Lenovo CIO Playbook finds enterprises focused on scaling AI, not testing it

Enterprises across Asia Pacific are increasing AI spending, with 96% planning higher investment over the next year, according to the Lenovo CIO Playbook 2026.

AI spending across Asia Pacific is rising, but the bigger change is how enterprises plan to use it. What once sat on the edge of IT teams is now moving into daily operations, budgets, and long-term planning.

According to the Lenovo CIO Playbook 2026 – The Race for Enterprise AI, commissioned by Lenovo with research from IDC, 96% of organizations across Asia Pacific expect to increase AI investment in the next 12 months. On average, spending is set to grow by 15%, covering generative AI, agent-based systems, public cloud services, on-premise infrastructure, and AI security tools. ASEAN+ markets show the same intent, with 96% of organizations also planning higher AI budgets.

Sumir Bhatia, President for Asia Pacific at ISG, Lenovo, said the scale of this investment reflects a shift in how enterprises make decisions. "When 96% of organizations are planning a 15% on average increase in AI investment, it tells us that AI decisions are now being made at the core of enterprise strategy," he said. He added that results will depend on how well AI is built into infrastructure, operations, and security so that value continues to grow over time.

That focus on results is shaping CIO priorities. The Playbook shows that revenue growth, profitability, and better business and customer experience now rank as the top three goals linked to AI use across the region.

This marks a move away from earlier debates about whether AI delivers value at all. While confidence remains high, CIOs are taking a more careful approach to ensure spending leads to clear outcomes. According to the report, 88% of firms in Asia Pacific predict a good return from AI in 2026, with an average expected return of 2.8 times the amount invested. At the same time, many projects struggle to progress beyond pilot stages, highlighting gaps in governance, operating models, and long-term oversight.

AI adoption is also spreading beyond IT. According to the Lenovo–IDC research, 66% of organizations in Asia Pacific are already piloting or systematically adopting AI. Another 15% remain in early stages, while 19% are still considering adoption. ASEAN+ follows a similar pattern, with 67% already piloting or adopting AI.

Use cases now span customer service, marketing, operations, finance, and industry-specific teams. Half of surveyed organizations reported that AI projects are funded by non-IT departments, changing how decisions are made and increasing the need for coordination across the business.

Interest is also growing in agent-based AI, though readiness varies. The Playbook found that 21% of organizations in Asia Pacific report significant use today, while close to 60% are exploring or planning limited deployments. Activity is strongest in telecommunications, healthcare, and government, where scale and process complexity are highest.

"Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift in how intelligence is embedded into the enterprise," said Fan Ho, Executive Director and General Manager for Asia Pacific at Lenovo's Solutions & Services Group. "With nearly 60% of organizations already exploring Agentic AI and the majority are choosing a measured path to scale, it reflects that enterprises want AI that operates within core workflows, meets security and governance expectations, and delivers consistent outcomes."

As AI use grows, infrastructure choices are becoming harder to separate from strategy. The study found that 86% of organizations across Asia Pacific now include on-premise or edge environments as part of their AI setup. In ASEAN+, 81% prefer hybrid approaches, driven by concerns around data privacy, security, latency, and cost.

"ASEAN+ organizations, including Indonesia's rapidly digitizing enterprises, have moved from AI experimentation to execution at scale," said Nigel Lee, General Manager for Lenovo Singapore. "With 67% systematically adopting AI and integration with devices and infrastructure as the top investment priority, the focus is clear: embed AI into existing environments and extract value fast. The expected 2.7x return per dollar invested proves AI is business-critical infrastructure."

Looking ahead to 2026, the Playbook points to three pressures. Inferencing costs are rising faster than training costs over a model's lifetime. Employee productivity is gaining attention as AI-capable devices become more common. And despite high expectations, scaling AI remains the biggest hurdle, with only about half of proof-of-concept projects reaching production.