AI dominated the headlines in 2024, with more and more organisations pumping more and more money and time into building AI capabilities. As per a recent IDC and SAS report, when it comes to the APAC region, investment in generative AI is noted to have grown significantly, from 19% in 2023 to a projected 34% in 2024, indicating a more diversified investment approach that includes predictive and interpretive AI. The findings point to an expected AI expenditure in the Asia Pacific of USD $45 billion in 2024, with a projected increase to USD $110 billion by 2028, signifying a compound annual growth rate of 24% from 2023 to 2028.
No wonder, if last year was a breakout year for the sector, this momentum is continuing in 2024 as well. Generative artificial intelligence startups are getting 40% of all the venture capital funding that flows into cloud companies, as per venture investors Accel.
While concerns remain around security risks, skilling, legislation, and return on investments, Generative AI adoption and value will continue to grow across industries in 2025 as well. We spoke to many experts in 2024 to understand how organisations can best leverage the power of AI. Here’s what they had to say.
While humanity is worried about AI’s hallucinations, let us address humans’ hallucinations for AI
Ethan Seow, co-founder of Centre for AI Leadership (C4AIL), spoke about realistic AI applications, stating, “The catchphrase for C4AIL is “while humanity is worried about AI and its hallucinations, we address humans’ hallucinations for AI.” Most people are just imagining a bunch of things for what AI can actually do, and again you can’t let it loose. At the end of the day, go back to the fundamentals instead of going complex in prompt engineering, and understand where it comes from.”
Businesses must invest in quality data, ethical AI practices
Nithya Krishnamoorthy, Vice President, Data Science, Strategy and Corporate Development, Singlife, shared how genAI is a potential game-changer for businesses aiming to streamline their operations. “One of the key strengths of genAI is its ability to automate and optimise tasks that traditionally required extensive human input. GenAI tools can scale more efficiently than human-based processes, enabling us to manage growth more effectively. However, to truly leverage genAI, businesses must invest in quality data, ethical AI practices, and ongoing training for their teams. While emerging technology is incredibly powerful, its success hinges on thoughtful implementation and management,” Nithya affirmed.
Changes will become even more pronounced as AI continues to evolve and integrate more deeply into our daily lives
Shirli Zelcer, Chief Data and Technology Officer (CDTO) of dentsu spoke about how AI as a technology has the potential to bring significant changes, driving transformative changes across numerous fields, leading to greater efficiency, uncovering new insights, innovation, and personalised experiences.
“This year, these changes will become even more pronounced as AI continues to evolve and integrate more deeply into our daily lives. With this increasing evolution of AI, we will witness significant amounts of data from different places coming together with the potential to offer practical solutions that will significantly improve our lives,” predicted Shirli.
Fragmented, unstructured data remains biggest barrier to adoption of AI
Data-related issues remain a significant barrier to adoption, shared Gavin Barfield, Chief Technology Officer, Salesforce ASEAN. “For many businesses, the root cause is fragmented data across multiple systems. The average organisation uses 1,061 applications, and over 71% of them are disconnected. Structured data such as transaction records, inventory and customer profiles is often fragmented across these systems, making it difficult to consolidate into a unified view. When data is scattered like this, AI cannot deliver accurate, contextualised, and actionable outputs, leading to incomplete insights and less reliable outcomes. Meanwhile, unstructured data—such as documents, PDFs, and emails—remains largely untapped. This data often contains valuable insights but exists in formats that aren’t easily integrated with structured data,” revealed Gavin.
AI will also create new ethical and social issues around privacy, bias, accountability, and trust
Anndy Lian, an Intergovernmental Blockchain Expert and Best Selling Book Author “NFT: From Zero to Hero”, revealed, “One challenge which AI will pose for the workforce in APAC is the potential displacement and disruption of existing jobs and industries, especially those that rely on low-skilled and manual labor. AI will also create new ethical and social issues, such as privacy, bias, accountability, and trust. Therefore, it is important to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a responsible and inclusive manner, that respects human rights and values, and that benefits all stakeholders.”
In the realm of AI, data is the currency
Dr. Adrienne Heinrich, AI CoE Head, Vice President, UnionBank of the Philippines stressed on investing in data wisely. Adrienne shared, “In the realm of AI, data is the currency. Invest wisely in data quality to avoid the pitfalls of inflation and devaluation. Recognising that not all data is created equal, we must adopt a waste/harm approach to identify and address data that causes the most waste or harm due to poor quality.”
“The desire for customisation and control often necessitates greater investment in talent, infrastructure, and maintenance. A hybrid approach that combines in-house expertise with external platforms can offer a balanced solution, ensuring that GenAI initiatives directly support organisational goals and deliver maximum value,” she shared.
Source: https://ciosea.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/strategy-and-management/flashback-2024-best-of-ai-from-experts/116388813
Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.
Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.
An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.
