Regional Press Release: APAC
Industrial leaders say workforce readiness, knowledge retention and trust in AI are now bigger barriers to transformation than the technology itself.
SINGAPORE – New research commissioned by Octave Intelligence plc (Nasdaq: OCTV), a global leader in software for the world’s mission-critical facilities and infrastructure, revealed that Industrial organizations across Asia are rapidly preparing their workforces for an AI-enabled future, but skills shortages, knowledge loss and workforce readiness are emerging as some of the biggest challenges facing the sector.
The research, which surveyed industrial technology decision-makers globally, found that over half of organizations in Asia expect frontline workers to oversee AI-driven systems across teams or much of the workforce by 2028. However, organizations are increasingly concerned about whether employees have the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to work alongside AI effectively.
"The discussion around industrial AI has moved beyond technology deployment," said Fabio Yada, Senior Vice President, APAC at Octave. "The challenge now is preparing people to work alongside increasingly intelligent systems while preserving the operational expertise that organizations depend on."
The findings highlight a significant shift in workforce priorities across Asia.
When asked which skills will be most important for future industrial workers, 38% identified systems thinking and operations management, while 32% cited cybersecurity and data governance. Human-machine interaction (25%) and communication across technical and non-technical teams (34%) also ranked among the most critical future capabilities.
The trend was particularly evident in South Korea, where 59% of respondents identified systems thinking as the most important skill for the workforce of the future, reflecting the increasing complexity of industrial operations and digital ecosystems.
The research also reveals growing concerns around workforce readiness.
In Japan, 38% of respondents identified a failure to sufficiently upskill workers as the greatest AI-related risk facing their organization over the next five years, making it a larger concern than many of the technology challenges commonly associated with AI deployment.
Across Asia, organizations are increasingly focused on ensuring employees can work effectively alongside intelligent systems rather than simply implementing them.
At the same time, industrial leaders are racing to address the risk of losing critical operational knowledge as experienced workers retire.
Nearly half (48%) of organizations across Asia are already using AI-powered knowledge capture and transfer tools to preserve expertise and make it accessible to future generations of workers.
South Korea leads the region, with 54% of organizations already using AI-enabled knowledge capture solutions, while Japan reported some of the highest concerns about undocumented operational knowledge remaining trapped in the experiences of veteran workers.
According to Yada, the findings reflect a fundamental shift in how industrial organizations view workforce development. "For decades, organizations have focused on capturing data from assets and operations. Today, they're increasingly focused on capturing expertise from people," he said.
"The organizations that succeed will be those that can combine operational knowledge, connected data and AI to accelerate learning, improve decision-making and build workforce resilience."
The research also challenges common assumptions about employee concerns surrounding AI.
Rather than fearing job displacement, respondents were more likely to express concerns about trust, safety and reliability. Across Asia, 25% identified the risk of AI mistakes impacting safety incidents as the greatest workforce concern, while issues such as transparency and trust in AI decision-making also ranked highly.
Australia highlighted a different workforce challenge, with 28% of respondents concerned about the potential loss of expert status and trade knowledge as AI becomes more prevalent in industrial environments.
The findings align closely with Octave's Lifecycle Intelligence strategy, which focuses on connecting people, assets, processes and knowledge across the entire asset lifecycle. By providing workers with trusted, contextual intelligence and preserving critical operational expertise, organizations can build AI-ready operations while strengthening workforce capability and resilience.
As industrial AI adoption accelerates across Asia, the research suggests the next competitive advantage will not come from technology alone. It will come from organizations that successfully develop AI-ready workforces, retain critical expertise and enable workers to make faster, safer and more informed decisions.
About the Research
The research surveyed over 750 industrial technology decision-makers from organizations with revenue exceeding US$1 billion globally as part of a broader global study examining AI adoption, workforce development, operational knowledge management and industrial resilience across industrial sectors.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Andy Sommer, Group Manager, PR and Communications for Octave
+61 481 749 967, andrew.sommer@octave.com
Octave provides mission-critical software that empowers organizations to make informed decisions across every stage of the asset lifecycle – Design, Build, Operate and Protect – where performance, safety and reliability are non-negotiable and failure is not an option.
Turning complex operational data into actionable intelligence, Octave connects expertise, real-world conditions and enterprise-scale insight to improve performance, resilience and incident response where it matters most.
Octave has approximately 7,200 employees in 45 countries. Learn more at octave.com and follow us on LinkedIn.