CrayonIQ has released its APAC Contact Centre CX Platforms With AI Buyer’s Guide, offering the first independent regional analysis of AI-powered contact centre platforms across Asia Pacific and ranking 17 major vendors.

Vendor rankings

The guide spotlights five vendors identified as ‘Enterprise Transformers’ – Verint, Genesys, NICE, AWS and Cisco. These companies are recognised for their advanced AI-driven customer experience (CX) capabilities and influence on enterprise contact centres in the region. The guide also introduces other categories including ‘Future Builders’, which highlights platforms progressing towards AI maturity, and ‘Mid-Market Challengers’ such as Talkdesk, Sprinklr and Zoom, companies that are beginning to establish a larger customer base within Asia Pacific. ‘Hybrid Stalwarts’ are also referenced for their approach to balancing traditional strengths with incremental AI features.

Hyperscalers’ impact

The report notes a significant shift in the regional market, with hyperscalers such as Microsoft and Google poised for substantial growth and influence over the next year. Their predicted expansion is expected to bring greater scale, innovation and a more rapid adoption of AI technology to customer experience platforms in APAC enterprise settings.

“In many ways, 2025 will be the year hyperscalers change the rules of the game,” said Audrey William, CrayonIQ founder and principal analyst. “For too long, enterprises in APAC have been forced to rely on research steeped in North American benchmarks. This guide sets a new standard – a local, independent view of which vendors are delivering real CX and AI impact here, and which are still finding their way.”

Evaluation approach

Unlike many global studies, this guide evaluates vendors based not only on platform capability and regional presence but also on their adherence to Asia Pacific’s data residency and sovereignty requirements. Critically, the guide’s authors placed a strong emphasis on verifiable client outcomes, drawing heavily on customer evidence and regional case studies during the assessment process.

“The chief challenge is not selecting a platform for today but choosing a partner with the vision and capacity to embed AI across the enterprise tomorrow,” said Michael Clark, CXTT Consulting founder and report co-author. “This guide helps leaders cut through the noise and identify vendors who can genuinely transform CX in our region.”

Industry context and boardroom attention

The research explores the challenges facing CX decision-makers, including the proliferation of marketing claims from suite vendors and point solution providers. Many of these vendors are now presenting AI as the answer to a range of business problems, contributing to a market that can confuse executives and breed scepticism.

“In 2025, customer experience is a board-level issue,” said David Stone, Method and Momentum founder and report co-author. “A poor contact centre strategy is no longer just a service gap – it directly impacts acquisition, retention, and revenue. Making smart choices about AI platforms is now business critical.”

Assessment criteria

The Buyer’s Guide provides detailed reviews of 17 key vendors with substantial activity within Asia Pacific, including 8×8, Avaya, AWS, Cisco, Dialpad, Genesys, Google, Microsoft, Mitel, NICE, RingCentral, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, Verint, Vonage and Zoom. Each vendor is assessed by their ability to deliver AI-enabled customer experience results at both enterprise and mid-market levels. The report considers their capacity to convert AI capabilities into tangible business value, methodologies for generating actionable insights, support for third-party AI integrations, and the employment of compliance as well as ethical frameworks.

According to the guide’s authors, the rapid development of AI technologies and the entry of global hyperscalers are expected to influence how enterprises across the Asia Pacific region evaluate and invest in customer experience platforms over the coming year.