The global generative AI (GenAI) market is set explosive growth, with predicted spending of US$644 billion in 2025, marking a staggering 76.4 percent increase from the previous year, according to Gartner.

Despite challenges such as high failure rates in proof-of-concept projects and dissatisfaction with early results, businesses worldwide are doubling down on GenAI investments as the technology transitions from hype to a transformative business tool.

The surge in spending highlights the increasing integration of GenAI across industries. Hardware, including AI-enabled devices such as smartphones, PCs and servers, is expected to dominate the market and account for 80 percent of total spending.

“The market’s growth trajectory is heavily influenced by the increasing prevalence of AI-enabled devices, which are expected to comprise almost the entire consumer device market by 2028,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst of Gartner.

Transformative applications in APAC

GenAI’s rapid adoption is driven by its ability to transform workflows and customer experiences across sectors. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has emerged as a global leader in GenAI adoption.

China and India are spearheading advancements with initiatives such as China’s DeepSeek, which has taken the world by storm by accelerating the development of large language models at reduced costs.

In Southeast Asia, NVIDIA’s collaboration with AI Singapore has produced SEA-LION, a language model trained on 11 regional languages to address multi-lingual challenges.

Startups in Southeast Asia are leveraging GenAI tools such as Canva for automated design processes and Murf for realistic voiceovers, enabling businesses to scale operations efficiently. Ethical considerations are also central to these deployments, ensuring transparency and accountability in AI systems.

In Australia, Telstra has rolled out its One Sentence Summary tool using Azure OpenAI to streamline customer service operations, saving employees time and improving effectiveness. Brisbane Catholic Education has launched the world’s largest GenAI initiative in education, deploying Microsoft Copilot to assist 12,500 educators in administrative tasks and lesson planning.

New Zealand is leveraging GenAI for cultural preservation through Stuff’s use of Azure AI Translator to produce te reo Māori content at scale. Additionally, companies such as Vista are enhancing customer experiences with hyper-personalised cinema insights via their Oneview platform

Strategic Shift Towards Tailored Solutions

Organisations are moving beyond generic applications such as ChatGPT to developing customised GenAI solutions tailored to specific industries and workflows.

For example, Michelin has created an in-house chatbot using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Services to streamline internal operations. Google’s Gemini model is enabling businesses to develop multi-modal AI agents capable of handling complex tasks autonomously.

This shift toward agentic AI marks the next phase in the evolution of generative technologies. Multi-agent systems are being deployed in sectors such as finance and healthcare to tackle intricate challenges such as fraud detection and patient monitoring more efficiently.

Photo: Matheus Bertelli