A new, landmark report warns that the Indo-Pacific is experiencing mounting vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes integral to power, transport, emergency services and other essential systems.
Released today by Protostar Strategy in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce Australia, its counterparts in India, Indonesia and Singapore, and with support from Palo Alto Networks, the study, ‘Securing the Future: AI, Critical Infrastructure, and Regulatory Readiness in the Indo-Pacific’, underscores that AI has shifted from future promise to operational reality. Adoption is unlocking efficiency and resilience benefits but also leading to challenges such as data poisoning, adversarial manipulation and tightly coupled systems where technical failures may cascade across borders.
AI now sits inside the machinery of daily life. The question is no longer if it will be used to run these systems, but whether governments will secure it in time,” said Dr. Tobias Feakin, the report’s author and former Australian Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology. “The Indo-Pacific is on the frontlines of both digital adoption and geopolitical rivalry. Without a unified approach, countries risk creating gaps that sophisticated cyber actors can exploit. If they can converge, they will not only secure their own resilience but shape the standards that others will follow.”
Key findings from the report:
Based on high-level workshops with policymakers and industry leaders across Australia, India, Indonesia, and Singapore, the report highlights key regional trends:
- Australia is taking a resilience-first approach, but still lacks AI-specific assurance frameworks.
- India is seeing rapid AI adoption, but regulatory fragmentation and uneven state capacity are exposing its essential systems.
- Indonesia’s innovation and private-sector dynamism are outpacing governance, creating risks of dependency and systemic vulnerability.
- Singapore has the region’s most anticipatory and exportable governance model – one whose agility could set the standard for others in the region.
Ranjana Khanna, DG & CEO AMCHAM India:
“India’s AI ambitions are matched by the scale of its governance challenge. This report provides a clear-eyed assessment of where we stand and charts a pragmatic path forward for securing our critical infrastructure.”
Ms. Swapna Bapat, Vice President & Managing Director, India and SAARC, Palo Alto Networks.
Palo Alto Networks is proud to have commissioned this independent report,” said Ms. Swapna Bapat, Vice President & Managing Director, India and SAARC, Palo Alto Networks. “We believe it provides a vital framework for policymakers and industry leaders to collaborate on a path forward. We look forward to contributing to ongoing discussions about the secure and responsible deployment of AI for critical infrastructure and governments across the Indo-Pacific.”
From awareness to action
The report emphasises that fragmented approaches create opportunities for cyber threats and policy arbitrage. It proposes a cooperative path forward built on:
- Interoperable assurance frameworks (testing, evaluation, verification, and validation) that can be adopted voluntarily and, where appropriate, integrated into existing sectoral practices.
- Cross-sector, public-private co-governance to share threat intelligence, refine incident response, and iterate best practice.
- Leverage regional platforms including ASEAN and the Quad to develop trusted, scalable and exportable approaches that support open markets and resilience.
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