Thailand has posted the world's second-fastest growth rate in artificial intelligence (AI) diffusion at 36.4%, though its average diffusion rate still remains low compared with the global average, says Microsoft.
The diffusion rate refers to the percentage of a population, especially working-age adults, that actively uses generative AI products within a specific period.
"Thailand has the fastest pace in terms of AI adoption," said Dhanawat Suthumpun, managing director of Microsoft Thailand and emerging markets, at an annual global AI exhibition on Tuesday. The 2026 Microsoft AI Tour is being held in Thailand for the first time.
According to Microsoft's "Global AI Diffusion" report for the first quarter, which covers 147 countries, Thailand has an average diffusion rate of 12.4%, below the global average of 17.8%.
Singapore clocks in at 63.4%, while the United Arab Emirates tops the list at 70.1%, attributed to government initiatives. Regarding white collar workers, Thailand's adoption rate is 32%, double the global average of 16%.
Furthermore, Thailand demonstrates strong momentum from the top down, showing 51% leadership clarity regarding leadership alignment with AI, compared with the global average of 26%, according to the Microsoft Work Trend Index 2026.
While the trends in the corporate sector are positive, 87.6% of people in Thailand including factory workers, farmers, doctors, nurses, teachers and students have not yet adopted AI.
"Microsoft aims to bridge this gap, helping this 88% adopt AI to enhance their productivity and creativity," Mr Dhanawat said.
"Thailand's frontier transformation is being built on the collective commitment of people, businesses and communities who see a place for AI at the heart of how they work."
In March, Microsoft announced a US$1 billion investment in Thailand from 2026-2028 that spans AI and cloud infrastructure, digital sovereignty and workforce training, reflecting the company's belief in the country's potential and a determination to accelerate its transformation at the frontier.
"Across Southeast Asia, we're seeing organisations move beyond AI experimentation to delivering measurable business impact. Thailand is a strong example of that, using AI to improve operations, enable better decisions and create meaningful outcomes," said Ralph Haupter, executive vice-president and chief of revenue for small and medium enterprises at Microsoft.
"Our focus is helping every organisation turn AI potential into real business value."
Four pillars
To transition away from fragmented, randomised AI adoption, the company introduced a four-pillar framework designed to guide corporate strategy.
The framework begins with enhancing the employee experience by equipping staff with advanced productivity and competence tools to boost job satisfaction. Mr Haupter said strategic AI integration has already enabled 35% of customers to achieve higher self-service while lifting customer satisfaction by 10%.
The remaining pillars focus on overhauling legacy business processes at scale and accelerating innovation or "bending the curve" by allowing teams to code faster, research deeper, and develop new hardware more efficiently.
He identified three critical traits shared by successful "frontier" organisations.
First, AI must exist in the natural flow of work, integrated into the daily routines of all employees from sales to controllers rather than siloed within IT departments.
Second, companies must cultivate a culture where "everyone is a builder", allowing any employee to create new AI experiences and agents -- a mindset that allowed Microsoft to deploy over 1,000 agents in just six months.
Finally, businesses must maintain complete visibility over AI usage, anchor systems in unique internal data, and enforce strict security, governance and access controls.
