Jakarta, CMNexus — Peralihan dari asisten AI yang sekadar membantu tugas perorangan menuju AI agent yang menjalankan rangkaian pekerjaan secara lebih mandiri kini berlangsung cepat di kalangan pengembang perangkat lunak Asia Tenggara dan India. Namun laju adopsi itu belum diikuti kesiapan teknis maupun kesiapan biaya di sisi organisasi.
Temuan tersebut berasal dari Agoda AI Developer Report 2026 yang dirilis 24 September 2026 di Singapura. Studi yang diprakarsai platform perjalanan digital Agoda bersama Macramé Consulting ini menghimpun masukan dari komunitas pengembang di tujuh pasar: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Filipina, Singapura, Vietnam, dan India. Laporan lengkapnya dapat diunduh gratis melalui apacdeveloperreport.com.
Adopsi agent melaju, produktivitas ikut naik
Lebih dari separuh responden (53 persen) menyatakan AI agent sudah dipakai pada sebagian alur kerja produksi atau bahkan secara luas di organisasi mereka. Angka itu menempatkan agentic AI bukan lagi sebagai eksperimen, melainkan bagian dari proses kerja harian.
Manfaat produktivitasnya juga terlihat lebih nyata dibanding tahun sebelumnya. Sebanyak 55 persen responden mengaku menghemat sedikitnya tujuh jam kerja setiap minggu, naik tajam dari 18 persen pada 2025. Kualitas keluaran pun dinilai membaik: 62 persen mengatakan kode buatan AI sering atau hampir selalu dapat digunakan tanpa perubahan besar.
Penggunaannya melebar dari sekadar menulis kode ke peninjauan kode, perancangan arsitektur, debugging, proses belajar, hingga dokumentasi. Meski begitu, penilaian manusia belum ditinggalkan: 86 persen responden selalu atau hampir selalu meninjau dan memvalidasi hasil AI.
Kesiapan codebase dan biaya jadi penghambat
Yang menarik, kecepatan adopsi agent tidak sebanding dengan kesiapan fondasi teknisnya. Hanya 38 persen responden menilai codebase mereka sebagian besar atau sepenuhnya siap untuk agent yang bekerja sepenuhnya otonom.
Biaya kini menjadi penghambat utama perluasan penggunaan AI. Sebanyak 28 persen responden menyebut biaya sebagai kendala terbesar, di atas kompleksitas integrasi (24 persen) dan kurangnya tata kelola (19 persen). Laporan itu mencatat biaya AI tidak berhenti pada pemanggilan model, tetapi mencakup pekerjaan merancang, mengintegrasikan, meninjau, dan memvalidasi agent.
Konsekuensinya, empat dari lima responden (sekitar 80 persen) mengaku bekerja di bawah semacam pembatasan penggunaan AI, entah berupa kuota token, batas pemakaian, maupun pembatasan anggaran. Ini penting bagi pemilik usaha yang ingin menghitung biaya otomasi: ongkos terbesarnya bukan langganan model, melainkan jam kerja untuk membuat agent benar-benar dapat dipercaya di lingkungan produksi.
Otonomi naik, akuntabilitas tetap di manusia
Responden terbuka memberi otonomi lebih besar kepada agent untuk pekerjaan berisiko rendah dan dapat dibatalkan, misalnya dokumentasi. Namun semakin dekat ke tahap produksi, tuntutan pengawasan meningkat: 79 persen mewajibkan persetujuan manusia sebelum hasil kerja AI diterapkan ke produksi.
Peran pengembang pun bergeser. Arsitektur dan desain sistem, literasi AI, serta orkestrasi agent disebut sebagai keterampilan masa depan. Pergeseran ini tidak merata: 49 persen pengembang junior merasa kurang aman terhadap prospek karier mereka, dibandingkan 17 persen responden pada level CTO dan VP Engineering.
"Kecerdasan artifisial membentuk ulang cara pengembang di Asia Tenggara dan India membangun, belajar, dan berkolaborasi. Yang awalnya mempercepat tugas-tugas individual kini menjadi perubahan yang lebih luas dalam cara perangkat lunak dibangun," ujar Chief Technology Officer Agoda, Idan Zalzberg, dalam keterangan resmi.
"Namun kemampuan yang lebih besar membawa tanggung jawab baru. Biaya sesungguhnya bukan sekadar pemanggilan model, melainkan pekerjaan yang diperlukan agar AI dapat dipercaya di produksi. Organisasi yang akan unggul di fase berikutnya adalah yang mengelola biaya dengan cermat, membangun pengaman yang tepat, dan tetap menempatkan penilaian manusia pada hal yang paling penting," tambahnya.
Sisi Indonesia: keyakinan tinggi, penghematan waktu masih rendah
Untuk konteks Indonesia, pemberitaan Tek.id pada 25 September 2026 atas laporan yang sama menyebut 82,7 persen pengembang Indonesia melaporkan peningkatan kepercayaan diri atau penggunaan AI. Akan tetapi hanya 46,9 persen di antaranya mengaku menghemat sedikitnya tujuh jam kerja per minggu — angka terendah di antara tujuh pasar yang disurvei.
