JPM APAC Consumer AI Survey

J P M O R G A N Asia Pacific Equity Research 18 August 2026

APAC Consumer AI Survey: Beyond adoption, focus shifts to value capture

The J.P. Morgan APAC Artificial Intelligence Survey included 76 consumer APAC Consumer company respondents (33 Staples and 43 Discretionary), out of 317 APAC Latika Chopra, CFA AC companies overall. While we would take the read-through directionally given the ( participation mix, the survey points to a useful message for Consumer investors: AI adoption is already high across the board, investment intensity is set to rise over J.P. Morgan India Private Limited, J.P. Morgan Tower, Santacruz(E), Mumbai - 400098, SEBI the next 12 months, and productivity remains the clearest near-term benefit. Registration: INH , ( . However, the more interesting finding, in our view, is not adoption – it is the DS Kim AC divergence in expected monetization. Despite similar AI adoption and planned ( spend, Discretionary companies appear meaningfully more optimistic than Staples J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited/ J.P. on AI’s ability to drive revenue, customer engagement and profitability. In our Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited view, this suggests AI may matter earlier for business models with richer consumer Siddharth Parameswaran data, more frequent customer touchpoints and stronger execution capabilities, ( rather than simply for those spending more. That said, we do not see AI as a broad near-term margin unlock for Consumer; earnings translation is likely to be gradual J.P. Morgan Securities Australia Limited

and uneven as use cases scale and become more embedded. Hannah L Lee ( • AI adoption is already broad; spend alone is no longer the edge. AI-related J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited/ J.P. expenditure is already widespread across APAC Consumer respondents, with Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited 85% of Staples and 86% of Discretionary companies reporting AI spend over Dairo Murata the last 12 months, broadly in line with the APAC average of 89%. Investment ( intensity is expected to rise meaningfully over the next year, from 4.7% to 6.2% of expenses and capex in Staples and from 4.6% to 6.3% in Discretionary, both JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd. ahead of the APAC average of 5.7%. This suggests AI is moving from Satoshi Fujiwara experimentation to a more embedded operating agenda. Productivity remains ( the primary motivation for AI investment, alongside customer access, product JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd. development/innovation and enhanced customer experience, while reducing operational costs remains a secondary but still relevant priority. Akiko Kuwahara ( • The real divide is monetization confidence, not adoption. Despite similar adoption levels and planned investment intensity, profitability expectations JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd. differ sharply. Staples respondents remain notably cautious, with only 17% Ami Terai optimistic about AI’s impact on their own profitability, and fewer companies ( optimistic on the industry profit pool. By contrast, Discretionary respondents JPMorgan Securities Japan Co., Ltd. are meaningfully more constructive, with 50% optimistic on industry profit Jessie Xu pools and 54% expecting a positive impact on their own profitability. We think ( this split is intuitive. Discretionary companies typically have more direct customer-facing use cases – personalization, CRM, marketing efficiency, J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited/ J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited pricing, customer service, loyalty and conversion – while Staples use cases appear more skewed towards productivity, operations and product Qian Yao ( development, which may take longer to show up in earnings. • Productivity comes first; revenue and engagement are where the upside SAC Registration Number: S case sits. The clearest near-term AI benefit is productivity enhancement rather J.P. Morgan Securities (China) Company Limited

than immediate cost reduction. Discretionary companies anticipate a 6.0% Simon Han uplift in labor productivity, alongside meaningful gains in customer ( satisfaction (+5.5%) and revenue (+4.5%), reflecting greater exposure to J.P.…