A new study by IDC, commissioned by UiPath, has found that almost nine in 10 organisations in Southeast Asia will be using agentic AI within the next year. The research shows that 42% have already deployed the technology, while a further 44% plan to adopt it in the next 12 months. The findings mark a shift from small-scale trials to broader integration, making 2025 a key year for AI adoption in the region.
Driving forces behind adoption
The growing use of agentic AI is driven by the need to improve employee productivity, accelerate product development, and raise the quality of products and services. The IDC InfoBrief reports that 75% of organisations see improved decision-making as a benefit of agentic AI, while 72% note higher productivity.
The uptake is being fuelled by ongoing digital transformation across Southeast Asia and demand for more efficient, autonomous systems to support both operations and customer engagement. Financial services, manufacturing, and retail are among the sectors leading in adoption. Key use cases for 2025 include customer support automation, risk management and fraud detection, and productivity enhancement.
Challenges to implementation
Despite growing interest, organisations face several barriers to large-scale adoption. The most significant concerns are AI governance and risk management (22%), a shortage of skilled professionals (18%), and high infrastructure costs (18%). Specific to agentic AI, worries include data privacy breaches (51%), security vulnerabilities due to autonomous actions (48%), and unintended consequences from complex interactions (47%).
On the practical side, concerns about data security (57%), high implementation costs (48%), and challenges integrating AI with existing systems (42%) remain key obstacles. These issues highlight the need for strong governance frameworks and risk management strategies.
Building a path forward
While challenges persist, the adoption trend continues to grow. IDC’s findings show that 79% of organisations are actively developing potential use cases for agentic AI, even if they have yet to make major investments. Agentic automation is seen as central to this process, combining AI and robotic process automation (RPA) to integrate autonomous agents into enterprise workflows. This approach enables complex task management at scale while improving efficiency and innovation.
UiPath’s Area Vice President for South Asia, DebDeep Sengupta, said: “Agentic automation is rapidly redefining business operations across Southeast Asia. While enterprises in this region are embracing the full potential of AI agents to streamline workflows and autonomously execute complex business processes, trust and security remain barriers to widespread implementation. Our agentic automation platform directly addresses these challenges, breaking down barriers to enterprise AI adoption by enhancing security and compliance, improving accuracy and reliability for agentic outcomes.”
Deepika Giri, Associate Vice President for AI Research at IDC Asia/Pacific, added: “Becoming an AI-fuelled business is no longer an option in today’s unpredictable climate. For many organisations, it’s fast becoming a strategic necessity. Across the region, organisations are embracing agentic AI and agentic automation at scale. It is clear that many leaders see its potential to drive unprecedented levels of productivity, innovation, and growth, which will be key in building organisational resilience against future disruptions.”
Experts recommend that organisations focus on creating transparent human–agent ecosystems, selecting scalable platforms that integrate with current systems, and strengthening governance and compliance processes. Addressing skills gaps, managing costs, and fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors will also be vital to sustaining long-term growth in AI adoption.
