- Hub will help companies scale AI from experimentation to enterprise adoption
- Report emphasises that AI success relies as much on people & change management as on tech
AI is reshaping competition worldwide, but in Southeast Asia’s diverse markets, CEOs must lead AI transformation as a business transformation, not just a technology adoption, to unlock growth, according to a new report from Bain & Company.
The report, “The Southeast Asia CEO’s Guide to AI Transformation: Six lessons that can turn AI Potential into a competitive edge for Southeast Asia”, highlights that while bold claims about disruption are widespread, AI’s true impact in Southeast Asia remains unclear.
The region’s unique characteristics – fragmented markets, high trade dependency, a highly digitally engaged population, and persisting gaps in essential services – make it challenging for CEOs to cut through the noise and define the right AI strategy for their organisations.
The report suggests that real AI transformation begins with an outside-in perspective on how AI could reshape the business, followed by strategic bets that deliver meaningful impact.
“CEOs need to recognize that a successful AI strategy goes beyond deploying tools. Too many companies still take a technology rollout approach, which creates limited impact,” said Aadarsh Baijal, senior partner at Bain & Company.
He added, “Leaders should understand how AI will disrupt their market and anchor adoption in concrete business outcomes, such as lowering supply chain costs or speeding up product launches to capture new revenue streams. With that strategic clarity, they can identify where to place their bets.”
The report highlights key lessons from companies that are already seeing tangible returns from their AI investments. It finds that productivity gains alone rarely drive bottom-line growth, particularly in Southeast Asia where labour costs are relatively low. Average monthly wages in the region are about 7% of US levels, leaving limited room for headcount reduction to deliver meaningful returns on AI investments. With large-cap companies making up only 40% of Southeast Asia’s market capitalisation (compared with 60% in India), fewer firms in the region have the scale to absorb AI’s upfront costs or spread investments across large operations.
Additionally, it urges CEOs to set bold goals around speed and scalability by defining KPIs that measure how quickly outcomes are delivered and how efficiently the business can grow, and to use AI to redesign core commercial and delivery models to boost productivity and expand capacity without increasing team size.
It also highlights that successful AI transformation depends on people and change management as much as technology. The report notes the concepts of the “Lab”, where technical talent reinvents processes and drives adoption, and the “Crowd”, where employees across the organisation are upskilled to build AI fluency.
“Many CEOs view scaling AI as a hiring challenge. In reality, the talent to drive
transformation often already exists within the business. From our work with clients across the region, we’ve seen that lasting impact comes when existing teams lead the change, and that’s what separates stalled pilots from real transformation,” Mohan Jayaraman, senior partner at Bain & Company said.
Empowering businesses to accelerate AI transformation through a new Singapore AI Innovation Hub
Building on its commitment to advancing AI in Southeast Asia, Bain & Company noted that it will launch a new AI Innovation Hub in Singapore. Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the hub will serve as a regional centre for developing and scaling AI solutions, helping companies move from experimentation to enterprise-wide transformation.
With more than a thousand AI startups in Singapore and US$145 billion (RM714 billion) worth of economic benefits attributable to AI by 2030, the AI Innovation Hub is well placed to leverage the growth of the industry in Singapore.
It will focus on developing production-level AI solutions for priority sectors such as advanced manufacturing, energy and natural resources, financial services, healthcare, and consumer products and retail.
From predictive maintenance in manufacturing and regulatory support in financial services to personalisation in consumer industries, the hub will deliver proofs of concept and minimum viable products for AI solutions. It will also help companies strengthen their in-house capabilities, from setting up AI centres of excellence to embedding engineering excellence.
“Bain’s new AI Innovation Hub is an exciting addition to Singapore’s vibrant and growing AI ecosystem. By focusing on AI solutions that can be deployed and scaled in sectors from manufacturing to services, the hub can help more companies, and workers, adopt and benefit from AI,” said Junie Fo, vice president, professional services, EDB.
“We look forward to the hub’s contributions in advancing AI engineering expertise in the region,” she added.
