Red Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, shared the latest findings from Anatomy of adaptive leaders: Navigating emerging technologies, a report developed by Economist Impact and commissioned by Red Hat. The study revealed cloud as the dominant emerging technology in Asia Pacific (APAC), with 85% of business leaders reporting that their organizations have already begun adoption.
The emerging technology landscape in APAC
According to the research, a majority of APAC companies are making progress in integrating emerging technologies in their business, particularly cloud adoption. Early-stage adoption is also evident for AI—including generative AI, and data platforms. Companies report that adopting these technologies has increased competitiveness, productivity and efficiency.
Cloud adoption
While the cloud has become ubiquitous across enterprises and organizations, the technology is still nascent and continuing to evolve.
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Japan showed the highest level of integration with 87% of Japanese executives confirming they have fully adopted cloud computing technology and 64% of executives citing its role in helping safeguard jobs in their companies by making them competitive as the key reason for adoption.
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In Singapore, 68% of respondents have reported full adoption.
Data science capabilities
APAC recorded high levels of adoption in the region, specifically in South Korea and India.
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73% of companies in South Korea have made high to very high progress in adopting data science capabilities.
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71% of companies in India have made high to very high progress in adopting data science capabilities.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Since generative AI technologies have gone mainstream, the research also sought to understand the perspective of business leaders, and if they are adopting this technology within their organizations.
Findings revealed that most APAC organizations have not yet adopted artificial intelligence, but some have made an early start.
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In Singapore, 70% of business leaders that say their organizations have not adopted generative AI attributed this to the lack of skilled talent needed to integrate it in their business, underscoring the need for companies to upskill their labour force to keep pace with innovation.
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However, in China, 40% of business leaders say their organizations are in the early stages of adopting AI and automation-based technologies as they have seen maximized productivity because of adoption.
Apart from being the leading reason for the current low adoption of generative AI across APAC, shortages in skilled labour were also identified as a top risk currently impacting organizations (77%). This was particularly a concern for business leaders in Japan (87%), Australia (84%) and South Korea (81%), and in the natural resources and services sectors.
The role of adaptive leadership in navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment
In response to the challenges and trends identified, APAC leaders surveyed intend to raise the skill levels of employees and reduce the risks facing their businesses by prioritizing the following strategies:
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Creating forecasts for business performance under adverse and optimistic scenarios (54%)
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Refocusing their supply chain strategy (46%)
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Cutting operational costs (45%).
The study also found that these ongoing complexities and headwinds brought the role of business leaders into sharp focus. When business leaders were asked to rate the importance of specific leadership traits to navigate the current economic and technological disruption, they prioritized collaboration, trust-building and open ways of working with employees and stakeholders as highly important (82%), followed by agility in thinking and decision-making (89%), and humility (81%), which in this context implies self-awareness of limitations and willingness to work with the people who possess the necessary know-how.
Methodology
Three hundred and seventy-five business leaders from a variety of organizations that inclue Red Hat customers were surveyed across APAC, representing Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Japan and South Korea. Respondents included a mix of executives in both technical roles, such as chief technology officers and chief information officers as well as non-technical roles, such as chief executive officers and chief operations officers. The survey insights were also supplemented by an interview programme with business leaders from financial services, telecom, e-commerce and utility companies.
Marjet Andriesse, senior vice president and general manager, APJC, Red Hat, said, “The Economist Impact report offers a better understanding of the Asia Pacific business landscape. Amidst ongoing complexities and headwinds, the economic resilience of the region continues to stay strong. Most APAC companies are making progress in integrating emerging technologies in their business. We are excited as cloud computing enjoys broader popularity in terms of full adoption among companies in the region, and early-stage adoption is also evident among APAC companies for AI, generative AI and data platforms. As companies look to enhance future-readiness for growth and transformation, we at Red Hat are excited to support our customers on what’s coming next so that they can unlock the world’s potential.”
Charles Ross, principal of policy and insights, Economist Impact, said, “Across the Asia-Pacific region economic headwinds are negatively impacting the profitability of most companies. In response many firms are seeking to improve productivity by prioritising investments in areas such as cloud computing, data platforms and generative AI. But implementation is not easy, as firms grapple with the required investment costs and digital skills–amidst increasing cybersecurity concerns. Encouragingly business leaders are reinforcing the need to be collaborative during this challenging period, recognising that the more effective path to business success is one where everyone is working towards a shared vision.”
