Indonesia Leads AI Adoption in Southeast Asia
Indonesia is aggressively positioning itself as the market leader in artificial intelligence (AI) development across Southeast Asia, driven by proactive business investments in AI capabilities. According to The Business Times Insights: ASEAN Intelligence 2026 survey, 62% of Indonesian companies are classified as “First Movers” – the most aggressive adopters – placing Indonesia ahead of Thailand (55%), Malaysia (46%), and Singapore (36%). The survey, conducted in February 2026 by The Business Times and Kantar, polled over 500 business leaders from the ASEAN-6 nations.
Regionally, AI adoption is split into three categories: First Movers (45%), Pragmatic Optimisers (42%), and Cautious Traditionalists (13%). Singapore, with 36% First Movers and 47% Pragmatic Optimisers, is seen as more cautious due to strict governance and compliance standards in finance and healthcare sectors.
Vivek Luthra, Accenture Asia-Pacific’s AI and Data Lead, highlighted strong top-down corporate ambition in Indonesia, with most leaders committed to preparing workforces for Generative AI within three years. Hanno Stegmann of BCG X noted Indonesia’s grassroots AI usage is the second-highest in Asia-Pacific after India.
A key driver of Indonesia’s AI adoption is sovereign AI infrastructure needs, exemplified by Sahabat AI – a national initiative by Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH), GoTo Group, Nvidia, and AI Singapore. Unlike mainstream LLMs like ChatGPT or Gemini, Sahabat AI is trained on Indonesian local data and dialects to better understand cultural nuances.
Chirag Sukhadia, IOH’s Chief Data and AI Officer, stated AI adoption has moved beyond experimental stages. IOH has integrated the model into daily operations, particularly in HR and sales, optimising capital expenditure by 22% and projecting an additional US$200-300 million in EBITDA within three years.
Beyond Sahabat AI, the government’s national technology sovereignty efforts are anchored in the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (Stranas KA) 2020–2045 and National AI Roadmap 2026–2030, developed by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi). These initiatives focus on four key areas: AI Roadmap and Governance Regulations; Priority Sectors (food security, healthcare, education); Infrastructure and Computing; and Research and Talent Development.
Public-private partnerships are accelerating this growth, with Google Cloud’s Indonesia BerdAIa programme supporting hundreds of local startups, Lintasarta’s Laskar AI & GPU Merdeka providing GPU infrastructure, and the AI Talent Factory training thousands of engineers to tackle national issues like combating online gambling.
Despite predicted surges in AI adoption, the survey noted costs remain the biggest barrier for the majority of companies.