China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to Lead US$102.9B AI Investment Surge by 2028

If you thought artificial intelligence (AI) was just about chatbots and creepy robot dogs, now’s the time for you to rethink. In fact, business leaders from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are giving AI a serious upgrade. The three markets are expected to dominate Asia-Pacific’s AI landscape, pouring US$102.9 billion into AI technology by 2028.

According to a new IDC InfoBrief commissioned by UiPath, agentic automation is quickly becoming the secret sauce behind smarter, faster, and more resilient enterprises across Asia-Pacific. The report highlights a seismic shift toward agentic automation, the AI systems that don’t just follow instructions but make decisions, adapt in realtime, and orchestrate complex workflows across enterprise ecosystems.

In the three markets collectively, 45% of enterprises have already adopted agentic AI, and another 42% plan to do so within six months. Not only that, but business leaders also aren’t shy about spending as 49% of firms are ready to increase budgets by 26–50% to deploy these intelligent systems, with expectations of 3x returns on investment (ROI).

Top use cases include customer service automation, real-time decision support, and productivity enhancement, especially in industries like retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and life sciences. But the road to AI dominance isn’t without speed bumps. Concerns around data security, talent shortages, and ethical governance remain top of mind.

Still, with strong leadership from CEOs, CTOs, and emerging Chief AI Officers, the region is well-positioned to lead the next wave of enterprise innovation. Taiwan’s government-backed digital infrastructure and Hong Kong’s tech-forward mindset make them ideal launchpads for scalable AI transformation.

So, while the debates circulate around AI ethics and existential risks, Asia’s power trio is busy building the future with artificial intelligence agents.

For the full report, visit UiPath’s website here.