Pemberitaan itu juga mencatat 70 persen pengembang di Indonesia memperkirakan AI agent akan menangani sebagian besar pekerjaan pengembangan perangkat lunak dalam tiga tahun mendatang, sementara 27,7 persen menyebut biaya sebagai hambatan utama penggunaan AI agent.
Kesenjangan antara keyakinan dan hasil nyata itu sejalan dengan catatan sejumlah pengamat: memakai AI belum otomatis berarti lebih cepat, terutama bila alur kerja, data, dan standar peninjauan belum dirapikan. Pembahasan serupa pernah kami angkat di artikel Agen AI Masuk WhatsApp, UMKM Kini Punya "Penjaga Toko" 24 Jam.
Apa artinya bagi pemilik usaha kecil
Bagi UMKM dan usaha kecil yang mulai memakai alat AI atau menyewa pengembang, empat hal ini bisa jadi pegangan praktis:
- Mulai dari satu proses, bukan seluruh operasi. Pilih pekerjaan berulang dengan aturan jelas — menjawab pertanyaan pelanggan yang sama, merekap pesanan, atau menyusun deskripsi produk.
- Rapikan data lebih dulu. Agent hanya sebaik data yang dibacanya; stok, harga, dan daftar pelanggan yang tersebar di banyak buku catatan membuat hasilnya tidak konsisten.
- Batasi kewenangan dan anggaran. Tetapkan pekerjaan apa yang boleh dijalankan otomatis, apa yang wajib disetujui pemilik, serta kuota pemakaian agar biaya tidak membengkak.
- Sisakan titik pemeriksaan manusia. Terutama untuk transaksi, pembayaran, dan hal yang menyangkut data pelanggan.
Temuan riset ini berasal dari satu studi yang diprakarsai perusahaan teknologi, sehingga angkanya menggambarkan persepsi responden pada tujuh pasar, bukan sensus seluruh pelaku usaha. Yang bisa disimpulkan dengan aman: adopsi agent sudah bergerak, dan pekerjaan rumah terbesar justru ada di kesiapan fondasi serta kendali biaya.
Ikuti perkembangan teknologi usaha dan UMKM lainnya di kanal berita CMNexus.
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Sumber
- PR Newswire — Agoda Releases AI Developer Report 2026: Agentic AI Adoption Outpaces Enterprise Readiness Across Southeast Asia and India (24 Sep 2026) — https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/agoda-releases-ai-developer-report-2026-agentic-ai-adoption-outpaces-enterprise-readiness-across-southeast-asia-and-india-302888472.html
- Kyodo News (English) — Agoda Releases AI Developer Report 2026 (24 Sep 2026) — https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/86213
- Yonhap News Agency — [PRNewswire] Agoda AI Developer Report 2026: Agentic AI Expands (24 Sep 2026) — https://en.yna.co.kr/view/RPR20260924002000353
- Tek.id — AI Makin Dipercaya Developer Indonesia, tapi Belum Banyak Menghemat Waktu (25 Sep 2026) — https://www.tek.id/insight/ai-makin-dipercaya-developer-indonesia-b2qbt9uhu
- ItWorks.id — Agoda Rilis AI Developer Report 2026, Ini Hasilnya (25 Sep 2026) — https://www.itworks.id/83190/agoda-rilis-ai-developer-report-2026-ini-hasilnya.html
- Laporan lengkap: https://www.apacdeveloperreport.com/
Jakarta, CMNexus — The shift from AI assistants merely aiding individual tasks to AI agents autonomously executing end-to-end workflows is advancing rapidly among software developers across Southeast Asia and India. However, this pace of adoption has yet to be matched by technical maturity or cost preparedness within organizations.
These findings stem from the Agoda AI Developer Report 2026, released on September 24, 2026, in Singapore. Initiated by digital travel platform Agoda in partnership with Macramé Consulting, the study surveyed developer communities across seven markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and India. The full report can be downloaded for free at apacdeveloperreport.com.
Agent adoption accelerates, productivity follows suit
More than half of respondents (53 percent) reported that AI agents are already integrated into parts of their production workflows or deployed broadly across their organizations. This milestone indicates that agentic AI has moved beyond experimentation into daily operational routines.
Productivity gains are also substantially more tangible than in the previous year. A notable 55 percent of respondents reported saving at least seven working hours each week, a sharp rise from 18 percent in 2025. Output quality has similarly improved: 62 percent stated that AI-generated code is frequently or almost always usable without major modifications.
Usage has expanded well beyond simple code generation into code review, architectural design, debugging, continuous learning, and documentation. Even so, human judgment remains vital: 86 percent of respondents consistently or almost always review and validate AI outputs.
