Microsoft today reaffirmed its intent to accelerate Thailand’s progress towards an AI-powered digital future with the announcement of a landmark strategic commitment under the “Building Thailand’s AI-Powered Future” initiative. The announcement is part of an ongoing dialogue between the company and the Royal Thai Government, marked by a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr. Ekniti Nitithanprapas – leading the Thai delegation on behalf of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul – and Microsoft, led by Rodrigo Kede Lima, President of Microsoft Asia.
This landmark commitment underscores the company’s continued dedication to digital transformation in Thailand and across Southeast Asia as well as the strength of the Royal Thai Government’s pledge to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and foster an environment where innovation can create tangible positive impact for people across Thailand. In addition to local cloud and AI infrastructure development, Microsoft’s plans under the initiative also encompass efforts to further develop digital and AI literacy as well as enhanced innovation capacity throughout the country’s business sector and developer community – including the joint establishment of the Microsoft National AI Innovation Center in support of these goals.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr. Ekniti Nitithanprapas said, “This commitment underscores Thailand’s pivotal role on the global stage of digital and AI innovation. It aligns with the government’s economic policy to promote investment in advanced technology industries – key sectors that will pave the way toward sustainable prosperity through digital and AI literacy for all Thais.”
“Thailand stands at an exciting inflection point in its digital journey as AI transforms how nations innovate, compete, and create opportunity,” said Rodrigo Kede Lima, President of Microsoft Asia. “Our ‘Building Thailand’s AI-Powered Future’ initiative reflects our strong belief in Thailand’s capabilities and our commitment to inclusive innovation. We’re proud to empower Thai organizations and individuals with the infrastructure, skills, and trusted partnerships that will enable a secure, sustainable digital future for all.”
As part of this commitment, Microsoft is advancing the development of the local cloud region and data center infrastructure to provide high-performance cloud and AI services for customers in Thailand through strategic partnerships with leading Thai and global partners such as CP Group, True Corporation, and True IDC as well as Gulf Development and Advanced Info Service.
The local cloud region will combine global technology expertise with Thailand’s diverse economic strengths and growing digital ecosystem and enable Thai businesses and developers to build, deploy, and scale AI solutions locally – all with exceptional reliability through world-class security standards and full compliance with Thailand’s data residency regulations. This enhanced infrastructure represents significant contribution to Thailand’s ambitions to become a regional hub for AI and digital innovation, attracting more international investment and unlocking new opportunities for innovation at all levels.
Empowering Thai enterprises to innovate with AI
To help organizations across Thailand harness the full potential of AI, Microsoft is also expanding its collaboration with leading enterprises that will be among the first to take advantage of the upcoming cloud region’s performance, security, and compliance advantages. These early adopters are laying the groundwork for scalable, AI-powered innovation – modernizing operations, enhancing customer experiences, and unlocking new value through Microsoft’s trusted cloud capabilities.
• The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is driving a bold vision for AI-powered transformation, leveraging Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies to reimagine operations and create new digital services. Through its Digital Business Unit, EGAT is building innovative platforms that harness data and AI to optimize processes, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new business models. This journey reflects EGAT’s commitment to sustainability and inclusive innovation, empowering EGAT to lead Thailand’s energy sector into a smarter and greener future.
• KBTG, the tech arm of KASIKORNBANK, has placed data at the center of its transformation. Using AI to unlock deeper insights and drive smarter decision-making across the organization, its Human-First x AI-First strategy ensures that innovation is guided by empathy, responsibility, and real-world impact. With the upcoming Microsoft cloud region, KBTG will be able to scale its data-driven initiatives with greater speed, security, and compliance, resulting in enhanced operational efficiency and a progressive deepening of customer trust.
• SCBX continues to pursue an ambitious AI-first strategy (or AI-first organization roadmap) with the goal of becoming the region’s most admired financial technology group. The company has unified its data and AI workflows to accelerate intelligent solution development and deploy agentic, conversational banking experiences – such as customer-facing AI agents or AI-assisted Relationship Manager – to drive measurable business impact. The new cloud region will enable SCBX to build upon these achievements with enhanced performance, enterprise-grade resilience, and in-country compliance that complement ongoing investments in AI infrastructure, AI literacy and enterprise-wide skilling.
Beyond these enterprises, Microsoft has also worked closely with the Thai government to co-create an AI Innovation Sandbox aimed at tackling challenges on a national level. One key outcome of this joint effort is the deployment of an AI solution for the Office of the Council of State (OCS) – the legal advisor to Government of Thailand, has deployed an AI solution built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI to fast-track Thailand’s OECD accession. The system translates and compares 70,000+ Thai laws against over 270 OECD legal instruments, identifies gaps, and enables human review by over 500 officials from over 80 government agencies, shrinking years of work into months. The solution will deliver Thailand’s Initial Memorandum—the first and critical milestone proving legal alignment—in December 2025. OECD membership is central to the government’s strategy to attract foreign investment, signaling regulatory stability and global best practices.
Strengthening support for Thailand’s future-ready workforce
As part of its longstanding efforts to build a digitally empowered workforce in the country, Microsoft is intensifying AI skills development through targeted programs designed to create a ripple effect by working with high-impact groups such as educators, social sector professionals, and skill development centers. By elevating talent well positioned to pass on their knowledge and capabilities to others, these programs are poised to multiply the impact of skilling work and credential across classrooms, communities, and industries, resulting in a new generation of AI talent capable of innovating at pace and contributing to the digital economy.
“Thailand’s digital future depends not only on access to technology, but also on the ability to scale knowledge and make impact on every sector and individual across society,” said Dhanawat Suthumpun, Managing Director of Microsoft Thailand and Emerging Markets. “By equipping educators, workers and social sector leaders with practical AI skills, we’re helping to unlock a multiplier effect – one that empowers individuals to uplift others and accelerates inclusive innovation nationwide. We are delighted to be building upon our collaborations with various government agencies and private sector partners to best prepare every Thai person and organization to become a frontier in the age of AI.”
The planned expansion of AI skilling efforts is part of Microsoft Elevate – a global program that places people at the center of AI innovation by supporting education, nonprofit, and government agency partners in credentialing 20 million learners worldwide over the next two years.