Asia Pacific consumers show interest in AI agents as brands face data readiness gaps

Adobe’s Asia Pacific findings from the Adobe 2026 AI and Digital Trends Report show growing consumer interest in AI agents and AI-led customer experiences, but also point to the data and organisational barriers that could slow enterprise adoption.

The study, based on responses from 7,000 consumers and business leaders, found that 42% of Asia Pacific consumers would interact with a brand’s AI agent if offered. Another 35% have not yet considered using a personal AI agent, while 16% say they are not open to the idea.

Asia Pacific consumers also appear more willing than the global average to use AI across purchasing and customer journeys. More than half, or 53%, are using AI to search for personalised product recommendations, while 48% use AI for instant customer service or support. Another 42% are open to shopping through a virtual AI concierge.

“Consumer behaviours are shifting across Asia Pacific, with AI already rising in brand discovery and now set to play a greater role in purchasing journeys. Many consumers are comfortable with agentic AI, but say adoption relies on defined, transparent contexts with options for human support,” said Duncan Egan, Vice President of Enterprise Marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Adobe.

Trust and human support remain central to adoption

The findings show that consumer openness to AI does not remove the need for transparency. The most important reassurance for consumers using AI agents is the ability to switch to a human at any time, cited by 26% of respondents. Clear labelling followed closely at 24%.

Almost half of consumers, or 47%, say they do not care whether a brand uses AI as long as their needs are met. However, 38% would stop engaging if they discovered they were speaking to AI when they expected a human.

Adobe’s research also suggests that consumers want AI interactions to remain familiar and practical. More than half, or 54%, say AI-driven personalisation often or always saves them time, while 55% say these experiences feel convenient. At the same time, 70% say AI-driven interactions should still feel human rather than robotic.

There is also early interest in more autonomous AI interactions. Nearly half of consumers, or 46%, would trust an AI agent to interact with a brand’s human representative on their behalf, while 36% are already comfortable with agent-to-agent interactions.

Data quality limits enterprise scale

Despite consumer interest, enterprise adoption remains uneven. Adobe found that 14% of brands have embedded agentic AI across their organisations for customer support, while 12% have done so for brand discovery and search.

Data remains the main execution barrier. Nearly three-quarters of organisations, or 74%, cite data integration and data quality as a key barrier to scaling agentic AI. At the same time, 46% say their data quality and accessibility are currently adequate for AI, while 44% report having a shared customer data platform for agentic AI.

The report also points to a gap between executive ambition and delivery. Only 22% of Asia Pacific brands report strong alignment between executives setting the vision and practitioners responsible for execution.

Generative AI has already delivered measurable gains for many brands. Adobe found that 75% of organisations say it has improved the volume and speed of content ideation and production, while 71% say it has enabled non-creative teams to produce content.

These gains are becoming more important as consumers give brands less time to earn attention. More than half of consumers, or 52%, say brands have two to five seconds to capture their interest, while 17% decide whether to engage in under two seconds.

Market readiness varies across Asia Pacific

The report also shows clear differences across Asia Pacific markets. Australia and New Zealand lead the region in identifying high-value AI use cases, with 70% of brands saying they have found practical AI applications. Three in four, or 76%, report increased speed and volume of content production due to generative AI, although data issues and weak alignment remain constraints.

India shows the strongest consumer appetite for agentic AI in the region. Adobe found that 58% of Indian consumers are comfortable with agent-to-agent interactions, while 61% are happy for an AI agent to deal with a brand’s human representative on their behalf. Internal resistance to change remains the top alignment challenge in India, cited by 53%.

Singapore is taking a more measured path. While 80% of brands report improvements in content ideation and creation speed from generative AI, executives were less likely than Asia Pacific peers to describe themselves as confident adopters of new tools, at 18%. Singapore consumers were also more cautious about autonomous AI, with 33% comfortable with agent-to-agent interactions.