APAC businesses lag global peers in AI confidence

As AI becomes embedded in everyday business operations, confidence in its value and deployment varies widely across the globe. According to the 2025 Celonis AI Process Optimisation Report, business leaders in APAC are among the least confident in the world when it comes to using AI effectively, despite a clear belief in its long-term potential.

The global survey of 1,620 business leaders, including 25% from APAC and 10% from Australia, found just 82% of APAC leaders feel confident in their organisation’s ability to use AI to drive value. This is the lowest confidence level among all surveyed regions and well behind the United States at 92%.

Despite this confidence gap, AI adoption in the region is progressing. 70% of leaders in APAC say their AI investments are delivering the expected return on investment, only slightly behind the US (82%) and ahead of Europe (69%).

“The data shows that APAC is not lagging in capability, but more so in confidence,” said Pascal Coubard, APAC Lead at Celonis. “AI has no borders. Businesses in Australia and across the region shouldn’t see their geography as a disadvantage. The real ROI from AI will come when companies apply it to the operational core of their business, not just on the surface, but across processes like payments, collections, and supply chain execution.”

GenAI: High Awareness, Room to Grow

The report highlights that 81% of global leaders are already using foundational GenAI models for tasks such as developer productivity, knowledge management, and customer service. 61% have deployed GenAI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants, with the highest uptake in the US (75%), followed by APAC (63%) and Europe (57%).

While use cases are expanding, most businesses still see themselves at the beginning of the AI journey. 64% of leaders globally believe AI will deliver significant ROI in the next 12 months, and 74% expect their AI budgets to grow this year. As those investments increase expectations will too, with 73% of companies aiming to deploy department-specific AI use cases.

Process Intelligence: The Missing Link

Yet confidence in AI’s potential is tempered by underlying process challenges. More than half (58%) of business leaders say the current state of their processes may limit their ability to maximise AI, and nearly one-quarter (24%) strongly agree. Crucially, 89% believe AI needs deep process context – an understanding of how a business truly runs – in order to be effectively deployed.

“Leaders recognise that you can’t optimise what you don’t understand,” said Coubard. “They’re increasingly aware that process visibility and intelligence are essential for unlocking the full value of enterprise AI.”

Business leaders in APAC are most concerned globally (62%) about the lack of process understanding limiting AI success, compared to 60% in Europe, and just 55% in the US. Meanwhile, 93% of US leaders say AI requires detailed operational context, the highest of any region.

Process Mining gains momentum

In response, companies are investing in tools to boost process visibility. 39% are already using process mining – the technology that enables the Celonis Process Intelligence Graph – and a further 52% plan to adopt it in the next 12 months.

Confidence in AI use cases varies by department, with Process & Operations leaders (76%) feeling the most confident in their AI applications, followed closely by Finance & Shared Services (75%), IT (73%), and Supply Chain (68%). However, Supply Chain leaders are also the least confident (61%) that AI will deliver significant ROI in the next 12 months, compared to 66% in both Process & Operations and IT.

A Pivotal Year Ahead

The findings suggest 2025 is a make-or-break year for AI. Business leaders are ramping up investment, refining their approaches, and learning to pair AI with the right context, driven by Process Intelligence.

“AI isn’t just a tech upgrade, it’s a new operating model,” said Coubard. “But to maximise the ROI of their AI deployments, businesses need AI powered with the process knowledge and business context provided by Celonis Process Intelligence.”

You can read the full report here.