The world and scope of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been more than just a hot topic in the world today. At times, it might seem like everything and anything is about AI, the pros and cons about using AI in both personal and business environments, never-ending ongoing debates on AI. The governments and businesses around the world are getting more into AI (developments, growth, investments etc), for this year 2025, what is theme for AI that they are focusing on? For year 2025 in the technology space, it’s about the year of AI agents, and they are going to transform the way we do our work, impacting our professional and personal lives. At the recently held IBM Media Roundtable virtual session, we got to go more in-depth, learning and understanding about Agentic AI and how IBM is leading the way in advancing Agentic AI for businesses.
IBM Media Roundtable on Agentic AI fuelling ASEAN’s Business Transformation
IBM held a virtual media roundtable on Agentic AI fuelling ASEAN’s business transformation on 24th June 2025. Leading business leaders and policymakers across ASEAN shared their key insights and thoughts on the exploring the transformative potential of Agentic AI in sharping future-ready industries.
This media roundtable discussion focused on how this next-generation AI, capable of autonomous decision-making and goal-driven actions is redefining business operations by enhancing productivity, improving operational efficiency, and significantly reducing costs.
In today’s world economy, organisations across diverse sectors are facing increasing pressure to innovate and stay resilient in a fast paced and changing world. Agentic AI emerges as a powerful enabler, helping businesses build smarter, leaner, and more adaptive models for sustainable growth.
Sharing key notes, learning, thoughts and insights from the IBM Media Roundtable session, from the strategic advantages of adopting Agentic AI, to also the imperative for forward-thinking leadership to embrace the AI tools and technology in order to remain competitive in the era of intelligent automation.
What is Agentic AI?
For those who are not too familiar with Agentic AI, what is all about, what’s the hype and transformative potential for my business/organisation today and in the near future? What’s the difference between Agentic AI and traditional AI?
Agentic AI
An AI agent refers to a system or program that is capable of autonomously performing tasks on behalf of a user or another system by designing its workflow and utilising available tools. AI agents can encompass a wide range of functionalities beyond natural language processing, including decision-making, problem-solving, interacting with external environments, and executing actions.
Agentic AI operates with a higher-degree of autonomy, managing multi-step tasks, making decisions, and adapting to dynamic environments with minimal human intervention.
Traditional AI
Traditional AI typically follows predefined rules and requires human oversight for execution and adjustments. AI agents can encompass a wide range of functionalities beyond natural language processing, including decision-making, problem-solving, interacting with external environments, and executing actions.
Combining AI with automation has the potential to achieve significant gains in operational efficiency, customer experience, and decision-making.
Why should a business invest in Agentic AI solutions and its capabilities?
Some businesses might ask, why should they invest in Agentic AI solutions and its capabilities? In what ways can Agentic AI help my business/organisation?
Here are some reasons where businesses/organisations will invest in Agenctic AI solutions and capabilities:
- AI agents can independently execute tasks, make decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances.
- Leveraging GenAI, they can understand complex instructions, reason, and learn from experience.
- Agentic workflows can adapt to changing business needs and unexpected disruptions.
- Agentic AI can be deployed in various applications to solve complex tasks in various enterprise contexts from software design and IT automation to code-generation tools and conversational assistants.
- They use the advanced natural language processing techniques of large language models to comprehend and respond to user inputs step-by-step and determine when to call on external tools.
Where are the primary areas of adoption for Agentic AI?
In which industries/primary areas where Agentic AI would be great and ideal for them to make a difference to their business operations and workflow?
Here are some primary areas of adoption for Agentic AI
- Finance: Predictive financial planning and transactional execution —with auto-data validation and exception reconciliation. Visualisation models inform financial performance and provide real-time risk and compliance monitoring.
- Human resources: Forecasted enterprise workforce skilling requirements while automating acquisition practices. Customised employee experiences such as HR self-service, coaching, and performance feedback.
- Procurement: Dynamic sourcing in real time based on market conditions, supplier risk mitigation analysis and strategies. PO and contract execution with holistic views of contractual terms, supplier performance, and inventory.
- Sales support & customer service Sales: forecasting, lead prioritisation, and personalised marketing from real-time customer and market insights. Customer assistance with 24×7 multilingual global support; customised and proactive responses.
For those who wish to learn more in-depth land understand about Agentic AI, you can visit this IBM Think Article “What is Agentic AI?”, https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/agentic-ai
AGENTIC AI Landscape
What is the Agentic AI landscape situation looking like? What are businesses thoughts and plans on AI investments and on Agentic AI?
Global
On the global landscape, here are some key findings:
- The IBM Institute for Business Value’s 2025 CEO study revealed that CEOs surveyed globally expect the growth rate of AI investments to more than double in the next two years, and 61% confirm they are actively adopting AI agents today and preparing to implement them at scale.
- Further, by 2027, 85% of surveyed CEOs expect their investments in scaled AI efficiency and cost savings to have returned a positive ROI, while 77% expect to see a positive return from their investments in scaled AI growth and expansion.
ASEAN
On the ASEAN region, here are some key findings:
- 57% of ASEAN CEOs say they are actively adopting AI agents and prepared to scale them across their organization.
- 60% of ASEAN CEOs say they have prepared their employees for the cultural and operational shifts from AI agents.
- Top 3 priorities for ASEAN CEOs in the next 3 years: Forecast accuracy (44%); Product & service innovation (40%); Ecosystems & Partnership (39%).
- Barriers to innovation: Lack of expertise (44%); Aversion to risk (44%); Inadequate technology (42%).
ASEAN Countries Specific Data
Here are key ASEAN countries specific data that would be of key interest to businesses/organisations in ASEAN region:
Indonesia
- 63% of CEOs surveyed cited that competitive advantage depends on who has the most advanced generative AI.
