As Asia’s digital economy accelerates, the question is no longer whether organizations should adopt AI, but how they can unlock its full business value. Innovate Asia brings together industry leaders, visionaries, and disruptors to explore the future of connectivity, technology, and innovation. This year’s event features a fireside chat and panel discussion led by Vinayak HV, senior partner and Asia co-leader of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey and Vikram Sinha, president and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH). Their conversation addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing enterprises today: turning AI ambition into measurable impact.
The AI paradox
Despite widespread adoption of AI technologies, only a small percentage of companies are successfully realizing tangible business value from their AI investments. According to McKinsey’s latest The state of AI in 2025 report, many organizations struggle to scale AI initiatives and integrate them into core business processes.
Organizations face several challenges in AI transformation. Many lack a clear business-led strategy that connects AI initiatives to real outcomes. There is often insufficient talent and skills to support AI programs, making it difficult to build and sustain momentum. Technology ecosystems are frequently fragmented, and data capabilities remain underdeveloped, limiting the ability to deploy AI at scale.
Rewired: An approach to outcompete and drive value from AI transformations
McKinsey’s research shows that companies with strong digital and AI capabilities significantly outperform peers, delivering two to six times higher total shareholder returns (TSR) across sectors. While most firms struggle to realize even a third of expected transformation value, leaders achieve compounding benefits because they embed technology deeply into their business models—not just as tools, but as enablers of systemic change. Leaders succeed by rewiring their organizations, building a holistic set of hard-to-copy capabilities that reinforce each other. McKinsey identifies six critical areas:
- Strategic road map: Align leadership on clear value targets and commit sustained investment.
- Organization and talent: Develop a strong digital talent bench with technologists who understand business and data.
- Operating model: Empower hundreds of cross-functional teams to innovate autonomously on products and platforms.
- Technology: Create modular, cloud-based tech stacks for agility and scalability.
- Data: Build reusable data products to accelerate innovation across domains.
- Adoption and scaling: Govern change management rigorously to ensure enterprise-wide uptake.
These capabilities enable leaders to identify value opportunities faster, scale solutions effectively, and continuously innovate, creating a compounding performance edge that allows companies to out-compete. Companies that commit to this Rewired transformation can improve digital and AI maturity significantly. Those who delay, however, risk falling irreversibly behind as AI accelerates the next wave of competitive differentiation.
IOH’s AI transformation: A bold three-part strategy
Just over a year into its AI transformation journey, IOH has embraced a comprehensive three-part plan designed to reshape its business and the broader digital ecosystem in Indonesia.
First, IOH is embedding AI deeply into its core telco operations to drive growth, optimize capital expenditure, and boost productivity. Advanced analytics and predictive models are transforming how IOH manages networks, engages customers, and improves operational efficiency.
Second, IOH is building new AI-powered business lines under its AI Techco vision. This includes offerings such as sovereign AI solutions and cloud services, positioning IOH as a technology partner for enterprises and governments seeking secure, localized AI capabilities.
Third, IOH’s AI Nation Shaper pillar reflects its commitment to Indonesia’s digital future. Through initiatives like Sahabat, IOH is democratizing AI knowledge and tools, empowering communities, businesses, and institutions to harness AI for inclusive growth.
IOH’s transformation is guided by McKinsey’s Rewired framework, which emphasizes a macro approach: 70 percent people, 20 percent process, and 10 percent technology. Rather than focusing on isolated use cases, IOH is tackling entire domains, starting with those that deliver the greatest value. As Sinha shared at Innovate Asia, “Don’t go for random use cases. You have to look at it at a domain level [a set of correlated business activities], which creates multiple use cases. Then you will start seeing the scale and P&L impact happening."
Don’t go for random use cases. You have to look at it at a domain level [a set of correlated business activities], which creates multiple use cases. Then you will start seeing the scale and P&L impact happening.
This people-first strategy is evident in IOH’s investment in talent. Over 25 percent of IOH’s workforce has actively engaged in AI training and certification, ensuring employees can integrate AI into their daily work. This cultural shift is critical to sustaining long-term impact.
IOH’s AI platform is already operating at scale, generating 10 billion predictions monthly and powering more than 1,250 targeted campaigns this year alone. These efforts have delivered tangible business outcomes, including over $50 million in annual recurring revenue uplift, two percentage points growth performance year-to-date versus the market, and 30 percent of overall growth attributed to AI initiatives.
Financially, the transformation has been remarkably efficient, with EBITDA positive results within six months and full investment recovery in just 11 months.
At Innovate Asia, these insights come to life in the discussions led by Vinayak HV and Vikram Sinha. For leaders navigating this transformation, the conversation offers practical guidance on building AI-native organizations and shaping the future of connectivity and innovation in the region.
Read about real-world examples of digital and AI transformations and how leading companies succeed in Rewired in Action.