JAKARTA - While investment in AI and Industry 4.0 technologies in Asia Pacific continues to increase, a recent IBM study reveals a significant gap between ambition and reality on the ground.
The report, titled "APAC AI-Driven Industry 4.0: Building Tomorrow's Industries," shows that many companies have invested early in digital technologies, particularly in areas like design and supply chain.
While 85% of respondents considered themselves "Data-Driven" or "AI-First," the study's objective assessment found that only 11% were at a higher stage of readiness (9% Data-Driven; 2% AI-First).
IBM believes this perception gap has the potential to lead to misdirected strategic investments, as decision-makers tend to underestimate the challenges.
The study identified several crucial challenges still plaguing companies. The majority (70%) of organizations do not yet have a fully integrated Industry 4.0 strategy, instead operating with fragmented plans or isolated trials.
Barriers are also evident in the human resources aspect, where only 26% have implemented formal skills development or change management programs, leaving only 16% feeling prepared with their internal expertise.
Transformation execution is often stuck at the departmental level, without adequate cross-team knowledge-sharing mechanisms, slowing collaboration and innovation.
On the infrastructure side, core modernization is still lagging, with only 40% having widely adopted predictive maintenance, and only 37% having real-time supply chain visibility.
Furthermore, uneven AI integration, as the majority (63%) of organizations position this technology in isolated processes rather than as a strategic pillar supporting intelligent operations from end to end, also remains a challenge for companies.
IBM President Director Roy Kosasih emphasized that if companies want to move towards Industry 5.0, they must be able to transform fragmented proof-of-concepts into enterprise-scale solutions.
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