New Salesforce Report Reveals How Asia Pacific AI Readiness Will Impact Deployment of Generative AI

Salesforce today released the 2023 Asia Pacific AI Readiness Index, and it shows a growing divide between economies based on their readiness to adopt the technology. 

Why it matters: The third edition of this bi-annual composite index measures businesses’ and governments’ multi-faceted AI readiness and its impact on socio-economic opportunities through 15 statistical indicators. 

• The report also provides recommendations for businesses and governments to help operationalize and maximize the use of AI. 

The big picture: Generative AI is changing the way governments and businesses are thinking about AI. McKinsey projects that generative AI could grow the global economy by $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually by 2030. 

Driving the news: Of the 12 countries surveyed, all saw gains in AI readiness driven by strategic government efforts. Indonesia and Thailand introduced national AI strategies, while Singapore’s public sector digital transformation, open government data policies, and more have helped the country retain the top position since 2019, when the report began.

• Overall AI Readiness: Singapore leads the region (70.1), followed by Japan (59.8), and China (59.7). 
• Business AI Readiness: Singapore leads the region (53.6), followed by China, (43.1), and South Korea (42.7). 
• Government AI Readiness: Singapore leads the region (86.5), followed by Australia (77.7) and Japan (77.5).

Go deeper: The adoption and utilization of generative AI requires a level of AI readiness, which includes:

• Infrastructure: Generative AI models require massive computational resources and specialized hardware. 
• Data: Generative AI models require large amounts of high-quality training data to learn meaningful patterns and generate realistic content.
• Workforce Development: Developing and deploying generative AI models require expertise in AI and machine learning.
• Ethical Design: Generative AI can raise ethical concerns, such as the potential for biased or harmful content.
• Integration: AI readiness also encompasses the ability to integrate generative AI models into real-world applications and workflows. 

Fast facts:

• Singapore leads the Index and has launched many decisive AI-related initiatives, with an aim to empower public- and private-sector organizations to adopt AI responsibly.
• Japan and China, second and third on the list, have a strong focus on AI innovation.
• New Zealand is leading in digital government and open government data, which refers to the free and open publication of government data.
• Australia is among the top scorers in government AI readiness, reflecting its sustained momentum to build on its rich open data sources.
• South Korea leads in terms of creative outputs, which include intangible assets.
• India leads in terms of number of AI start-ups.

What’s next: The report predicts that business AI readiness is poised to accelerate as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) start to invest and adopt AI technology. Actions that businesses and governments can take to further expedite AI readiness include:

• Implementing national AI strategies.
• Adopting a risk-based approach to AI regulation, and harmonization and consistency around existing rules.
• Enabling responsible AI and ethics.
• Boosting AI talent.
• Leveraging AI for societal and economic benefit, together with an education campaign.

The Salesforce perspective: “For countries to succeed in this exciting AI environment, including the adoption of generative AI, their economies require a sufficient level of AI readiness,” said Sassoon Grigorian, VP of APAC Government Affairs, Salesforce.

Strong institutional, infrastructural, organizational, and ethical foundations around AI will be critical to success now and in our global AI future

Sassoon Grigorian, VP of APAC Government Affairs, Salesforce

• “Strong institutional, infrastructural, organizational, and ethical foundations around AI will be critical to success now and in our global AI future” he continued.

Explore further: 

• Read the full report*
• Explore the topline results from an IDC study about the Salesforce AI ecosystem

*The 2023 AI Readiness Report was commissioned by Salesforce and prepared by Access Partnership.