As we approach 2027, the conversation around Artificial Intelligence in the workplace has shifted. The question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to make it work, and more critically, how to make it work with people. For HR leaders in Asia Pacific (APAC), this represents a profound challenge and a significant opportunity.
Recent research paints a complex picture of the region: APAC leads the world in AI deployment but also leads in failures, with 83% of enterprises in the region forced to roll back a live AI agent.
The root of this paradox, as explored in an exclusive interview with Kristie Healey, SVP of Human Resources for APAC & Global Talent Acquisition at Sinch, lies not in technology, but in the very human elements of culture, trust, and capability.
The investment imbalance: Technology vs. culture
One of the most telling statistics highlighted by Healey is Deloitte's finding that 93% of enterprise AI budgets are allocated to technology, with a mere 7% going towards culture and change management. This, she asserts, is a fundamental misstep. The core issue she identifies is not a lack of technological ambition but an enablement gap where significant friction arises.
This observation aligns with the findings of the AI Production Paradox report. While 75% of organisations globally rank trust, security, and compliance as their number one AI investment priority, the same report reveals that 74% of organisations that reached production have still had to shut down or roll back an agent.
Healy attributes this to an "enablement illusion" and an "access without capability" problem, noting that even as APAC leads in deployment, it also leads in rollbacks due to a lack of human-centric investment.
The pressure to invest is equally lopsided elsewhere. An IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Expereo found that 37% of APAC organisations admit they are investing aggressively in AI with little evaluation—nearly double the global average of 20%—explicitly driven by a fear of falling behind. Yet only 40% of APAC implementations have exceeded expectations, leaving a majority falling short of their goals.
Building a foundation of trust and psychological safety
For Healy, the antidote to the fear and anxiety surrounding AI is building trust from the ground up. "Trust is built on the ground," she states. She argues that while board mandates are important, the real work happens through frontline managers.
To create a culture where employees feel safe to challenge AI outputs and offer honest feedback, organisations must invest in leadership development. At Sinch, this is achieved through "leadership commitments" and "manager development programmes" that emphasise visionary, trust-based leadership.
The goal is to empower employees to question automated outputs and understand that human oversight is the most critical part of the process. "Failing to formally guide and support the use and adoption of AI will lead to the rise of shadow AI," Healy warns, highlighting a significant risk for any HR leader.
This sentiment is echoed in broader research. The ADP reveals that only 18% of employees in APAC feel their jobs are safe from elimination—the lowest share of any region.
Aon's inaugural Human Capital Trends Study for APAC reinforces the urgency: although 74% of organisations in the region have already deployed or piloted AI programmes, only 21% believe they can effectively recruit and retain sufficient AI talent, and a quarter expect some job displacement as adoption evolves.
The 'human-in-the-loop' approach
Sinch's cultural guardrail is simple but effective: a "human-in-the-loop" approach. "AI does the heavy lifting, but it's important that we always retain a human in the loop approach," says Healy. Technology is there to support and accelerate, but human judgment remains the "final filter and the ultimate decision maker."
This is not just an internal policy; it is a business imperative. Sinch's own research shows that organisations can ship advanced tech to customers and still break their trust if the human element is lost. The leading causes of AI rollbacks globally are PII or customer data exposure (31%) and hallucination or brand risk (22%)—both of which require robust human governance to mitigate.
In APAC, the consequence of failure is often immediate, with 45% of enterprises citing support team overload as the primary impact of an AI failure.
Cultivating human skills for an AI world
As AI automates routine analysis, the value of uniquely human skills like judgment, storytelling, and empathy is set to grow. Healey notes that Sinch is evolving its hiring, onboarding, and leadership development to ensure employees can effectively partner with and govern AI, driving the business forward.
Sinch's core leadership competencies now heavily focus on visionary leadership, trust-based leadership, empowerment in problem-solving, empathy, and change management. In hiring, the premium is placed on critical thinking, curiosity, and judgment.
"As routine tasks become more automated, you need human skills like storytelling... human relationship building and empathy really do become really important, and also our greatest competitive advantage as well," she explains.
The shift in skill requirements is particularly acute for younger workers. The World Economic Forum's 2026 report on AI and the future of entry-level work found that three in four young workers in Eastern Asia are employed in occupations with medium to high exposure to AI-driven task change—the highest rate globally.
Aon's APAC study adds that adaptability and change management are now cited as the most critical workforce skills required over the next three years, while only 9% of APAC employers report that their workforces have not recently participated in AI reskilling or upskilling initiatives.
Advice for HR leaders
For HR leaders navigating this complex terrain, Healy offers a clear directive for 2027: shift the focus from providing tools to enabling people. "It's not about giving people the tools, it's really about understanding the maturity level of your organization and getting them a really great understanding of how to use those tools in the best way."
She strongly advocates for leading by example. At Sinch, this meant rolling out a multi-week, hands-on global Gen AI programme for the HR group. "Our people feel more empowered, and as HR, we need to show up commercially to the business," she states, urging leaders to invest in their own learning to understand the environment their companies are navigating.
The path to successful AI adoption in APAC is not paved with algorithms alone, but with trust, capability, and a relentless focus on the human element. The organisations that will thrive are those, like Sinch, investing in their people to ensure that human judgment remains central to the AI revolution.
