2026 Predictions: Six Trends Shaping the Future of ASEAN Businesses

Introduction: The agentic inflection point

ASEAN has a well-earned reputation for technological leapfrogging. The region famously skipped the gradual climb of the PC era to become a mobile-first world of super-apps. It has also moved faster than almost anywhere else from cash to digital wallets and mobile payments. 

The rise of agentic AI has created another opportunity for ASEAN to bypass old systems and traditional thinking, and fundamentally transform the nature of work itself. 

The momentum we saw building throughout last year has brought us to this inflection point. Our Agentic Enterprise Index showed that in the first half of 2025, the number of agents created and deployed by businesses grew by 119%, while monthly interactions between employees and agents grew by an average of 65%. 

Consumers are also embracing this change. The same index showed that 94% of customers who observed an agent in the chat window went on to engage with them. It also revealed that consumers who regularly interact with AI agents were 122% more likely to say AI-powered service has become more helpful in the past year. 

Given the massive strides made in 2025, what else can businesses in ASEAN expect this year? 

We got Gavin Barfield, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Solutions, Salesforce ASEAN, to share his six predictions that will shape the course of ASEAN’s dynamic landscape in 2026. Gavin has over 20 years of experience, with a solid technology background that includes IT infrastructure, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, and program management across a variety of industries. 

Given his expertise and authority in the field, he foresees ASEAN businesses building on the momentum of adopting AI agents, and accelerating their pace toward becoming agentic enterprises. Let’s dive in.

Trend 1: AI goes truly global by becoming more local

Early AI innovation was heavily English-centric, but in 2026, we predict real breakthroughs in localised AI. To build genuine trust and drive business impact, technology must cater to the unique linguistic tapestry and cultural nuances of Southeast Asia.

We expect the emergence of more Large Language Models (LLMs) options for local businesses. We also anticipate the growth of Small Language Models (SLMs) built for specific regional, local, and industry needs. To lead this charge, Salesforce has made Agentforce available in key regional languages, including Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Bahasa Melayu, and Bahasa Indonesia. 

The localisation of AI will not only deliver more accurate and contextually relevant responses, but also help to solve uniquely regional challenges, such as financial inclusion. 

For example, in Indonesia, where roughly 25% of the adult population remains underbanked, AI agents are reshaping financial services. By simplifying complex tasks like account opening and loan applications in local languages, AI makes formal banking more accessible to those unfamiliar with traditional banking processes. AI agents can also reimagine complex processes like credit scoring, helping professionals assess creditworthiness of borrowers previously excluded from formal finance.

Similarly, agentic AI can unlock new opportunities for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), helping them match customer-serving capacity and capabilities of larger enterprises. With MSMEs accounting for more than 99% of businesses in the Philippines➚, this can play a vital role in boosting the local economy.

Trend 2: Experimentation to uncover AI’s hidden potential

Just as early scientists couldn’t have envisioned all the things that electricity now powers, we are only beginning to discover what agentic AI can do. Businesses cannot afford to take a wait-and-see approach. Now is the time to proactively establish systems, procedures, and infrastructure to seize the AI opportunity — or risk being left behind. This includes building a foundation of unified, trusted data to ensure AI outputs are accurate and actionable. 

Organisations that remain agile and foster experimentation will be the ones to develop and capitalise on use cases that we can’t even imagine today. The development of these future agents begins by breaking down roles into individual tasks, identifying which can be automated and which require human expertise.

By training your team to work alongside these agents and encouraging a culture of constant experimentation, you can create an environment where the next ‘unimagined’ use case can surface naturally.

Trend 3: Agentic AI finds a voice, complements human work

In 2026, voice will replace the rigid, menu-driven chatbots of the past. Agentic voice technology will allow users to speak to agents as naturally as they would to a human colleague.

For contact centres, this is a game-changer and will eliminate the frustration of ‘Press 1 for Sales’ menus and hold music. Instead, AI agents will handle triage and route queries to the relevant departments immediately.  

Already, 71% of service reps using AI say it is creating genuine growth opportunities for them. This is according to our State of Service report, which also found that the overwhelming majority of respondents (86%) have also developed new skills. 

Advancements in agentic voice technology will further improve the experience of contact centre employees, freeing them to focus on complex cases and building deep customer rapport.

Trend 4: The rise of personal AI agents

The digital transformation trends in Southeast Asia for 2026 will be characterised by AI that lightens our cognitive load. Imagine a personal AI agent that manages tedious admin tasks like paying your bills. Or imagine a personal AI agent that works with an airline’s flight booking agent to find a flight that fits your preference and schedule, and directly makes the payment by interacting with your bank’s AI agent to finalise the booking.

The rise of personal AI agents will change how we interact with businesses. Brands may also find their identity defined less by their logos or slogans and more by their AI agents. 

Data from our Agentic Enterprise Index backs this up, finding that customers who regularly interact with AI agents demonstrated 46% higher customer satisfaction. 

Trend 5: Humans orchestrate the agentic world

As businesses transition to an ‘orchestrated workforce’, the role of the human employee is being elevated rather than replaced.

Much like a restaurant manager who oversees various specialised staff, a primary ‘orchestrator’ agent directs expert digital agents to handle specific customer inquiries or inventory checks.

Humans shift into the role of strategic supervisors, using observability tools to set ethical guardrails and oversee the performance of the entire digital team.

This trend is particularly relevant for the Philippines, where AI is helping the country evolve from a service-oriented economy into a knowledge-driven innovation hub, by enhancing productivity and unleashing human potential. 

Trend 6. Agents enter the real world with ambient AI

In 2026, AI moves into our physical environment, operating unobtrusively in the background of malls, hotels, and city streets.

Soon, you could see digital signage that recognises your shopping habits to display personalised promotions in real-time. Or robotic concierges that manage your hotel stays and proactively adjust itineraries based on real-time weather or traffic changes. 

Ambient AI can also be embedded into our daily work and act on our behalf. Think of a field service agent with ambient AI that monitors diagnostic data, surfaces repair history, and anticipates parts needs—all without a single prompt.

With ambient AI, the technology is no longer an assistant we talk to on a device; it is seamlessly integrated into our everyday reality.

Dialling up the opportunities in 2026

The ASEAN digital economy outlook for 2026 is brighter than ever. In Indonesia alone, AI-driven productivity is fueling transformation and has the potential to add US$366 billion to the country’s GDP within the next five years. 

One of the most important takeaways for 2026 is that the agentic enterprise is not a model reserved for giant conglomerates. Agentic AI gives small and medium-sized businesses the potential to compete with companies several times their size. Take a look at these success stories in ASEAN from the likes of K.W. Metal Work, AVPN, and Fulbright University Vietnam —  they’ve leveraged Agentforce to transform operations, scale impact and drive exponential growth.

To harness these opportunities, remember that adopting AI is not an on/off switch; it is a dial that you turn up gradually. As you gather evidence that your agents are performing reliably and your data foundation is secure, you can grant them more responsibility. This phased approach ensures a scalable, sustainable path toward a future where human experts and AI agents work as a seamless team to unlock unprecedented innovation.