IBM report: APAC enterprises make AI a core revenue driver by 2026

This IBM/IBV study is a useful temperature check on where enterprise AI is actually landing in Asia-Pacific. The headline finding—that AI is shifting from an experimental cost line to a primary revenue driver—means we’re past the pilot phase for many of the region’s banks, telcos and manufacturers. These are the firms that ultimately write the cheques for applied AI projects at scale, from network automation to new data products. When they start budgeting AI as top-line growth, not just efficiency, it typically leads to longer, larger programs and more willingness to absorb the risk of deploying more capable systems.([backendnews.net](https://backendnews.net/ibm-report-sees-ai-shifting-into-a-revenue-driver-in-apac-by-2026/))

For AGI watchers, the significance is less about this specific report and more about the underlying trend: APAC is catching up to (and in some verticals, surpassing) North America and Europe in AI production deployments. That widens the geography of where powerful models will be fine‑tuned on domain-specific data like telecom telemetry, grid operations and citizen services. It also diversifies the governance environments in which those models operate, since many APAC governments are pursuing AI-positive industrial strategies with lighter-touch regulation compared to the EU. More real‑world usage in a variety of institutional settings both accelerates learning about capabilities and risks, and creates a larger installed base that frontier labs will need to support.

The report also hints at what future demand will look like: less about flashy chatbots, more about deeply embedded AI in billing systems, fraud detection, grid balancing and citizen portals—domains where reliability and safety constraints are tight but the rewards for robust automation are enormous.