Central Asia is adopting artificial intelligence twice as fast as the global average

Companies in Central Asia and the Caucasus are putting artificial intelligence into production at more than twice the global rate, according to figures cited from KPMG’s 2026 technology report.

The report says 53% of organizations in the region have already deployed AI in production and are achieving measurable results. The comparable global figure stands at 24%. KPMG surveyed more than 2,500 technology leaders in 27 countries, including 32 executives from Central Asian companies and 40 from firms in the Caucasus.

The region also shows a stronger appetite for experimentation. Forty-four percent of companies said they actively test new technologies instead of waiting for them to become widely established. Worldwide, that figure is 21%.

KPMG linked the faster adoption in part to the region’s relatively high level of digitalization. Many organizations already have the infrastructure needed to work with databases and connect external systems, making it easier to introduce AI-based tools. Researchers cautioned, however, that some respondents may have counted individual solutions, including text or voice bots, as production-level AI implementation.

The rapid rollout comes with a clear governance gap. Only 34% of companies in Central Asia and the Caucasus have a defined AI strategy, compared with 76% globally. Just 25% have a management system overseeing AI use across departments, while the global share reaches 69%.