Hong Kong firms lag mainland China on AI adoption amid legacy-system burden: Accenture

Hong Kong businesses are falling behind mainland Chinese firms in adopting artificial intelligence, according to a senior Accenture executive. Only 10% of surveyed Hong Kong firms had integrated generative AI across multiple business functions, compared to 21% of their mainland counterparts, said Robert Hah, Hong Kong office lead at Accenture Greater China.

Mainland China's rapid AI adoption has been driven by falling model costs and a thriving domestic developer ecosystem, featuring companies like DeepSeek and Alibaba Group. Tech giants including Ant Group, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba, and Baidu showcased enterprise-focused AI agents at this year's World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, signaling a shift from building foundation models to embedding AI into corporate workflows.

The key difference between the two markets lies in a "mindset shift," as mainland firms are more willing to reinvent their operations, while Hong Kong businesses remain hesitant due to entrenched IT infrastructure. This gap mirrors Hong Kong's historically slower embrace of e-commerce compared to the mainland. The disparity highlights a growing challenge for Hong Kong as the government seeks to establish the city as a tech hub.

Hong Kong's five-year plan positions AI at the center of economic modernization efforts, with initiatives like an "AI city brain" system to manage extreme weather events and other major incidents. However, organizational barriers, such as misaligned business strategies and talent shortages, pose significant obstacles to AI deployment.

Despite 84% of Hong Kong organizations intending to create entry-level AI jobs, more than half face difficulties finding talent capable of working with the technology. Companies must rethink jobs and workflows rather than merely adding AI tools to existing processes to bridge this gap. While labour shortages and economic pressures may accelerate automation efforts, early adopters in financial services, banking, and insurance are likely to lead the way, while retail, consumer goods, and hospitality sectors lag behind.