TLDR: Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are increasingly confident that AI agents will significantly drive revenue growth and transform business models, with a majority expecting nearly 20% revenue increase. Concurrently, Southeast Asia is witnessing a rapid surge in the adoption of agentic AI, with a substantial percentage of companies already implementing or planning to deploy these technologies within the next year, despite ongoing concerns about data privacy and security.
A recent Salesforce survey reveals that a significant 75% of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region believe that AI agents have the potential to boost their company’s revenue by almost 20%. Furthermore, an overwhelming 77% of these finance leaders anticipate that AI agents will fundamentally transform their business models. This sentiment underscores a pivotal shift in the CFO’s role, moving beyond traditional financial stewardship to becoming ‘architects of agentic enterprise value,’ as highlighted by Robin Washington, President and Chief Operating and Financial Officer at Salesforce.
The integration of AI into financial decision-making is already well underway, with 83% of CFOs leveraging AI for critical functions such as risk assessments, financial forecasting, and profitability analysis. The survey also indicates a change in how APAC CFOs evaluate the Return on Investment (ROI) of AI projects. The focus is shifting from immediate payback to long-term value creation, with key measures now including productivity and efficiency gains, improvements in risk and compliance, and long-term cost avoidance. This necessitates a more fluid approach to ROI, acknowledging the ongoing investment required for retraining, monitoring, and refining AI models.
The trend of AI adoption extends robustly into Southeast Asia. A study by UiPath indicates that 42% of companies in the region have already implemented agentic AI, and an additional 44% are poised to adopt it within the next 12 months. This positions 2025 as a pivotal year for AI integration in Southeast Asia, marking a transition from experimental trials to large-scale implementation. Leading industries in deploying these autonomous systems include financial services, manufacturing, and retail. The top use cases identified are customer support automation, risk management and fraud detection, and general productivity enhancement.
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Despite the widespread enthusiasm, barriers and concerns persist. Southeast Asian organizations have cited data privacy breaches (51%), security vulnerabilities stemming from AI agents’ autonomous actions (48%), and unintended consequences from complex interactions (47%) as primary concerns. Additionally, data security (57%), high implementation costs (48%), and challenges in integrating AI with existing systems (42%) remain significant obstacles. However, industry leaders like Deepika Giri, Associate Vice President, AI Research, IDC Asia/Pacific, emphasize that ‘Becoming an AI-fueled business is no longer an option in today’s unpredictable climate. For many organisations, it’s fast becoming a strategic necessity.’ Deb Deep Sengupta, Area Vice President, South Asia, UiPath, further notes that while enterprises are embracing the full potential of AI agents, ‘trust and security remain barriers to widespread implementation,’ highlighting the need for robust governance frameworks and risk management strategies to ensure secure and compliant AI adoption.
