AI adoption helps Thai firms become digitally mature

Thai businesses recorded a medium level of digital maturity for the first time as artificial intelligence (AI) adoption accelerates, according to the Thailand Digital Outlook 2026 survey.

Wetang Phuangsap, secretary-general of the National Board of Digital Economy and Society Office, said the study found the average digital maturity level of businesses rose to 2.12 out of 4 from 1.56 in 2025, reflecting significant improvements in data-driven business practices and cybersecurity capabilities.

However, weaknesses remain in digital product and service development as well as R&D, highlighting the need for greater innovation, the office noted.

The survey covered 834 digital entrepreneurs nationwide and showed Thailand's transition towards a digital economy has gained momentum, he said.

The assessment measured seven dimensions: strategy and governance, digital workforce capability, data-driven operations, digital products and services, digital business management, digital technology adoption, and cybersecurity infrastructure.

Among these, cybersecurity recorded the strongest improvement, climbing 1.25 points to 2.34. Digital technology adoption tallied 2.08, while digital workforce capability improved to 2.04.

The only dimension to decline was digital product and service development, which fell to 1.62 from 1.70 a year earlier.

By company size, businesses across all categories achieved medium levels of digital maturity, although performance varied. Large enterprises remained the most digitally mature, with a score of 2.58, easing from 2.74 last year.

Medium-sized firms improved to 2.41 from 1.97, while small businesses advanced to 2.01 from 1.45, the first time they breached 2 points.

For small enterprises, cybersecurity recorded the largest improvement, increasing by 1.40 points, followed by digital business management, which rose by 0.79 points, and data-driven operations, which gained 0.41 points.

AI was the most widely adopted advanced technology, accounting for 21.2% of advanced technology implementation, followed by blockchain (20.1%), big data analytics (19.9%), the Internet of Things (19%) and robotics (17.8%).

Regarding AI specifically, 61% of respondents have already adopted the technology in some form. However, most remain at an early stage of deployment. Some 47.4% are still experimenting with AI, while 29.7% are conducting pilot projects.

Only 15.7% have expanded AI deployment across broader business functions, while 7.27% have fully integrated AI into organisation-wide operations.

Marketing was the most common application for AI, with 39.2% of respondents deploying the technology for marketing activities. Other major use cases included business operations and internal processes (33.5%) and information technology (33.1%).