Navigating the AI-Driven Future
As AI advances from experimentation to enterprise execution, IDC Directions Singapore 2026 convenes senior leaders to examine how to monetize AI, scale adoption across the enterprise, and unlock new growth across Asia/Pacific. Join IDC’s leading analysts as they explore AI Value Creation, Physical AI, and AI Discovery and Generative Engine Optimization – and the opportunities they are creating in a new AI-era.
Why Attend IDC Directions?
Hear from industry leaders and translate AI strategy into measurable outcomes with insights that deliver business impact.
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Exclusive Keynote
Hear the latest research, trends, and essential action plans in the exclusive keynote sessions.
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Network with Peers
Connect live with IDC industry experts and like-minded business leaders.
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Continue the Conversation
Build on your learnings with early access to post-event content, resources, and more.
Agenda
Thursday, May 21, 2026 | 12:30 PM – 4:30 PM (SGT)
12:30pm
Registration & Networking
Keynote
AI Supercycle:
Creating the Next Wave of Value in APJ
We are entering the most significant technology expansion cycle since the internet, with AI driving over a trillion dollars in global infrastructure and platform investment, reshaping how value is created. This supercycle is leading us from buildout to industrialization at scale. Enterprises are scaling AI across applications, services, and devices, while value shifts toward agentic systems that execute workflows and redefine operations.
This is not just a technology cycle but also an operations cycle. Organizations are redesigning workflows, embedding AI into core business functions, and transitioning from implementation to continuous AI-driven operations. Across applications, services, and devices, AI is becoming foundational: from enterprise software evolving into agentic platforms, to AI-enabled devices that determine how intelligence is delivered, whether on-device or through the cloud.
This creates a unique opportunity in Asia/Pacific Japan to lead across both supply and demand sides of the equation: scaling AI adoption and shaping the next generation of AI-driven demands.
Sandra Ng | IDC Asia/Pacific
Senior Vice President, Research
Fireside Chat: AI Discovery and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
The buying cycle has already started without you.
Across APJ, something fundamental has shifted. Before your next prospect schedules a meeting, before they issue an RFP, before they even visit your website, they are asking an AI assistant about you. They are querying Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot to understand which vendors have credible AI governance credentials, which have proven outcomes in their industry, and which are trusted by organizations like theirs.
IDC data shows that traditional SEO and channel marketing account for 68% of buyer discovery today. By 2029, that falls to 20%. Generative Engine Optimization(GEO) peaks at 50% of all discovery. The inversion is happening faster than most vendor content strategies have planned for.
In APJ regulated markets, financial services, healthcare, and government, the stakes are higher still. Governance credentials are now being evaluated at the discovery stage, before the first vendor call. Vendors without a structured, AI-discoverable governance narrative are being filtered out before they know they were in the running.
This session asks the question most vendors have not yet answered: if a buyer asks an AI assistant about your governance credentials in Singapore financial services, what does it say? And more importantly, what can you do about it in the next 90 days?
Host:
Sudev Bangah | IDC Asia/Pacific | Vice President, South East Asia (SEA)
Speakers:
Coffee Break
Fireside Chat: Physical AI
Physical AI is moving AI beyond software-only workflows into real-world environments where systems can sense, reason, simulate, and act. IDC predicts that by 2028, physical AI use cases will experience explosive growth with cloud providers powering 60% of these deployments at the edge with industry-specific AI agents and high-performance edge infrastructure.
This panel explores IDC’s perspective on embodied intelligence, including the technology stack, operating models, and adoption trends, as well as the advances in agentic AI, simulation, and infrastructure driving the next phase of intelligent automation.
Speakers:
Bryan Ma | IDC Asia/Pacific | Vice President, Global and Asia/Pacific Devices Research
Stephanie Krishnan | IDC Asia/Pacific | Associate Vice President, Manufacturing and Energy Insights
Dr. William Lee | IDC Asia/Pacific | Senior Research Director, Compute and Service Provider Infrastructure, Core Infrastructure
Enterprise AI Value Creation Framework: Unlocking Sustainable Impact
As AI surges forward, enterprises grapple with a stark divide: dazzling tech promises versus elusive business value. IDC’s Enterprise AI Value Creation Framework bridges this gap by reimagining AI not as a toolkit add-on, but as a full operating model overhaul. True impact arises when organizations ditch siloed pilots and redesign end-to-end processes, syncing AI with core strategic goals.
This session introduces IDC’s Enterprise AI Value Creation Framework, showing how to align AI strategy, operations, and governance to drive scalable impact and measurable ROI.
