Organizations in Asia Pacific are reshaping application development and maintenance with AI, accelerating change while retaining the control necessary for business continuity, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group, a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm.
Service providers integrate rapidly advancing tools to support governed, region-wide application transformation, ISG Provider Lens report says.
The 2026 ISG Provider Lens AI-Driven ADM Services report for Asia Pacific finds that enterprises are modernizing complex IT environments that include legacy applications, packaged platforms, cloud-native systems and increasingly AI-enabled business workflows. To support these transformations, they seek providers that can improve reuse, speed and reliability in software delivery rather than simply contributing engineering capacity.
"Organizations in Asia Pacific need application change that is faster, more reliable and fully accountable," said Michael Gale, partner and regional leader, ISG Asia Pacific. "They are embedding AI throughout software lifecycles while maintaining clear oversight of security, traceability and quality."
India remains a major engineering and delivery hub in the region, but enterprises increasingly seek ADM services within local contexts rather than relying solely offshore outsourcing. In Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, demand is growing for local engagement, regulatory familiarity, business proximity and industry-specific delivery.
Organizations are embedding AI throughout ADM practices, including requirements analysis, code generation, documentation, testing, remediation and release readiness. They are making application operations more proactive through observability, AI for IT operations, knowledge automation and self-healing concepts. Enterprises increasingly use continuous testing and AI-enabled test generation to bolster release confidence as delivery accelerates.
Many organizations in the region face technical debt, legacy dependencies, ERP integrations and hybrid infrastructure as they navigate the evolution of applications. To prepare, they assess portfolios and sequence modernization waves before moving selected workloads toward cloud-native architectures. This approach protects business-critical systems while applications and operating models change. These considerations are most critical for industries such as financial services, manufacturing, communications, infrastructure, mobility and asset-intensive sectors, ISG says.
"Application modernization, maintenance and assurance must work as an integrated lifecycle," said Maharshi Pandya, ISG senior lead analyst and lead author of the report. "Enterprises are seeking providers that use operational insight to shape application improvement and help manage risk across complex estates."
The report also explores other ADM trends in Asia Pacific, including the convergence of application development, maintenance and quality assurance and an increasing focus on measurable outcomes from AI-enabled services.
About ISG
ISG is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth.
