Singapore – AI has become a routine part of software development across Southeast Asia and India, yet new findings from Agoda’s 2025 report indicate that governance—not adoption—is now the defining challenge for the next phase of AI maturity in the region.
The study, which draws on insights from more than 600 developers across seven markets, shows near-universal weekly use of AI tools while highlighting widening gaps in oversight, reliability and institutional readiness.
The report highlights that 95% of developers use AI each week, with most activity centred on code generation. Usage drops markedly in later stages of the coding workflow, revealing uneven integration across testing, documentation, planning and deployment.
Inconsistency also remains a major constraint, with 79% identifying unpredictable results as their biggest barrier and fewer than half believing AI performs at the level of a mid-level engineer today.
A significant governance gap is also emerging. Around 60% of organisations in the region operate without a formal AI policy, and only 25% of developer teams follow official guidelines.
“The next differentiator will not be who adopts AI first, but who builds a clear framework around it for consistent and productive usage,” Idan Zalzberg, chief technology officer at Agoda, stated.
He added, “Southeast Asia and India’s strength lies in speed and adaptability. Developers are advancing AI adoption with peer oversight and disciplined practices, but the next step is to pair that momentum with stronger foundations in trust, quality, and governance.”
As AI adoption accelerates across Southeast Asia and the broader APAC ecosystem, this lack of clear guardrails is creating a two-speed environment in which widespread individual use outpaces institutional safeguards. Developers increasingly want frameworks that provide clarity on responsible use, quality assurance, and data protection as AI becomes more deeply embedded in critical workflows.
The report suggests that the next stage of AI progress in Southeast Asia and APAC will depend on stronger governance foundations that match the speed of adoption.
As developers continue to use AI at scale, consistent policies, clearer oversight mechanisms, and shared expectations around output quality will be required to ensure the region’s productivity gains translate into sustainable, reliable practice across teams and organisations.
