Trends defining the business landscape in ASEAN in 2025

According to Tay Bee Kheng, President for ASEAN at Cisco, GenAI has been a key driver for business transformation in 2024 and is expected to continue in 2025.

It’s been a rather interesting 2024 for Cisco as the tech giant continues to grow its business portfolio following the acquisition of Splunk. In Southeast Asia, Cisco remains a key player in the industry as it looks to support organizations in their cybersecurity, network, data and AI journey.

In 2025, Cisco will most likely be looking to build on the success its achieved in 2024. According to Tay Bee Kheng, President for ASEAN at Cisco, one key driver for business transformation in 2024 is the availability of GenAI, which she believes has the business world.

“At its current level of mass scale impact, AI may well surpass cloud and even the internet in its significance as a technology disruptor. This has profound impacts on how businesses navigate issues such as the ongoing skills gap, as well as their sustainability and security journeys,” said Tay.

Given the continued influence of AI in businesses in the region, Tay shares with CRN Asia six business and tech trends that she believes will define the landscape in ASEAN in 2025.

First, Tay believes that while AI will continue to take center stage, businesses are beginning to realize that leveraging AI is not as straightforward as anticipated. As stated in Cisco’s 2024 AI Readiness Index, only 19% of companies in ASEAN are fully ready to capture AI’s potential, as reality sets in on what is needed to succeed.

Despite AI being a priority investment, Tay pointed out that many companies are saying that returns on these investments are falling short of expectations. Apart from that, companies are challenged with infrastructure readiness such as gaps in compute, data center network performance, and cybersecurity, amongst other areas.

“As companies weigh the decision to build or buy AI solutions, modernizing data centers and leveraging plug-and-play AI infrastructure that evolves with their needs without adding complexity is crucial. Cisco’s AI PODS, for instance, offer infrastructure stacks tailored for specific AI use cases, integrating compute, networking, storage, and cloud management. This provides companies with a flexible starting point that can be easily adapted to meet their specific needs,” said Tay.

Securely using and deploying AI

The second trend Tay highlighted is the increased presence of guardrails and data governance. Tay believes as AI systems become more integrated into everyday life, discussions will focus on responsible use, compliance, data protection, and anti-discrimination laws and AI quality standards.

With collaboration between public and private sectors crucial to establish standards and baseline regulations for AI, companies will need to adopt responsible AI frameworks, conduct regular privacy assessments, and develop and implement a robust incident management plan to ensure judicious AI use.

“As organizations increasingly operate across multiple jurisdictions, there will be increasing pressure on them to adopt measures that align data storage and processing with local data sovereignty laws. The next generation of privacy laws will continue to drive transparency, fairness, and accountability in spaces like data collection and use, cross-border data flows, and verifiable compliance. Companies will have to consider how their employees interact with AI systems and develop strategies to mitigate data breaches and associated risks through mock drills and continuous monitoring,” explained Tay.

The next trend would be the need to improve the security of the network to protect everything. Businesses understand that data is core to AI. But enabling this is the network. Also, as more devices and services get connected, the risk and sophistication of attacks becomes greater. Tay believes that the network will emerge as a crucial pillar in managing workloads and serving as both the first and last line of security defense.

“AI will transform security, assisting security teams and simplifying tool management, augmenting human insights, and automating complex workflows. Innovations that infuse security into the fabric of the network like Hypershield, architected to insert security enforcement into advanced silicon in servers and network devices, will redefine businesses’ ability to detect and respond to threats more effectively, and update and patch it all with lean teams,” said Tay.

For Tay, the next great frontier of security involves not only securing businesses’ own four walls but also the extensive ecosystem of partners and vendors they rely on. Given that hyper distributed defenses and federated data become the norm, companies that can leverage network will become self-defending digitally resilient enterprises.

Sustainable AI and the workforce

For many organizations, conversations on sustainability are still relevant despite the increased focus on AI. Tay pointed out that increased use of AI will undoubtedly lead to higher power consumption levels, which will impact carbon emissions across all scopes. As such, businesses will increasingly seek partners who can provide energy-efficient products and solutions or help them adopt circular business models aligned with their net-zero timelines.

“We see AI heralding a new era of energy networking, which combines software-defined networking capabilities, and an electric power system made up of direct current (DC) micro grids. This will enhance energy efficiency Cisco Confidential while delivering increased visibility, insights, and automation. Power over Ethernet is another innovative solution, delivering DC power to devices over copper ethernet cabling, which eliminates the need for separate power supplies and outlets. Technological advancements in materials and design processes also contribute to balancing sustainability needs,” explained Tay.

Looking at the workforce, Tay believes AI will evolve from just supporting tasks to forming an integral part of the future workforce, helping to address skills shortages across various roles.

“Employees who can harness AI for their work will outperform others who do not use AI, achieving better quality of work, productivity, and efficiency. Possessing the right skillsets to leverage AI will be crucial to any technical and non-technical role. Initiatives like the Cisco Networking Academy, which provides digital skills training including cybersecurity, are crucial in bridging the digital skills gap. As technology continues to advance, it is vital to persistently upskill, stay relevant, and leverage the latest innovations,” said Tay.

Moreover, Tay also feels that returning to the office should be a magnet, not a mandate.

“As we envision the future of work, it will be a tech-enabled one where job roles continue to evolve alongside technological advancements, much like the transition from fax to email and are now connected from anywhere,” she said.

For Tay, as employees shift their mindset from coming to the office to doing heads-down work, employers need to cultivate an environment that supports this type of work. Whether it’s about the type of work, the location it’s performed, or who it’s done by, trust is a crucial element at every stage of the process.

“Employers must trust that they have hired the right people for the right roles, and they will deliver the goals set for them. Likewise, employees must trust that their efforts will be recognized and rewarded by their employers, with opportunities for growth and development. Trust will become a reciprocal relationship, and the ability to foster this trust will distinguish high-performing teams and companies from the rest,” concluded Tay.