Codebase readiness and costs become bottlenecks
Notably, the speed of agent adoption has outpaced the readiness of underlying technical foundations. Only 38 percent of respondents considered their codebases largely or fully ready for fully autonomous agents.
Cost has emerged as the primary barrier to expanding AI utilization. Twenty-eight percent (28 percent) of respondents cited cost as their biggest hurdle, ranking above integration complexity (24 percent) and a lack of governance (19 percent). The report highlights that AI expenses extend far beyond model API calls, encompassing the engineering effort needed to design, integrate, review, and validate agents.
Consequently, four out of five respondents (around 80 percent) reported working under some form of AI usage constraint, such as token quotas, usage caps, or budgetary ceilings. This is a critical takeaway for business owners evaluating automation costs: the largest expense is rarely the model subscription, but rather the developer hours required to make agents truly dependable in production environments.
Autonomy rises, accountability stays with humans
Respondents expressed willingness to grant agents greater autonomy for low-risk, reversible tasks such as documentation. However, closer to production, governance requirements escalate: 79 percent mandate human approval before AI outputs are deployed to production.
The developer's role is shifting in tandem. System architecture and design, AI literacy, and agent orchestration were highlighted as essential future skills. Yet this transition is uneven: 49 percent of junior developers expressed anxiety over their career prospects, compared to only 17 percent of respondents at the CTO and VP of Engineering levels.
"Artificial intelligence is reshaping how developers across Southeast Asia and India build, learn, and collaborate. What began as task acceleration for individuals is turning into a broader transformation of how software is engineered," said Agoda Chief Technology Officer Idan Zalzberg in an official statement.
"Yet greater capability brings new responsibilities. The real cost is not simply model invocation; it is the work required to ensure AI can be trusted in production. The organizations that thrive in this next phase will be those that manage costs rigorously, establish proper guardrails, and keep human discernment focused on what matters most," he added.
The Indonesian perspective: High confidence, low time savings
In Indonesia, local coverage by Tek.id on September 25, 2026, highlighted that 82.7 percent of Indonesian developers reported increased confidence in or usage of AI. However, only 46.9 percent reported saving at least seven hours per week—the lowest proportion among the seven surveyed markets.
The report also noted that 70 percent of developers in Indonesia anticipate AI agents will manage the majority of software development tasks within the next three years, while 27.7 percent cited cost as the primary barrier to adopting AI agents.
The divergence between confidence and tangible time savings mirrors observations by industry analysts: adopting AI does not automatically translate into faster delivery, particularly when workflows, data architectures, and code review standards remain unoptimized. We explored a similar dynamic in our article on AI Agents Enter WhatsApp, Offering MSMEs a 24/7 "Shopkeeper".
What this means for small business owners
For MSMEs and small enterprises beginning to implement AI tools or hire technical talent, four practical principles apply:
- Start with a single process, not the entire operation. Target repetitive tasks governed by clear rules—such as handling recurring customer inquiries, logging incoming orders, or drafting product descriptions.
- Clean up data first. An agent is only as reliable as the data it accesses; inventory figures, pricing schedules, and customer lists scattered across disconnected spreadsheets yield inconsistent results.
- Set boundaries and budgets. Clearly define which tasks can proceed automatically, which require owner approval, and implement token or usage limits to prevent runaway operational costs.
- Maintain human checkpoints. Keep oversight in place, especially for financial transactions, payment flows, and sensitive customer data.
These research findings reflect a single study initiated by a technology enterprise, representing respondent perceptions across seven regional markets rather than a comprehensive census of all businesses. The actionable conclusion remains clear: agent adoption is well underway, and the real challenge lies in foundational technical readiness and disciplined cost management.
Follow further business and MSME technology updates on the CMNexus news channel.
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Sources
- PR Newswire — Agoda Releases AI Developer Report 2026: Agentic AI Adoption Outpaces Enterprise Readiness Across Southeast Asia and India (24 Sep 2026) — https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/agoda-releases-ai-developer-report-2026-agentic-ai-adoption-outpaces-enterprise-readiness-across-southeast-asia-and-india-302888472.html
- Kyodo News (English) — Agoda Releases AI Developer Report 2026 (24 Sep 2026) — https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/86213
- Yonhap News Agency — [PRNewswire] Agoda AI Developer Report 2026: Agentic AI Expands (24 Sep 2026) — https://en.yna.co.kr/view/RPR20260924002000353
- Tek.id — AI Makin Dipercaya Developer Indonesia, tapi Belum Banyak Menghemat Waktu (25 Sep 2026) — https://www.tek.id/insight/ai-makin-dipercaya-developer-indonesia-b2qbt9uhu
- ItWorks.id — Agoda Rilis AI Developer Report 2026, Ini Hasilnya (25 Sep 2026) — https://www.itworks.id/83190/agoda-rilis-ai-developer-report-2026-ini-hasilnya.html
- Full report: https://www.apacdeveloperreport.com/
