AI agent market in Asia-Pacific set to expand 14-fold

By the Editorial Team · Friday, October 23, 2026

The AI agent software market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow over 14-fold by 2030, reaching $11.2 billion in revenue and increasing its share of the AI software market from 1.7% to 12.3%. This rapid expansion is driven by China's aggressive push through initiatives like “AI Plus” and major investments from tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, highlighting increased enterprise adoption and competition in cloud-based AI services.

The artificial intelligence (AI) agent software market in the Asia-Pacific region, encompassing China, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, is projected to grow more than 14 times by 2030, according to research firm Omdia. The firm forecasted that regional revenue from AI agent software will reach approximately $11.2 billion by the end of the decade, up from an estimated $782 million in 2026. During this period, the share of AI agent software within the broader AI software market in the region is expected to surge from 1.7 percent to 12.3 percent.

AI agents operate by autonomously planning and executing multi-step tasks such as data analysis, report generation, and software operations, effectively reducing the need for repeated user instructions. This growing capability is driving adoption across office and industrial environments, especially within China.

China’s State Council has outlined ambitious goals through its “AI Plus” initiative, targeting the penetration of next-generation intelligent devices and AI agents to exceed 70 percent by 2027 and reach 90 percent by 2030. Chinese technology companies are moving quickly to capitalize on this rising demand. For example, Alibaba Group Holding recently launched AgentCore, a platform designed to assist businesses in creating, managing, and monitoring AI agents, as well as integrating them with existing systems. Tencent Holdings is similarly expanding its WorkBuddy agent workspace, which offers functionalities such as directly editing Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, and connecting with services like Notion and GitHub to gather information and perform tasks.

Investment in AI and related technologies is increasing sharply in China. Moody’s Investors Service reported in August that combined capital expenditure among major Chinese tech companies is expected to more than double to about $140 billion in 2026, up from $65 billion in 2025.

Cloud services remain the primary avenue for monetizing AI technologies in the region. Moody’s noted that lower-cost open-source AI models have accelerated enterprise adoption in China. However, the report highlighted challenges for Chinese cloud providers, including intense price competition and relatively smaller scale compared to their U.S. counterparts, which limits their capacity to reinvest in AI infrastructure using cloud-generated revenues.

Omdia’s chief analyst Sul Jian Jye emphasized the importance of generating value over simply increasing data processing volume, stating that “using more tokens does not mean producing more value,” referring to the units processed by AI models that often form the basis for customer charges. This reflects a broader industry focus on maximizing return on investment amid rapid market expansion.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.