Avnet drives edge AI scaling: 56% of engineers now ship AI products

For SaaS leaders, the shift from experimental AI to edge deployment means new demands for latency-sensitive, reliable AI services at the edge. Avnet's ecosystem play—bringing together chipmakers, integrators, and supply chain prowess—provides the hardware backbone that SaaS applications can leverage, reducing time-to-market for AI-powered features.

As AI adoption accelerates across Southeast Asia, Avnet is positioning itself as a critical orchestrator in the region's transition from experimentation to full-scale deployment. With 81% of companies having moved beyond mere experimentation and 56% of Singapore firms actively progressing toward scaled AI adoption, the market’s narrative has shifted from “what’s possible” to “how do we actually make this work at the edge?” On June 30, 2026, Avnet announced its Edge & Beyond Tech Days, scheduled for July 2026 in Singapore, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to convene engineers, product leaders, and decision-makers to tackle the real-world challenges of edge AI implementation.

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Singapore’s digital economy now represents 18.6% of GDP, making it a prime testbed for edge AI deployment.

Singapore’s digital economy now represents 18.6% of GDP, making it a prime testbed for edge AI deployment. The event will showcase Avnet’s ecosystem of hardware suppliers, software integrators, and engineering services—a one-stop shop that removes supply chain friction for companies building edge AI products. This is particularly relevant as 56% of engineers are already shipping AI-enabled products, according to Avnet Insights 2026, indicating that the market is not just talking about AI but embedding it into devices.

The press release quotes Tan Aik Hoon, Regional President for South Asia and Korea, emphasizing that access to technology is no longer the bottleneck; the real challenge is architecture and integration—running complex AI models efficiently and reliably at the edge, where latency, power, and reliability constraints are critical. This insight reflects the maturing of the market: companies have moved past the hype and now require robust, scalable solutions that bridge the gap between silicon and software.

For Avnet, a global distributor with deep supply chain expertise, this event is more than a promotional exercise; it’s a strategic move to cement its role as the go-to partner for edge AI deployment. By bringing together chipmakers, cloud platform providers, and system integrators, Avnet reduces the complexity for OEMs and startups looking to bring AI-powered devices to market faster. The Tech Days will likely feature hands-on demonstrations, technical workshops, and matchmaking sessions, enabling attendees to see how AI models can be optimized for edge hardware.

The Southeast Asian market is poised for explosive growth in edge AI, driven by manufacturing, smart cities, and IoT applications. Avnet’s event underscores a broader trend: the rise of the “solution aggregator” model, where a single entity manages the entire value chain from component sourcing to system design. This is especially appealing to SaaS companies that want to extend their cloud capabilities to edge devices without becoming hardware experts. By partnering with Avnet, SaaS providers can tap into pre-integrated hardware stacks, reducing time-to-market for AI features at the edge.