Adhil Badat, Chief Operating Officer, APJ, Rackspace Technology, on Agentic AI as a ‘powerful framework’ for APAC organisations to embrace automation both responsibly and sustainably.
The need for immediate tech results often outweighs long-term stability, presenting organisations with a series of critical challenges. This is especially true in APAC markets, where businesses face intensifying competition, evolving regulations and economic volatility.
The Rackspace State of Cloud 2025 Research reveals that 98% of APAC organisations are integrating AI into their cloud strategies to drive business outcomes. Yet, a pressing question lingers as how can they harness AI to deliver measurable value today while building resilience for the future?
Agentic AI, or autonomous AI, presents itself as a next generation approach to this challenge, combing automation with ethical oversight to enhance workflows, reduce costs and maintain trust. It offers a pathway by focusing on scalable, adaptable automation. For example, businesses in retail can use AI to optimise inventory management through real-time demand forecasting, reducing overstock and waste. Meanwhile, the same AI systems, when designed with future-readiness in mind, can seamlessly adapt to shifting consumer behaviours, economic conditions or regulatory changes.
As digital transformation is increasingly prevalent for Australian businesses, integrating Agentic AI technologies to improve workflows whilst also while building trust and collaboration is essential. This approach creates a partnership between AI and humans, working collaboratively to improve workflows and achieve lasting. Central to this evolution is Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) as the backbone of Agentic AI. MLOps streamlines the deployment and lifecycle management of AI models, ensuring they stay aligned with evolving market needs while improving agility and scalability. Without this foundational framework, the ability of Agentic AI to deliver sustainable outcomes is significantly reduced.
AI adoption is surging across industries. According to the World AI Spending Guide, investment in AI across the APAC region is projected to hit US$78.4 billion by 2027 – growing at a compound annual growth rate of 25.5% from 2022 to 2027.
For CIOs, this surge in adoption highlights the need for AI systems that deliver not only short-term results but also sustainable, long-term value. Industries like retail, finance and manufacturing are experiencing the impact, where operational efficiency and the ability to adapt quickly to change often determine success. As these sectors navigate rising pressures to innovate, the dual goals of immediate impact and lasting growth become essential benchmarks for effective AI implementation.
However, to achieve this balance CIO’s must embed ethical practices into their AI strategies. By prioritising transparency trustworthiness and inclusivity, organisations can ensure that immediate wins do not come at the expense of long-term resilience.
One of the key challenges CIOs face is integrating AI systems that deliver immediate operational improvements without sacrificing future flexibility. To achieve this, organisations must embed ethical guardrails into their AI strategies from the outset. Ethical AI ensures that decisions made by these systems remain unbiased, explainable, and aligned with organisational values. For instance, transparent algorithmic decisions in recruitment or lending processes help maintain trust among customers and stakeholders.
A persistent misconception about AI is that it is here to replace human-decision making. AI enhances human capabilities by automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks, freeing employees to focus on more strategic and creative work.
In financial services, for instance, Agentic AI can rapidly process and analyse vast datasets, identifying trends and risks at speeds unachievable by human analysts alone. However, the final decision-making remains in human hands, ensuring the insights are contextualised with expertise and ethical judgment.
This human-AI collaboration strengthens trust in the technology, mitigates resistance to adoption and fosters a workplace culture where employees feel empowered and trusting rather than threatened by AI.
As agentic AI continues to extend the boundaries of automation, there is an urgent need for focus and growth of ethical oversight. Building trust in AI systems requires embedding principles of transparency, inclusivity and explainability into their design. These are not optional but essential to ensuring AI presents itself as a reliable partner for organisations, enabling sustainable progress rather than disruption.
Inclusivity, for instance, involves designing AI systems that are accessible to people with disabilities while also addressing diverse languages and cultural needs across the APAC region. By embedding these principles, organisations ensure their AI solutions are fair, accessible and aligned with the region’s unique characteristics.
While concerns about AI often centre on job displacement, its impact is more practical. Agentic AI is reshaping the workforce by automating repetitive, time-intensive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value creative and strategic projects.
This shift has also led to the emergence of new roles, such as prompt engineers and AI auditors, which help ensure that AI-driven innovation remains transparent, accountable, and aligned with ethical standards.
MLOps, for example, plays a crucial role in this transformation by ensuring AI models are deployed and managed efficiently while remaining adaptable to evolving regulations and market needs. As businesses in APAC integrate automation, CIO’s must prioritise ethical oversight within AI governance frameworks, not just to mitigate risks, but to foster trust and long-term sustainability. By prioritising responsible innovation, organisations can harness AI to drive progress while reinforcing inclusivity and ethical integrity at the core of their operations.
Agentic AI presents a powerful framework for organisations in APAC to embrace automation both responsibly and sustainably. By focusing on delivering immediate value without compromising long-term goals, businesses can harness AI to drive innovation while fostering trust and inclusivity at the heart of their operations.
Success in this space requires a strong commitment to balancing progress with ethical oversight.
Organisations that prioritise transparency, inclusivity and human-centred design will be best positioned to remain competitive while building a resilient foundation for the future.
