Megan Harper
Dec 7, 2025 – The era of AI experimentation is ending in Asia. At this week’s AI Innovation Asia summit in Singapore, Economist Impact convened 500 executives with a clear message: 2026 will be defined by profitability, not potential.
The Big Picture: While 2024 was dominated by the hype of Large Language Models (LLMs), the discourse in Singapore shifted sharply to the “ROI Gap.” Under the guidance of The Economist‘s Deputy Editor Tom Standage, the event prioritized “frank conversations” on why many enterprises still struggle to justify their AI infrastructure spend.
Key Takeaways:
- Government Stance: Opening the summit, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Janil Puthucheary, emphasized that regulatory frameworks are no longer optional but are becoming the bedrock of deployment.
- The Rise of Agents: The summit highlighted Agentic AI as the next frontier—moving from passive chatbots to autonomous agents capable of executing complex customer experience (CX) workflows.
- The “Black Box” Problem: Leaders from Unilever and Johnson & Johnson stressed that without Explainable AI (XAI), highly regulated industries cannot scale adoption, regardless of the technology’s power.
The Bottom Line: As capital becomes more expensive, the consensus from the summit is that investors will increasingly demand clear ROI frameworks before greenlighting new AI pilots.
Disclosure: AIPressRoom is a media partner for AI Innovation Asia 2025.
