Use of artificial intelligence (AI) is spreading rapidly in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, but only about half of corporations have actually changed how they work. Analysts said many corporations still have not moved beyond simple adoption to the "execution phase."
Zoom held the "APAC SMB Summit 2026" online on the 25th and shared how small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are using AI and their strategies for transforming work. The event focused on how to turn productivity, collaboration, and customer experience into real outcomes amid the spread of AI adoption.
According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and others, 78% of employees in the Asia-Pacific region use AI tools every week. However, only 57% of corporations have restructured their actual work processes around AI, showing a clear "gap between adoption and execution."
Utkarsha Singh, head of sales for Singapore and North Asia at Zoom, said, "AI is no longer in the pilot or experimental phase; it is already embedded across real work, including marketing, customer service, collaboration, and decision-making," adding, "The important question now is not whether to adopt AI, but how to integrate it into workflows to use it more efficiently."
Singh added, "The faster a corporation grows, the more tools and meetings it faces, along with a more complex collaboration environment," emphasizing, "The key is to reduce this complexity and build a structure where conversations lead to actual execution and outcomes."
This trend is also clear in Korea. Kim Hyeong-sik, head of SMB sales at Zoom Korea, said, "Small and midsize corporations are a core pillar of Korea's economic growth and innovation," adding, "AI adoption is not just a technology upgrade but a strategic priority for corporations' sustainable growth."
Kim said in particular, "In a fiercely competitive environment, what corporations are being asked for is speed, accuracy, and rapid responsiveness to customers," explaining, "It is no longer about simply adopting new tools; reducing organizational friction and building consolidated workflows now determines competitiveness."
Still, the reality for corporations remains focused on "adoption." Sara Stefaroni, global product marketing manager at Zoom, said, "Every corporation is talking about AI, but in many cases it does not work properly in day-to-day tasks," noting, "Many corporations remain in the experimental and pilot stages, and they are not achieving meaningful outcomes."
She emphasized, "Employees still spend a significant portion of their work hours managing communications such as meetings, messages, and reviewing materials," adding, "The issue is not technology but execution, and AI is not integrated into actual workflows."
To close this "execution gap," Zoom proposed a strategy of integrating AI naturally into existing collaboration environments rather than adding it as a separate tool. It is a "workflow-centered" approach that embeds AI capabilities across meetings, chat, documents, and phone calls to consolidate conversations into execution and outcomes.
Stefaroni said, "AI should not be about adding more tools but about making the tools you already use smarter," adding, "Because SMBs do not have separate AI organizations or large IT resources, they need a structure that reduces complexity while simultaneously boosting productivity and customer responsiveness."
To that end, Zoom is advancing its platform around its integrated "AI Companion," which includes features such as meeting summaries, automated follow-up tasks, automated customer responses, and document creation and analysis. It also plans to link with various external collaboration tools so that work can be handled within a single platform.
Zoom said, "AI adoption itself is already proceeding rapidly, but corporations that are consolidating it into actual changes in how they work are still limited," adding, "Going forward, competitiveness will be determined not by how many tools you use but by how efficiently you integrate workflows."