Navigating the AI revolution: what’s next for Asean businesses in 2024

THE early 1950s witnessed a generation of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers with the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) assimilated in their minds. Among these was Alan Turing, a British polymath, who experimented with the mathematical feasibility of AI.

He was a pioneer who suggested that while humans use available information and reason to solve problems and make decisions, why can’t machines do the same thing?

Fast forward to 2023, and this concept has accelerated into reality, marking a watershed moment for the tech industry. The introduction of generative AI has brought AI use to the fore, and AI is now dominating the business agenda. Businesses will have to embrace AI, or risk being left behind. 

While 2023 has been a year of AI innovation, 2024 will be a year in which AI transforms the enterprise. By 2025, AI won’t be an auxiliary technology, but the core around which successful businesses revolve. 

With AI poised to usher in a new era of unparalleled transformation, how businesses operationalise the technology will be critical next year.

In the year ahead, what else can businesses in Asean expect, and how can they get ready to leverage the opportunities in this new era of work?

Here are some trends that will shape the course of the evolving business landscape in Asean in 2024. 

1) AI delivering a golden opportunity for Asean businesses to leapfrog

AI has the potential to contribute nearly S$1.36 trillion to the Asean economy by 2030. For Asean businesses, this is a significant opportunity to leapfrog and supercharge growth on the global stage. There is no better time, especially with Asean increasingly being seen as a favourable business destination, amid geopolitical tensions globally.

Singapore currently leads the Asia-Pacific region in overall AI readiness. It has set goals to become a world leader in AI in the next few years, with its National AI Strategy 2.0.

Promisingly, other Asean countries are also making steady progress toward AI adoption, with Indonesia and Thailand recording one of the biggest improvements in overall AI readiness across the region.

Much of the growth is attributed to government AI readiness, with the introduction of new national AI strategies and policies, while business AI readiness has stagnated. The missing piece? A lack of trusted and secure tools that enable businesses to harness AI’s potential.

At this inflection point with AI adoption, Asean businesses will need trusted digital advisers, with access to trusted technology and a thriving ecosystem, to set themselves up for success.

2) Companies need to lay the right data foundation to leverage AI

AI’s full power relies on accurate and comprehensive data. As businesses accelerate their AI transformation, many will need to develop a robust data strategy to maximise the potential of AI.

Building a strong data foundation will require business leaders to prioritise data harmonisation, eliminate silos to extract value from data sources, make data accessible to employees at various levels for personalised insights, and also to balance this with privacy and compliance.

Having in place strong data governance frameworks, well-defined policies for data collection, storage, and use, and constant monitoring and auditing of training data will be critical.

3) Trusted data sharing will supercharge Asean economies

Securing cross-border data flows will also be an essential part of this data foundation, as it allows businesses to tap on data in a trusted manner.

With negotiations for a new Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) underway, we’ll likely see progress in seamless and secure data flows across Asean member states in the coming years. This will be an opportune time for Asean to realise its ambitions for digital integration and write its own rules for data governance.

Building a framework that makes trusted data sharing the default, without jeopardising data sovereignty, can help enhance competitiveness in the region and unlock Asean’s next phase of growth.

4) A new era for customer engagement: everything, everywhere, all at once

The coming year will also see customer expectations grow, and competition intensifying. In this new era of customer engagement, businesses will need to connect with their customers through new channels and pathways, and provide personalised experiences at every touchpoint.

Innovations across AI, data, and customer relationship management (CRM) will help businesses achieve a better understanding of their customers, and enable personalisation at scale. For example, Philippine Airlines plans to deploy AI chatbots, leveraging their ability to use natural language processing to understand and respond to customer inquiries.

As businesses seek to deepen their customer engagement and build customer loyalty with increased personalisation, industry-specific solutions will grow in demand.

Take banks as an example. Whether it is digital solutions that cater to tech-savvy customers, or new financial products to meet different customer needs, innovation will be critical. Banks will need to lean on tailored industry solutions that can give them a better idea of who their customers are, what financial products they have, and what more they might desire.

Looking ahead

In this AI revolution, success will favour companies that can adapt quickly and pivot to placing AI, data, CRM and trust at the core of their business strategy. 

Staying ahead will require more than just adopting the latest technology. Businesses should understand the intricacies of a holistic AI strategy that involves building a strong, trusted data foundation, deploying trusted tools and AI training, as well as incorporating guardrails for responsible AI adoption.

The writer is senior vice-president and Asean general manager at Salesforce