Asia’s AI moment is uniquely tied to its cultural foundations of hierarchy and "power distance." According to Ryoji Sekido, co-CEO for Asia-Pacific at Accenture, the region’s traditional deference to authority—often seen as a barrier to agility in the West—can actually serve as a powerful accelerator for AI adoption if leveraged correctly from the top down.
From Productivity to Reinvention
The current landscape of AI adoption is splitting into two distinct paths. Many organizations use AI simply for productivity, making existing tasks faster or cheaper. However, a second group is embedding AI into their core operations to redesign workflows and business models. While both gain efficiency, only those focused on reinvention are positioned for growth. Sekido warns that the gap between these two approaches may soon become too wide to bridge.
The Necessity of Visible Curiosity
In hierarchical cultures, employees look to the top for signals. If a leader outsources their AI strategy to IT or communications teams, the organization perceives a lack of genuine interest. Sekido advocates for "reverse mentoring," where senior executives learn directly from junior, technically fluent colleagues. This public act of learning does not undermine authority; rather, it signals that AI mastery is a strategic requirement for the entire enterprise.
Courage and the Search for Bad News
Leading AI transformation in Asia requires the courage to commit to a direction before the full picture is clear, challenging the traditional expectation that leaders must project absolute certainty. Furthermore, the hardest challenge in a hierarchy is obtaining honest feedback. Leaders must deliberately create safe spaces to find "bad news"—failed pilots or ground-level resistance—which is often filtered out before reaching the executive level. By embracing curiosity and courage, Asian leaders can use their authority to speed up change.
