China Masters AI at Scale, Japan Leads in Reliability, Driving Regional Innovation

SINGAPORE, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in products and solutions across Asia-Pacific, as engineers advance adoption while addressing operational and design challenges. This is according to Avnet’s fifth annual Avnet Insights survey, which tracks global trends in AI integration across industries.

Globally, 77% of engineers reported improving market conditions for their design products and solutions. Across APAC, adoption is accelerating, with China leading in large-scale deployment and Japan emphasizing reliability and long product lifecycles. These regional strengths and shifting priorities are collectively fueling the next wave of Asia-Pacific’s technological evolution.

“While the survey focuses on major global design hubs, the findings serve as a critical framework for Southeast Asian markets,” said Tan Aik Hoon, Regional President for Avnet South Asia, Korea and Avnet United. “As ASEAN grows as a global manufacturing powerhouse, the ‘commercial-first’ AI strategies highlighted in the report offer a clear path forward for engineers in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam looking to maintain competitive speeds.”

Download the 2026 Avnet Insights: The Reality of Artificial Intelligence whitepaper here.

How is AI Adoption Advancing Across APAC?
More than half of engineers globally (56%) said they are shipping products with AI incorporated, a 33% increase from the previous year. In China, adoption exceeds the global average, with engineers embedding AI across industries including automotive, industrial automation, and smart manufacturing. Japan and other APAC markets are advancing steadily, prioritizing practical applications that enhance efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.

Top AI applications across the region mirror global trends: process automation (42%), predictive maintenance (28%), and fault/anomaly detection (28%) remain the most adopted functionalities. Engineers are also increasingly combining Edge AI and machine learning (ML), with 64% globally prioritizing both equally, reflecting the growing importance of multi-modal AI.

“We see a clear shift from AI experimentation to industrial-scale deployment across the ASEAN manufacturing corridor,” added Tan. “Regional engineers face a growing complexity tax—balancing rapid time-to-market with specialized data requirements. Avnet’s role is to help partners overcome these barriers and move from concept to revenue faster.”

Navigating Challenges to Drive Broadening Impact
As AI’s influence expands, APAC engineers continue to balance technical challenges with evolving skill requirements. Data quality (46%) and continuous maintenance (54%) remain the most cited obstacles, while regional teams are investing in talent development—particularly in model optimization (17%) and data analysis (16%)—to convert complexity into competitive advantage.

“The report confirms that AI has entered its most critical phase: at-scale implementation,” concluded Tan. “In a market where production speed drives optimism, Avnet helps bridge the regional resource gap by providing the technical expertise and ecosystem support our partners need to lead—not just participate—in Asia-Pacific’s technological evolution.”

The 2026 Avnet Insights survey conducted online was fielded to 1,200 engineers from the Americas, EMEA, Asia and Japan, from October 21 through November 5, 2025.

Download the full 2026 Avnet Insights: The Reality of Artificial Intelligence whitepaper here.

About Avnet
As a leading global technology distributor and solutions provider, Avnet has served customers’ evolving needs for more than a century. Through regional and specialized businesses around the world, we support customers and suppliers at every stage of the product lifecycle. We help companies adapt to change and accelerate the design and supply stages of product development. With a unique viewpoint from the center of the technology supply chain, Avnet is a trusted partner that solves complex design and supply chain issues so customers can realize revenue faster. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com.

CONTACT: Seraphina Wee, [email protected]