PodChats for FutureCOO: The new operating agenda for Asia’s COOs in 2026

In 2025, AI is reshaping the COO’s mandate across Asia, shifting focus from process efficiency to strategic orchestration. According to McKinsey (2024), 68% of APAC operations leaders report AI-driven automation freeing up 20–30% of planning capacity, enabling greater emphasis on resilience and innovation. 

Accenture highlights that AI-powered predictive operations are now table stakes in manufacturing and logistics hubs like Vietnam and Singapore. 

However, Gartner cautions that only 35% of Asian firms have mature data governance to support enterprise AI at scale. 

For COOs, the imperative is clear: integrate AI into core operational workflows while navigating talent gaps and ethical AI frameworks unique to Asia’s fragmented regulatory landscape.

Questions

1.       Define AI as viewed from the perspective of the COO.

2.       How is AI redefining the strategic scope of the COO beyond traditional operational efficiency in Asian organisations? 

3.       In organisations where CEOs increasingly own AI strategy in Asia Pacific, how can COOs ensure day-to-day operations, processes, and KPIs stay tightly aligned with that strategy, including their role in cross-functional AI governance and enterprise-wide AI scaling? 

4.       Which high-value operational domains (e.g. supply chain, customer operations, risk and compliance, manufacturing, warehousing, etc) in Asia offer the greatest near-term returns from generative and agentic AI, and how should COOs prioritise them, including which industries are leading in AI-driven operational transformation? 

5.       What new operating models are emerging as AI blurs the lines between planning, execution, and decision-making, and how should the COO mandate evolve when AI and automation become core to the business model in Asian markets? 

6.       How can COOs redesign operating models to integrate “digital labour” and AI agents alongside human teams, including how leading Asian firms are reskilling operations talent to work effectively alongside AI systems while addressing employee job-fear and skills gaps? 

7.       What new leadership, data, and AI literacy capabilities must operations leaders and middle management in Asia develop to manage AI-augmented teams effectively? 

8.       What governance frameworks are needed for responsible and ethical AI use in operations, ensuring alignment with Asia’s diverse regulatory and ethical standards on data privacy, security, model risk, transparency, fairness, and brand trust? 

9.       What metrics beyond cost savings should COOs adopt to measure AI’s impact on resilience, service quality, growth, and overall business value in Asia’s volatile markets? 

10.   How should COOs structure partnerships with consulting firms and technology providers to accelerate AI-enabled operations without creating long-term vendor lock-in? 

11.   Given constrained budgets and competing priorities for 2026, what capital allocation and business case criteria should COOs apply to scale AI in operations while avoiding hype-driven investments, addressing pressing data governance and infrastructure gaps?

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