Perth, May 14: Adobe has released its 2026 AI and Digital Trends Report, revealing growing consumer openness towards agentic AI experiences across Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region.
The report, based on responses from 7,000 consumers and business leaders, found that 29 per cent of ANZ consumers would interact with a brand’s AI agent if offered, while 42 per cent of Asia Pacific consumers are open to shopping through a virtual AI concierge.
Adobe’s research also found AI is increasingly being used for personalised product recommendations, customer support and online discovery, with 17 per cent of consumers now using AI-powered platforms as their primary research tool.
At the same time, the report highlighted growing concerns around transparency and trust, with 39 per cent of consumers saying they would stop engaging with a brand if they discovered they were speaking to AI when they expected a human.
The ability to switch to a human representative remained the most important reassurance for consumers interacting with AI systems.
The study also pointed to execution challenges among businesses adopting agentic AI, with 77 per cent of organisations citing data integration and quality as barriers to scaling AI initiatives.
Only 22 per cent of Asia Pacific brands reported strong alignment between executives and practitioners implementing AI strategies.
“Consumer behaviours are shifting across Asia Pacific, with AI already rising in brand discovery and now set to play a greater role in purchasing journeys. Many consumers are comfortable with agentic AI, but say adoption relies on defined, transparent contexts with options for human support,” said Duncan Egan, Vice President of Enterprise Marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Adobe.
“For many organisations, AI is already delivering meaningful improvements to experience delivery and customer growth. Early results from generative AI are translating into accelerated agentic adoption. However, while enthusiasm for agentic AI is high, most brands still need to build the data, governance and orchestration capabilities that will allow these efforts to scale.”
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