New Delhi, May 2 (IANS): Most senior information technology (IT) professionals in the Asia Pacific region believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications will drive productivity and business performance of their organisations, according to new research from global data storage company Seagate Technology.

Bu the professionals also believe further investments in their IT infrastructure are required to enable them to support their use of AI, the findings of the research titled "Data Pulse: Maximising the Potential of Artificial Intelligence" showed.

The research released on Wednesday also showed that AI implementation is among the highest in India.

The study identified that 89 per cent of organisations plan to implement AI technologies in the next 12 months, in areas within the organisation including IT, supply chain logistics, product innovation and research and development (R&D), as well as finance and customer support.

"Analysts, leading technology companies and thought leaders alike are discussing that companies that embrace AI will gain a significant competitive edge," said BS Teh, Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Sales Operations of Seagate Technology.

"In order to take full advantage of the considerable benefits brought by AI, Asia Pacific organisations should proactively look to develop robust infrastructure and ecosystems to support the needs of data analytics and real-time data processing," Teh added.

Despite robust adoption of AI technologies in the region, the report found that a significant number of organisations have not invested in the data and technical solutions required to support the technology fully.

The study involved of 600 respondents comprising senior IT professionals in Australia, China, India, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Each market had 100 respondents across multiple industries such as information and communication technology (ICT), retail, manufacturing, construction, financial services and logistics.

Seagate engaged SPARC International to conduct the market research from December 2017 to January 2018.