Agentic AI is emerging as the next transformative wave of artificial intelligence, promising substantial economic and operational gains for enterprises. Estimates suggest it could generate hundreds of billions of dollars in value globally by 2028. Yet, despite this potential, adoption remains limited. Only a small fraction of organisations have scaled agentic AI, and trust in autonomous systems is starting to waver. This tension between promise and practical deployment highlights both the opportunity and the challenge for businesses in Southeast Asia.
Understanding Agentic AI
Unlike generative AI, which reacts to prompts by producing outputs, agentic AI actively pursues objectives, takes autonomous actions, and adapts strategies in dynamic environments. It functions as a team of virtual experts capable of learning from experience, coordinating complex tasks, and optimising outcomes in real time. This shift from passive output generation to autonomous decision-making distinguishes agentic AI as a tool for operational transformation rather than mere content creation.
In practice, agentic AI is already proving useful in scenarios such as personal shopping assistants that can search for items, generate descriptions, answer questions, and prepare carts for purchase via voice or text. While financial transactions are often restricted for security reasons, these tools replicate much of a human assistant’s functionality, reducing friction for end users and potentially reshaping how people interact with digital platforms.
Adoption Trends and Early Use Cases
Despite the hype, real-world deployments remain limited. Around a quarter of enterprises have launched pilot programs, with only a small proportion moving into full implementation. Most organisations are still in planning stages, reflecting a gap between ambition and readiness. Early adopters, however, are already seeing measurable benefits, particularly in IT operations.
Agentic AI excels in routine yet critical tasks. Automated data classification, storage optimisation, compliance reporting, predictive maintenance, and real-time cybersecurity responses are reducing operational friction, mitigating risk, and freeing human teams for higher-value work. By addressing routine bottlenecks, AI not only improves efficiency but also enhances system reliability and responsiveness across hybrid IT environments.
Southeast Asia’s Readiness and Challenges
For enterprises in Southeast Asia, foundational readiness is crucial. High-quality, well-governed data is essential for agentic AI to function effectively. Inadequate data governance or fragmented infrastructure can severely limit the technology’s impact. Organisations need systems capable of supporting multi-agent orchestration, persistent memory, and dynamic resource allocation to harness AI’s full potential.
IT operations are the most practical starting point. By pre-empting outages, optimising capacity, and automating routine tasks, agentic AI demonstrates tangible results before being scaled into broader business functions. Over time, its application is expected to expand into supply chain management, customer service, and cybersecurity, where predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and automated remediation can significantly improve performance and resilience.
Reshaping Workflows and Human Roles
Adopting agentic AI reshapes not only technical processes but also human roles. Employees transition from executing repetitive tasks to overseeing and orchestrating autonomous systems. Managers and leaders must define boundaries, monitor AI behaviour, and ensure ethical and operational compliance. This shift necessitates new skills in governance, auditing, and integration, creating opportunities for strategic, mentoring, and innovation-focused work.
The workforce impact is substantial. While AI can create millions of jobs in Southeast Asia, it will also displace millions, with younger workers and women among the most affected. Addressing this requires proactive reskilling programs, upskilling initiatives, and inclusive training to prepare employees for hybrid roles alongside AI systems. Investments in training and capacity building are already underway, reflecting the region’s urgency to match technological adoption with workforce readiness.
Economic Implications
The potential economic impact is enormous. Agentic AI can optimise resources, reduce operational costs, and unlock new revenue streams. By automating critical processes and improving reliability, enterprises can capture efficiency gains that extend across business units. Early IT-focused deployments demonstrate measurable ROI, while broader adoption could accelerate business transformation and contribute significantly to regional GDP growth.
For Southeast Asian economies, projections indicate that AI technologies could augment economic output by tens of billions in the coming years. The speed of adoption may surprise leaders, as automation not only impacts IT but also shapes organisational structures, risk management practices, and value creation strategies.
Balancing Autonomy with Oversight
A recurring theme in adoption is the need to balance autonomy with trust and human oversight. Agentic AI delivers its full potential only when paired with careful governance, ethical boundaries, and continual human supervision. Without these safeguards, there is a risk of operational errors, ethical breaches, or misalignment with strategic objectives. Responsible deployment requires organisations to define clear monitoring frameworks, establish accountability protocols, and ensure AI systems complement rather than replace human judgment.
The Path Forward
For Southeast Asian enterprises, the journey with agentic AI is less about “if” and more about “how quickly” it can be adopted responsibly. Organisations that prioritise data quality, infrastructure readiness, workforce reskilling, and ethical oversight will capture the highest value. Early adopters demonstrate that agentic AI is not merely a theoretical concept but a practical tool capable of driving operational efficiency, enhancing cybersecurity, and enabling strategic innovation. The challenge lies in scaling these capabilities across business functions while maintaining human control and trust.
As businesses navigate this next wave of AI, the message is clear: agentic AI has transformative potential, but real value comes from combining machine autonomy with thoughtful human governance. Those who strike the right balance will position themselves as leaders in Southeast Asia’s rapidly evolving AI landscape.
