At the IBM THINK on Tour Singapore on July 21 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Center, IBM said Asia-Pacific is positioned to lead the next phase of enterprise artificial intelligence as organizations shift from isolated AI projects to operating AI across their businesses, underpinned by digital sovereignty, hybrid cloud and quantum computing. The company outlined an AI operating model built around intelligence, action, operations and trust, while unveiling new AI, data and quantum technologies and regional collaborations. “Asia-Pacific is uniquely positioned to be a leader in the race to AI-first enterprises,” said Hans Dekkers, general manager, IBM Asia-Pacific. “The region is already navigating the realities of fragmented regulations, data sovereignty requirements, and complex hybrid environments at scale. By treating this complexity as a strategic advantage, and building AI that is sovereign by design, organizations here are setting the global benchmark for how trusted AI is governed and scaled.” Dekkers compared the rise of agentic AI to previous technological shifts involving personal computers, the internet and smartphones, saying enterprises will need to redesign how they operate. “The next chapter is already unfolding, which is the era of agents,” he said.