- 61% of CEOs surveyed cited that they are actively adopting AI agents and prepared to scale them across their organization.
- Barriers to innovation: Lack of expertise (57%); Aversion to risk (44%); Inadequate technology (50%).
Malaysia
- 60% of CEOs surveyed cited that competitive advantage depends on who has the most advanced generative AI.
- 69% of CEOs surveyed cited that they are actively adopting AI agents and prepared to scale them across their organization.
- Barriers to innovation: Lack of expertise (35%); Aversion to risk (35%); Inadequate technology (45%).
Philippines
- 55% of CEOs surveyed cited that competitive advantage depends on who has the most advanced generative AI.
- 55% of CEOs surveyed cited that they are actively adopting AI agents and prepared to scale them across their organization.
- Barriers to innovation: Lack of expertise (45%); Aversion to risk (48%); Inadequate technology (40%).
Singapore
- 60% of CEOs surveyed cited that competitive advantage depends on who has the most advanced generative AI.
- 52% of CEOs surveyed cited that they are actively adopting AI agents and prepared to scale them across their organization.
- Barriers to innovation: Lack of expertise (45%); Aversion to risk (45%); Inadequate technology (37%).
I am a Business/Enterprise/Organisation, where do we start on Agentic AI?
If you are a business owner or a key management person in an enterprise/organisation, and you are looking at how Agentic AI can help your business/organisation, you might be thinking, where do we start on this?
Here are some key points to note and where you can start off:
- Agentic AI is designed to augment existing infrastructure, not disrupt it. Agentic AI enhances current capabilities by introducing intelligent, autonomous decision-making within established systems.
- IBM is excited to introduce a new orchestrator agent feature to IBM watsonx™ Orchestrate that uses fine-tuned foundation models within an agentic architecture to provide advanced reasoning capabilities and autonomous decision-making to quickly address employee needs.
- This is the magic of seamless integration. By connecting your business systems, AI models, and automation tools, you enable your AI assistants and agents to work in harmony—delivering a unified, intelligent performance that drives powerful outcomes.
- By integrating seamlessly within existing ecosystems, it empowers businesses to reimagine processes, optimize efficiency and productivity, and unlock new revenue opportunities— all without the cost or complexity of full system replacement.
- Orchestration and automation are the secret weapons to unlock AI productivity — enabling businesses to connect and manage vast networks of agents and assistants across broad enterprise technology stacks.
Key Thoughts and Views from Thought Leaders from IBM Media Roundtable
During the recent virtual IBM Media Roundtable session, the panel session with regional IBM subject matter experts, as well as industry visionaries, shared about the expertise and experiences on Agentic AI in their business/industry, and how investments in Agentic AI can help.
What are the key thoughts and views from thought leaders from the IBM Media Roundtable session? Let’s hear from them below:
Catherine Lian, General Manager, IBM ASEAN
“We stand at a pivotal moment, where AI Assistants and Agents are evolving from tools and technologies into true partners that enhance human creativity and reshape enterprise operations as we know them.” Adding further, Catherine said, “IBM open approach combined with deep expertise in orchestration, integration and automation makes IBM the trusted partner for enterprises looking to accelerate the adoption of AI Agents and Assistants.”
Dr Clifton Phua, Director of Labs, BizTech Group, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)
“Singapore believes in harnessing AI for public good, to create positive impact across society and daily life. IMDA supports this vision by fostering innovation through responsible AI deployment. For agentic AI, we are collaborating with industry partners to test use cases whilst emphasising safety by design. These use cases will help workers upskill, and become proficient in AI, while enhancing productivity for companies. When we have AI systems that can collaborate meaningfully, every business process becomes an opportunity for innovation – much like upgrading from a map to a navigator, not just showing the path, but actively helping to find the best route forward.”
Henke Yunkins, Director of Regulation & Ethics, Indonesia Artificial Intelligence Society (IAIS)
“Building public trust in AI requires more than good intentions, it demands practical implementation of transparency principles. Most AI systems still function as opaque ‘black boxes,’ making it difficult for users, customers, and regulators to understand how decisions are made. To move beyond theoretical transparency, organizations need to operationalize explainability: designing systems that can clearly communicate their decision logic, risks, and limitations in human-understandable terms. Trust isn’t built through compliance checklists—it’s earned when people can see, question, and understand how AI affects them. That’s the foundation for ethical deployment, competitive advantage, and sustainable innovation in Agentic AI.”
Jack Madrid, President and CEO, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP)
“With 10% of IT-BPM organizations having fully implemented Generative AI and another 56% actively integrating it into their operations, our industry is already experiencing rapid digital transformation. We expect this to continue with the emergence of Agentic AI as more organizations aim to unlock even greater value through orchestrating complex processes, optimizing workflows, and driving intelligent automation.
At the same time, the widespread adoption of Agentic AI will shift workforce demand from repetitive, transactional roles to higher-value, AI-enhanced functions, which highlights the urgent need for large-scale workforce upskilling to keep our sector globally competitive.
The Philippines is in a sweet spot to scale Agentic AI—not just to automate, but to elevate how we deliver high-volume, knowledge-driven services.”
Future of Business/Work with AI
The future of business/work with AI is continuously improving, changing, evolving and adapting. AI technology is already here to stay, it’s not going away, AI is going to get more applied and immersed into different segments of a business/organisation work operations and workflow.
Leveraging and applying AI technology and tools, such as Agentic AI, can help a business/organisation to be more efficient, productive, cost and time savings, therefore allowing the business/organisation to free up invaluable human resources to take on more key strategic work, making it a win-win for all.
* Information courtesy of IBM Singapore and Weber Shandwick *