Bain & Company report reveals how CEOs in Southeast Asia can turn AI plans into real results

As part of its broader focus on the region, Bain will open a new AI Innovation Hub in Singapore with support from the Economic Development Board (EDB).

AI is shaping business pressure across the world, but the picture looks different in Southeast Asia. A new Bain & Company report says CEOs in the region need to treat AI as a full business shift, not just a tech upgrade, if they want to see real gains.

Titled The Southeast Asia CEO's Guide to AI Transformation: Six lessons that can turn AI potential into a competitive edge for Southeast Asia, the report says many leaders hear constant claims about disruption yet still struggle to see how AI will affect their own markets. The region's mix of small and divided markets, its dependence on trade, its active online population, and its uneven access to basic services all make it harder for companies to settle on a clear approach.

According to the report, real progress begins when CEOs look outside their own organizations to understand how AI might reshape their industry. Only then can they choose the areas where AI can create meaningful change.

"CEOs need to recognize that a successful AI strategy goes beyond deploying tools. Too many companies still take a technology rollout approach, which creates limited impact," said Aadarsh Baijal, senior partner at Bain & Company. "Leaders should understand how AI will disrupt their market and anchor adoption in concrete business outcomes, such as lowering supply chain cost or speeding up product launches to capture new revenue streams. With that strategic clarity, they can identify where to place their bets."

The report points to lessons from companies already earning real returns from their AI work. It notes that productivity gains alone rarely improve profit margins in Southeast Asia because labor costs remain low. Wages in the region average about 7% of those in the US, which limits how much companies can save by reducing headcount. And with large firms making up only 40% of the region's market value—far lower than India—fewer organizations have the size needed to spread the cost of AI across wide operations.

Because of this, the report urges CEOs to raise their expectations around speed and scale. It suggests setting KPIs that track how quickly results appear and how well the business can grow without adding more people. It also encourages leaders to use AI to rebuild commercial and delivery models so teams can handle more work with the same resources.

The report stresses that people, not only technology, determine whether AI efforts succeed. It introduces the idea of the "Lab," where technical teams redesign processes and guide adoption, and the "Crowd," where employees across the company gain basic skills to use AI in daily work.

"Many CEOs view scaling AI as a hiring challenge. In reality, the talent to drive transformation often already exists within the business," said Mohan Jayaraman, senior partner at Bain & Company. "From our work with clients across the region, we've seen that lasting impact comes when existing teams lead the change, and that's what separates stalled pilots from real transformation."

As part of its broader focus on the region, Bain will open a new AI Innovation Hub in Singapore with support from the Economic Development Board (EDB). The hub will help companies move from early testing to building AI systems that work across the enterprise. Singapore's AI sector already hosts more than a thousand startups and is expected to contribute S$198.3 billion in economic value by 2030.

The hub will create production-ready AI solutions for sectors such as manufacturing, energy, finance, healthcare, retail, and consumer goods. It will also assist companies in building internal AI teams, forming centers of excellence, and improving engineering practices.

"Bain's new AI Innovation hub is an exciting addition to Singapore's vibrant and growing AI ecosystem. By focusing on AI solutions that can be deployed and scaled in sectors from manufacturing to services, the Hub can help more companies, and workers, adopt and benefit from AI. We look forward to the Hub's contributions in advancing AI engineering expertise in the region," said Junie Fo, Vice President, Professional Services, EDB.

Bain says it will draw on its experience across more than 400 AI projects with global tech partners. Its growing team in Singapore will support Southeast Asia companies aiming to turn pilot programs into full-scale transformation.