adopt AI also struggle to overcomeoperational issues, such as building cross-functional teams to work withagility (51%), identifying the right data management and predictive analyticsplatforms (52%), sourcing data from the diversified channels (49%), andidentifying the right technology or service partners (43%).

Figure 4. Challenges faced by businesses across APAC in using AItechnologies

"Forrester's survey reveals that enterprises looking to adopt AI facereal, urgent challenges that hinder their ability to take advantage of the manybenefits AI technology promises to offer," said Yu. "To clear these hurdles,it's important for organizations to choose partners who offer expertise inengineering and data management as well as in building precise and effectivemodels, so they can get started making the most of everything AI has to offer."

About the study

The study surveyed 260 businessand IT leaders involved in the decision-making process of deploying newtechnologies such as AI. Respondents hailed from the retail, IT/telecom,financial services and insurance industries across eight markets in AsiaPacific, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, China, India, Australiaand Indonesia. Learn more: https://www.appier.com/en/report_forrester.html.

About Appier

Appier is a technology companywhich aims to provide artificial intelligence (AI) platforms to helpenterprises solve their most challenging business problems. For moreinformation please visit www.appier.com.