{
  "id": 10686354,
  "title": "Hong Kong firms lag mainland China on AI adoption amid legacy-system burden: Accenture",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/hong-kong-firms-lag-mainland-china-on-ai-adoption-amid-legacy-system",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-29T12:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3369205/hong-kong-firms-lag-mainland-china-ai-adoption-amid-legacy-system-burden-accenture"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Accenture senior executive Robert Hah told the South China Morning Post that Hong Kong firms are slower than their mainland Chinese counterparts to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), due to legacy systems and a risk-averse corporate culture. Only 10% of surveyed Hong Kong businesses have integrated generative AI across multiple functions, versus 21% of mainland enterprises, according to Hah. Mainland China's AI adoption has been driven by falling model costs and a growing domestic developer ecosystem, with tech giants like Ant Group, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba and Baidu showcasing enterprise-focused AI agents at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Hah highlighted a \"mindset shift\" as the key difference between the two markets, noting that mainland companies are more willing to reinvent while Hong Kong's established IT infrastructure makes businesses hesitant to overhaul existing models. The gap is similar to Hong Kong's historical slower adoption of e-commerce compared to the mainland. Despite the Hong Kong government's AI-focused economic plans, the primary barriers to deployment are organizational, including misalignment of business strategies with AI plans and a shortage of digital talent. While 84% of Hong Kong organizations plan to create entry-level AI jobs, more than half are struggling to find talent capable of working with the technology. Early adopters in financial services, banking and insurance are likely to accelerate automation efforts, while other sectors lag behind.",
  "summary": "Hong Kong businesses are lagging behind their mainland Chinese peers in adopting artificial intelligence, as entrenched legacy systems and a risk-averse corporate mindset slow the city’s digital transition, according to a senior executive at consultancy Accenture. Only 10 per cent of Hong Kong firms surveyed by Accenture had integrated generative AI across multiple business functions, compared…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post - Hong Kong",
        "title": "AI, robotic arms power Hong Kong public hospital laundry and meal centre",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/ai-robotic-arms-power-hong-kong-public-hospital-laundry-and-meal",
        "published": "2026-09-29T11:11:13.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}