By 2027, the Top 2000 companies in China will allocate over 50% of their core IT spend on AI initiatives, leading to double-digit increase in rate of product and process innovations.

During the IDC FutureScape China event in Beijing, IDC local analysts also revealed to over 400 ICT business and technology leaders IDC’s predictions for emerging technologies and industries that will help them navigate and seize opportunities in the digital business era.

Underscoring this year’s theme, “Mastering AI Everywhere in Digital Business Era”, IDC expects worldwide spending on AI solutions to grow to more than $500-billion in 2027, reshaping the IT industry and the way businesses operate and make decisions at every level.

“GenAI has become a turning point in technology, business, and society, and in such an environment, it is even more necessary to be guided by insights. IDC’s proprietary data covers the breadth of the IT industry across 100 countries and over 120 technology markets, helping business leaders target, plan, and execute their most important strategic initiatives, and win in this increasingly automated world,” says Kitty Fok, MD of IDC China.

Fok also shared her insights on exploring global markets with IDC’s analyst-led proprietary datasets that can help Chinese ICT suppliers to assess competitors, find new routes to market, and gain market share.

Lianfeng Wu, vice-president and chief research analyst at IDC China, shared three new realities in the China market: digital application varies in different industries, population growth reached a turning point, and the coming era of technology revolution.

“Business leaders should have a deeper understanding of the digital policies and real needs of customers, and further strengthen their branding and delivery of measurable value driven by AI,” says Wu.

“The increase in the IT spend on AI initiatives will lead to tech providers allocating 40% of their R&D, staffing, and capex investments to AI/automation through 2026, making CIOs struggle aligning their vendor selection and IT operations priorities with new uses case,” adds Zhenshan Zhong, vice-president of IDC China.