Hong Kong risks falling behind as AI foundations remain weak: report

Just 14% of Hong Kong firms rate their networks as “optimal” for AI.

More than 80% of companies in Hong Kong risk falling behind in AI transformation due to weak foundational infrastructure, according to a study from Cisco.

The research, which surveyed over 8,000 senior IT and business leaders across 30 markets, classifies just 13% of organisations globally as “Pacesetters” or those already seeing measurable value from AI.

These leaders have invested early in four critical areas: power provisioning, network architecture, continuous AI optimisation, and security integration. Hong Kong firms consistently lag across all four.

In terms of power infrastructure, only 24% of firms in Hong Kong have built systems optimised for AI, compared to 96% among Pacesetters.

Nearly half of local respondents expect AI-related workloads to grow by more than 50% over the next three to five years. Yet, only 29% plan to expand data centre capacity within the next 12 months—a mismatch, given that power upgrades typically take 18–36 months to implement.

Network readiness is similarly low. Just 14% of Hong Kong firms rate their networks as “optimal” for AI, and fewer than a quarter have fully integrated AI with their cloud or network layers, well below the 79% and 61% integration levels seen among global leaders.

On AI optimisation, the gap is wider still. Only 11% of Hong Kong respondents report having automated monitoring and retraining in place.

Just 38% can push model updates in under an hour, limiting their ability to iterate and improve performance. Leading firms complete over 50 optimisation cycles annually, compared to 12–15 in less advanced markets.

Security remains a major blind spot. Whilst 71% of Hong Kong firms have begun deploying AI agents, only 20% feel confident they can secure them properly. This contrasts with Pacesetters, 75% of whom have adopted end-to-end encryption and continuous monitoring.