Insights

More than six in ten companies worldwide are already developing and deploying AI agents in their operations, with Korea at the forefront of adoption. This report, a Korean-language summary of KPMG Global's “Global AI Pulse Q1 2026,” surveyed 2,110 executives across 20 countries on AI adoption, leadership, and investment. Sixty-five percent of respondents are developing and using AI agents in their business areas, 52% are using multiple AI agents to improve efficiency, and more than 30% are already applying agents to integrated management of work and performance objectives across departments.

Asia Pacific leads investment. Companies plan to invest an average of USD 186 million in AI over the next year globally, while Asia Pacific leads at USD 245 million, well ahead of the Americas at USD 178 million and EMEA at USD 157 million. Asia Pacific also reports an average AI-enabled business value creation rate of 69%, with India at 79% and Korea at 75%, ranking first and second. By sector, technology, media, and telecommunications leads with average investment of USD 245 million and 75% value creation, followed by real estate and construction (67%), energy and natural resources (63%), and healthcare (62%).

Korea is moving fastest toward an integrated AI–human workforce. Sixty-six percent of Asia-Pacific companies say their transition to an integrated AI–human workforce is progressing smoothly, above the global average of 60%. In particular, 41% of Korean companies are expanding the application of AI agents across multiple functions, the fastest pace among Asia-Pacific countries, while 54% are upskilling and reskilling employees to meet AI-related workforce needs. The report concludes that leaders must set an appropriate direction if AI is to scale throughout an organization. It proposes five priorities: use AI as an interconnected system, internalize performance measurement, strengthen enterprise-wide AI capabilities, embed governance in AI systems, and design deployments that reflect organizational complexity.

Implications for M&A. First, planned AI investment averaging around USD 200 million per company will be difficult to absorb through internal development alone, making acquisitions of technology companies and strategic collaboration to internalize AI capabilities increasingly likely. Second, the value-creation gap between companies with AI-agent and governance infrastructure and those without it is likely to drive valuation differentiation, making AI maturity a critical variable in due diligence and deal pricing. Third, the advanced AI ecosystems of Asia Pacific, and Korea in particular, may attract greater inflows of cross-border investment from global capital.