Indonesian firms are pro-AI but the next step is scaling from adoption to integration: AWS
Amazon Web Services poll finds that some 40% of businesses are now adopting artificial intelligence, up from 28% last year
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[SINGAPORE] Indonesian businesses are increasingly including artificial intelligence tools into their work, with an Amazon Web Services survey published on Thursday (Aug 6) reporting that some 40 per cent of Indonesian businesses are now using AI, up 12 percentage points from 28 per cent last year.
The report titled Unlocking Indonesia’s AI potential specifically looks at the prevalence of AI applications for businesses in Indonesia. It noted that AI adoption is increasingly becoming mainstream for businesses, and enterprises that use AI tools also report measurable productivity gains.
But the same report also argued that Indonesian businesses must now move from the experimentation stage to scaling adoption across multiple fronts.
The report said most adopters are in the exploration and experimentation phases (56 per cent). Only 12 per cent of AI adopters have fully integrated the technology.
The AWS survey noted Indonesia’s diverse business landscape, which is made up of a mix of millions of micro-small-and-medium enterprises, along with digital-native start-ups and large corporates. This has resulted in business leaders approaching AI from very different starting points.
For example, smaller organisations may face resource constraints or have differing investment priorities compared to larger firms.
Businesses with a combination of strong internal governance, a clear AI strategy and skilled workers will be best placed to move quickly to scale AI integration and capture further benefits from using the technology, especially as the next waves of AI – such as agentic AI and physical AI – develops, noted AWS.
Currently, only 24 per cent of AI-adopting firms report having a formal AI strategy, with 21 per cent having established data governance and 17 per cent implementing responsible AI frameworks.
Additionally, only 14 per cent of businesses feel fully prepared to adopt next-generation AI technologies such as agentic AI, and more than half (56 per cent) of businesses cited shortages of AI and digital skills as a barrier to wider adoption.
The study was conducted by Strand Partners and surveyed 1,000 business leaders and 1,000 members of the public in Indonesia from May to June this year.
The report also found that 68 per cent of all businesses ranked AI adoption as top or high priority, while 64 per cent of adopters said AI plays a critical or important role in the overall business strategy.
The findings from the AWS report, launched on Thursday at an AWS Summit in Jakarta, tracks research conducted by The Business Times earlier this year.
Data from research conducted by The Business Times and the market research firm Kantar found that Indonesia led Asean in AI adoption. Just over six in 10 of the country’s companies, or 62 per cent, were considered as “first movers”, placing it ahead of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
AI first movers are early adopters, defined as businesses that feel a strong pressure to transform and proactively invest in multiple AI capabilities.
The research by The Business Times, titled Asean Intelligence 2026, spoke with more than 500 business leaders in South-east Asia.
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