“This is the decisive period for the Thailand’s digital economy because AI brings the future closer as an infrastructure to capture advantages in the next decade.” This marks the consensus from global giant tech companies who gathered in the ‘Digital & AI Intelligence Unleashed’ seminar hosted by True Corporation aiming to suggest the way for Thai organizations to accelerate their moves towards the AI era within 3 – 5 years. The session was one of highlight activities of CP Innovation Exposition and Symposium 2025 held by CP Group under the concept of “Innovate the Future for a Better Tomorrow” at True Digital Park.
AI Trends VS Thailand’s Readiness
Mr. Apichart Arunkunarax, Managing Director, Accenture Thailand, revealed about the trend of change in an era where AI can work more independently that although there are many concerns regarding workers might be replaced by AI, data from the World Economic Forum indicates that AI will create about 170 million new jobs while eliminating 90 million existing jobs. The question is, will we learn about the new jobs or accept being replaced? Workers must have AI skills to enhance their potential and become leaders.”
He also revealed the big AI trends in the next 5 years as follows:
- Binary Big Bang – Anyone can create software, no need to write code ourselves.
- Your face in the future – AI must have its own identity and brand to differentiate from other services with similar abilities and appearance
- When LMs Get Their Bodies – Language models begin to connect with the real world through robots and sensors.
- The New Learning Loop – Human and AI continuously learn together.
For Thailand’s readiness, Dr. Chai Wutiwiwatchai, Executive Director, NECTEC stated that a survey of more than 600 Thai organizations found that only 15 – 17% of them were the real users of AI. The weaknesses are lack of AI skills and technology infrastructure. These align with the direction of the National AI Plan that focuses on people’s readiness and adoption, highlighting on an AI ecosystem creation to achieve the goal with the strong ecosystem for becoming a major player in AI in Southeast Asia. Moreover, in the next 2 years, we will build a concrete government data bank, develop a startup incubator program, and collaborate with the private sector with targets to produce over 30,000 AI personnel, as well as create a Center of Excellence (COE) from education to infrastructure, partnering with the private sector to drive Thailand’s AI.
Google, Microsoft and AWS guide on Thailand’s critical step towards AI, a tool that redefines how to do business.
The first part of the seminar under the topic “Shaping the Country in the Next Decade,” brought together leaders from global giant tech such as Google, Microsoft, and AWS, who shared their own perspectives on AI-driven changes in every aspect of business processes. Mr. Annop Siritikul, Country Director of Google Cloud, said “We are entering an era where ‘intelligence’ is given to information and technology to create new value such as the supermarket uses AI as a personal assistant through its app to recommend compatible products and necessary items that need to be purchased, making the store “know” its customers more. Today we have many ready-to-use tools including an AI model like Gemini, a platform for building and expanding which we offer as an open standard and open to integrate with many parts. There will be investments in Google Cloud Region in Thailand soon, which will be an important step in uplifting Thailand’s digital infrastructure both in terms of reducing latency and increasing security standards to be on par with world-class standards.”
Mr. Vasupon Thankakan, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft Thailand, mentioned about the essence of transformation in the AI era that the core of effective business transformation in the AI era consists of 4 main aspects; 1) Employees – AI will help improve employees’ work efficiency which has been implemented in many organizations. 2) Customers – Customers will have an AI assistant that is as smart as professionals with more than 100 languages speaking ability and 24-hour availability, causing very low business costs per transaction while creating huge impacts. 3) Work Process – AI reduces repetitive tasks, reduces errors, and accelerates outputs. and 4) Innovation – AI shortens R&D period in the innovation-to-market cycle. However, the most important thing is AI must be integrated with real tools that have been used, such as Microsoft 365, for immediate results and required repetition to improve speed, cost and decision quality.”
Mr. Apichet Chayabejara, Head of Technology, AWS Thailand, added that AI will improve almost every angle of customers’ experiences. Amazon’s key and principles which are the foundation for success in transforming in the AI era is that we start every decision by realizing of Customer Obsession and quick decision making through the Two-Way Door principle. This principle enables most decisions to be reversible, allowing us to make decisions and try them out. If it doesn’t work, you can adjust it again without having to wait for approval in many steps, while a One-Way Door decision cannot be reversed. We should carefully analyze all aspects, and this method helps the organization to work quickly, flexible and reduce the risk for the system as well.”
Huawei, Tencent, and BytePlus’ views on the true value of AI
In an era where organizations invest in the large amount in AI, this leads to the important questions – How will AI provide a return on investment (ROI) and create “real value”? In the second session of the seminar, on the topic of “Turning Innovation into Real Value,” Dr. Chawapol Jariyawiroj, President of Huawei Technologies (Thailand), revealed his view that “AI is a game with high costs. If talking about direct returns, there may have no clear answer today. But what executives should consider is that AI can create ‘real value’ in 4 key dimensions, including:
- Revenue Growth – AI is not just a technology, but a tool for making a difference. It helps organizations to deliver unrivaled experiences and create new revenue streams in a rapidly changing market.
- Cost Efficiency – The world is entering the era of Multi-Cloud and Multi-AI Platforms. Organizations that start planning management strategies from today will be able to control costs sustainably in the future and reduce reliance on just one platform which is a risk factor for business stability.
- Operational Excellence – AI attracts and empowers talents. Although this cannot be directly measured in monetary terms, having a team of experts who can drive technology correctly is strategical costs that create long-term advantages
- Sustainability – AI-powered data centers require enormous processing power which also means high energy consumption. That’s why Huawei’s Digital Power business aims to invest more than 50% in stable and efficient green energy solutions to ensure the growth of AI together with the world’s sustainability.
He also added that that “the return of investment in AI should not be measured only in a short-term financial result, but it is an investment for organization’s long-term competitiveness. Thailand has an opportunity to become ASEAN’s AI hub if all sectors work together to create a complete ecosystem, and Huawei is ready to be an important partner in moving toward this future.”
Mr. Jimmy Chen, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Managing Director of Southeast Asia, pointed out that “The only way to make AI investment truly worthwhile is to focus relentlessly on the value delivered to the customers. At Tencent, we see both opportunities and challenges simultaneously. In the past year, our gaming business grew by approximately 24% and our advertising business grew by about 20%, both as a result of adopting AI. However, users of our video, entertainment, and e-commerce platforms can use these services for free. Therefore, we don’t always see direct revenue generation from these services. Instead, the benefits of AI are reflected in other forms, such as supporting the growth of the revenue-generating in gaming and advertising businesses.”
Mr. Yan Gao, Regional Director of Southeast Asia for BytePlus, views success from a different perspective. He added that “We believe that measuring the success of AI shouldn’t be based solely on revenue or profit, but also on the level of adoption, the real-world use. The crucial thing is that we must make AI a tool that is easy to use and one that organizations can apply. Therefore, our measurable success lies in the volume of actual usage and the daily adoption rate. This differs slightly from the traditional industry mindset, but for us, this vision is clear, and this is what will ensure the sustainable growth of AI.”
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