New Delhi [India], January 7 : By 2026, 95% of executives across Asia-Pacific (APAC) expect generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be at least partially self-funded.
In a report titled, APAC AI Outlook 2026, IBM said, "This paradigm shift positions AI not as a cost center or a discretionary IT expense, but as a strategic asset that generates its own capital for further innovation, thereby accelerating the pace of transformation and creating a virtuous cycle of growth."
What's changed isn't ambition, it's execution. Companies are moving AI out of side projects and into the heart of their operations. Nearly two-thirds of AI investment is now directed at core business activities, where AI is reshaping cost structures, operating models, and customer value rather than delivering incremental efficiency gains, the report mentioned.
The most advanced organizations are no longer asking whether AI works. They are asking how fast it can scale.
The report highlighted that 64% of CEOs say AI success depends more on people's adoption than on the technology itself. Culture, skills, governance, and trust, not algorithms, now determine whether AI delivers returns at scale.
Organizations investing in workforce upskilling, ethical AI, and clear governance frameworks are consistently outperforming peers. In other words, confidence in AI's financial payoff is highest where leaders treat it as enterprise infrastructure, not a black-box experiment.
Across industries, AI is already unlocking new revenue streams through AI-powered services and platforms; Faster, more resilient operations via predictive and autonomous systems; and Business model reinvention, from "as-a-service" offerings to ecosystem plays.
This explains why executives increasingly see AI as a self-reinforcing investment early gains fund further deployment, accelerating value creation rather than draining budgets, the report mentioned.