According to Forrester’s 2024 predictions, while most Asia Pacific (APAC) firms see generative AI (GenAI) as a lever for productivity improvement, their real stumbling block is a risk-averse culture and inadequate data management capabilities. Just 30% of firms that have more mature IT practices are strategically positioned to harness AI’s benefits, including enhanced productivity, greater operational resilience, superior customer experience, and business model innovation.

Forrester’s predictions analyze the dynamics and trends across different topics and industries, including technology and innovation; B2B marketing, sales, and product; AI and automation; and customer experience (CX). These insights help leaders gain a competitive edge to thrive in the year ahead.

Highlights from Forrester’s 2024 predictions include:

• CX will improve for the first time in years — thanks to GenAI. The key to CX improvements in 2024 will be behind-the-scenes GenAI that helps customer service agents answer questions faster and better, resolve CX issues on first contact, and leave customers feeling heard.
• Agencies will invest in custom AI solutions for enterprise clients. In 2024, the top 10 advertising agencies will spend a combined $50 million in partnerships to build custom AI solutions that enable their clients to scale personalized marketing campaigns and brand experiences.
• Enterprise AI initiatives will boost productivity and creative problem-solving by 50% in the year ahead. Generative AI is poised to increase productivity across all IT roles — not just among developers. Additionally, business, technology, and marketing leaders’ investment in genAI in the year ahead will augment employees’ creative problem-solving time by up to 50% — driving customer-centric innovation and creating greater business value.
• APAC firms will struggle to operationalize customer trust. Doing right by customers earns their trust and loyalty, but not many firms have taken this effort seriously and imbued it within their corporate culture. By the end of 2024, 25% of APAC’s largest companies will vocalize their strategic commitment to customer trust, but only 5% will effectively codify that commitment through measurement and organizational KPIs.
• Clouds will launch prompt engineering services — to no avail. Cloud hyperscalers will announce either a preview or the general availability of prompt engineering, the process of structuring text so that it can be understood by a GenAI model. Enterprise adoption, however, will be limited: 80% of enterprises will add prompt engineering talent internally to drive model grounding and value delivery.
• Regulators will have GenAI in their sights. An app using ChatGPT will be fined for how it handles personally identifiable information. Companies will need to identify apps that increase their risk exposure while also increasing investments in third-party risk management.
• Generational differences will alter B2B buying preferences. Millennial buyers make up 75% of business buying teams. In 2024, 40% of these buyers will demand early access to B2B product experts. When engaged in face-to-face buying, these buyers find personal interactions with product experts more meaningful than all other in-person activities.

“In 2024, Asia Pacific is bracing itself for a year of exploration and potential growth, with GenAI at the center of it all,” said Frederic Giron, VP and senior research director at Forrester. “The promise and potential of GenAI, combined with a new wave of technological innovations, will inspire more APAC tech and business leaders to follow in the footsteps of early trailblazers and fuse the power of AI with their transformation efforts to drive business outcomes.”