Deepika Giri | IDC Asia/Pacific
Associate Vice President, Research
Table Discussion: Opportunities for Asia Pacific
4:30pm
Closing Remarks
*Agenda may subject to change
Meet the Analysts
Sandra Ng
IDC Asia/Pacific | Senior Vice President, Research
Bryan Ma
IDC Asia/Pacific | Vice President, Global and Asia/Pacific Devices Research
Stephanie Krishnan
IDC Asia/Pacific | Associate Vice President, Manufacturing and Energy Insights
Deepika Giri
IDC Asia/Pacific | Associate Vice President, Research
Dr. William Lee
IDC Asia/Pacific | Senior Research Director, Compute and Service Provider Infrastructure, Core Infrastructure
Sandra Ng
IDC Asia/Pacific | Senior Vice President, Research
Sandra Ng is Senior Vice President at IDC and the Global Domain Leader for Devices, Consumers, Imaging, and Japan. Based in Singapore, she advises technology buyers and vendors worldwide on technology investments, financial priorities, and go-to-market strategies.
She leads a global team of domain analysts delivering insight into current and emerging technology trends and market dynamics, supporting both buy-side and sell-side clients through IDC’s global research and advisory capabilities. Sandra began her analyst career at Gartner/Dataquest as a PC and printer analyst and later joined IDC, initially focusing on the imaging market before expanding her expertise across the broader technology landscape.
Between 2022 and 2025, Sandra held a research leadership role covering APJ, gaining deep insight into the Japanese market. With over 25 years of advisory experience, she is a trusted advisor to C-suite leaders across major industries and a frequent speaker at IDC and industry events. She holds a BBA from the National University of Singapore and is fluent in English and Mandarin.
Bryan Ma
IDC Asia/Pacific | Vice President, Global and Asia/Pacific Devices Research
Bryan Ma is Vice President of Client Devices research, covering mobile phones, tablets, PCs, AR/VR headsets, wearables, thin clients, and monitors across Asia as well as worldwide. Based in Singapore, Bryan provides insights and advisory services for both vendors and users, and coordinates his team of analysts in building IDC’s core market data, analysis, and forecasts in these sectors.
Bryan has been quoted in a number of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, BusinessWeek, The South China Morning Post, and The New York Times. He has been a featured speaker at numerous industry conferences and appears frequently as a guest commentator on television networks such as CNBC, Bloomberg, and the BBC.
Bryan has been with IDC since 1999, when he joined IDC’s Consumer Devices team in California. He has been the recipient of several recognitions at IDC, including multiple Research Quality awards as well as IDC’s Global Fellowship. Prior to joining IDC, Bryan was a Business Analyst at Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles, where he was part of the firm’s Business Consulting practice specializing in the financial services industry.
Bryan holds a degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. His university internships included experiences at IBM, Rockwell Semiconductor (now Conexant), Acuson (now part of Siemens), and PaineWebber (now part of UBS). Bryan is fluent in English and conversant in Mandarin Chinese.
Stephanie Krishnan
IDC Asia/Pacific | Associate Vice President, Manufacturing and Energy Insights
Stephanie Krishnan is an associate VP responsible for producing, developing, and growing the IDC Manufacturing and Energy Insights programs in Asia/Pacific. Within Manufacturing Insights, Stephanie conducts supply chain and Industry 4.0 research that supports clients with global sourcing (profitable proximity and sustainable outcomes), transportation, logistics, warehousing, and more. In addition, her contributions to subscription products and custom research span ecosystems, value chains, and the supply chains of industrial industries. In this role, she delivers a research agenda that supports technology buyers in their strategies and buying decisions as well as vendors in terms of market trends and intelligence.
Deepika Giri
IDC Asia/Pacific | Associate Vice President, Research
Deepika manages and leads the research programs in big data and analytics (BDA), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and Web3.
Deepika is a seasoned data and AI professional and brings extensive knowledge about the impact of data engineering, big data cloud platforms, and data science across critical sectors. She has extensive experience in software delivery as well as sales leadership and management. She also has over 20 years of experience in IT services, including leadership roles, at Capgemini, Infosys, and Accenture, and has strong industry expertise in the telecommunications and retail industries. More so, Deepika has an entrepreneurial spirit and has previously founded her own online retail fashion business.
Deepika holds a master’s degree in communication systems engineering from the University of Kent in United Kingdom and a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications from the University of Madras, India.
Dr. William Lee
IDC Asia/Pacific | Senior Research Director, Compute and Service Provider Infrastructure, Core Infrastructure
Dr. William Lee is Senior Research Director within IDC’s enterprise infrastructure global research domain, and part of the core infrastructure subdomain. William focuses on IDC’s research on computing systems, platforms and technologies. William also helps sharpen IDC’s intelligence on service provider infrastructure supply chain. He delivers market insights and strategic analysis on accelerated computing architectures, AI infrastructure platforms, and the evolving supply chain dynamics shaping hyperscalers, service providers, and enterprise datacenters. On the service provider front, he examines service provider infrastructure investments, AI buildouts, sovereign AI initiatives, and global ODM/OEM supply chain dynamics, supporting executive decision-making across compute vendors, service providers, and investors navigating AI-driven infrastructure transformation.
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