Category: Technology

A new building on Hong Kong’s southwestern waterfront will begin to change how the city supports and scales technology. Cyberport 5 is designed to operate as the core infrastructure of a tech park for innovation, housing computing power, connectivity, research space, translation of R&D into technology applications and commercial activity under one roof.

It forms part of the broader Cyberport campus, a government-backed digital innovation hub that brings together technology companies, research institutions, investors and public sector partners both locally and internationally to support the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, fintech, blockchain and digital assets, cybersecurity, smart living, digital entertainment and creative industries, and other strategic digital sectors.

“Cyberport serves as a key part in the development of Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub, contributing to the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in Chinese mainland as an international center for technological innovation,” says Simon Chan, Cyberport’s Chairman.

Dr Rocky Cheng, Chief Executive of Cyberport says the expansion responds to a constraint that many technology firms face once they reach scale. He explains, “This expansion directly addresses the shortage of premium workspace with advanced digital infrastructure and quality living environments for scaling tech companies, providing a dedicated space that fosters innovation, translation and collaboration.”

The new 10-story development adds around 66,000 square meters of gross floor area, expanding the existing campus by 40%. It is designed to support companies that have moved beyond early-stage incubation and now need space, systems and access to advanced infrastructure to grow without leaving the city.

Accelerating Long-Term Growth for Global Enterprise

Cyberport, as Hong Kong’s digital tech hub and AI accelerator, is wholly owned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government. It brings together over 2,300 companies, including 17 listed companies and 8 unicorns, with one-third of onsite founders hailing from 27 countries and regions. While Cyberport supported its companies to expand to over 36 markets globally, the focus is also on keeping them anchored locally as they grow.

Through the Cyberport Investors Network, which brings together over 220 investors worldwide, and the Cyberport Macro Fund, which co-invests in high-potential startups, Cyberport has facilitated more than HK$6 billion (US$770 million) in combined investments. Overall, Cyberport startups have raised more than HK$46.2 billion (US$5.93 billion) over the years.

Hong Kong’s strategic position within the GBA, along with its global connectivity, gives Cyberport a significant advantage. Cyberport’s Chairman Chan sees the tech park as a “super-connector” and “super value-adder,” linking Hong Kong’s international research base and financial system with the manufacturing and market scale of the GBA region, while also tapping into the immense potential and demand for digital technology solutions in overseas markets.

“With Cyberport 5 as the latest advanced infrastructure, supported by global alliances in the Middle East, ASEAN and beyond, we can attract more strategic enterprises and talent from overseas and the Chinese mainland, while bolstering our homegrown startups to expand worldwide,” Chan says.

Cheng adds: “For enterprises setting foot in Cyberport with ambitions for expansion, we aim to springboard them to success through ‘Cyberport Connect’—connecting them with local partners to globalize their products and services; connecting them to investments from Hong Kong, Chinese mainland and overseas; connecting them to overseas markets in ASEAN, the Middle East and beyond for expansion; and connecting them with opportunities to get listed in Hong Kong and abroad.”

Cyberport as Hong Kong’s AI Hub

AI sits at the center of Cyberport’s strategy, reflecting Hong Kong’s wider economic direction and its alignment with the Chinese mainland’s AI+ initiative. Cyberport is home to more than 500 AI and big data companies. Partnerships with universities and global technology firms support applied research, while regulatory sandboxes allow new AI tools to be tested in regulatory environments. One example is the Generative AI (GenAI) Sandbox launched jointly by Cyberport and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which allows banks and technology providers to trial over 40 GenAI applications in areas such as risk management and fraud detection, transforming the financial industry with GenAI.

“Cyberport is building a holistic AI ecosystem spanning computing power development, data, general and specialized large language models, model risk assessment, industry applications, governance and ethics research, and talent cultivation to accelerate intelligent transformation across society and industries,” Cheng says. “We’re providing the scale and infrastructure Hong Kong needs to compete for talent and capital. Our goal is clear: empower businesses to adopt AI, boost efficiency and unlock growth.”

Supercomputing Engine Powering Hong Kong’s AI

Cyberport 5 is closely linked to the Artificial Intelligence Supercomputing Centre (AISC) and Tier III+ data center, giving companies direct access to high-speed connectivity and large-scale computing.

AISC has quickly become the city’s core infrastructure for AI, offering ready to use, high-end computing that speeds up deployment and keeps sensitive workloads within local compliance and data residency frameworks. Cyberport says the shared platform cuts the cost and time of maintaining GPU stacks, allowing universities and companies to accelerate training and inference.

The facility is now delivering 3,000 petaflops and has lifted Hong Kong’s total computing power to 5,000 petaflops. With the HKSAR Government’s HK$3 billion (US$380 million) subsidy scheme, 20 projects from universities, R&D institutions and companies leveraged supercomputing power to enhance R&D in large language models, new materials, synthetic biology models and medical large models. AISC users, including academic institutions such as the University of Hong Kong, appreciated AI empowerment in R&D, while the transnational corporation Ricoh and startups Pivotal Technologies and KBQuest cited faster model responses, shorter generation times and enterprise-grade privacy based on their experiences with AISC. Cyberport explores to expand the subsidy scheme to benefit the wider economy with efficiency elevation through AI.

Powering the Low-Altitude Economy

Cyberport is emerging as a key driver of Hong Kong’s low-altitude economy (LAE), serving as a regulatory sandbox for drone trials spanning 5G streaming, building inspection, drone pyrotechnics, smart aerial logistics and more. It also boasts the city’s first drone sports center for training in drone athleticism. The LAE ecosystem at Cyberport also attracted major players such as Harmony Technology, which specializes in low-altitude aerial management to land. Cyberport 5 is set to facilitate larger-scale drone testing with enhanced facilities.

With the Cyberport ecosystem in full swing, Hong Kong is well positioned to play a key role in the digital economy, providing an AI+-ready hub that attracts global talent, innovation and capital for strategic enterprises and tech companies to converge in the city and thrive.

www.cyberport.hk

With autism affecting an estimated one in 100 children globally, Hong Kong-based MicroSigX is poised to revolutionize early detection through a groundbreaking microbiome diagnostic tool. The company says this innovation secured the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Breakthrough Device Designation last year, which will help accelerate the tool’s development and market entry.

According to a research paper submitted by the company’s founders to the scientific journal Nature Microbiology, its flagship product, MSX MetaGenie, offers a fast, accurate and affordable non-invasive stool test that achieves over 90% sensitivity in detecting autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children across diverse populations. This innovation could dramatically reduce the years-long waiting period families currently face for a diagnosis.

“For the first time, you can use a simple stool sample to help detect autism without multiple doctor visits over many years,” says Croucher Professor Siew Ng, who co-founded MicroSigX with Professor Francis Chan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Faculty of Medicine.

In the rapidly evolving field of diagnostics, the founders raced against time to develop their proprietary technology using 31 novel microbial biomarkers and AI.

“It’s a first-in-class non-invasive diagnostic that can not only detect neurodevelopmental conditions but also potentially provide a solution by changing the microbiome,” Prof Ng says.

Anchored by Strategic Partnerships

Despite an explosion in recent scientific discoveries about the microbiome, most research remains academic. The two clinician-scientists are not only accomplished academics, but they have also demonstrated a track record of translating breakthrough science into real-world applications with significant societal impact.

MicroSigX’s strategy is driven by its M2M (Mind-to-Market) value creation platform, which seamlessly integrates medical discoveries from CUHK with applied microbiome research from the government-funded Microbiota I-Center (MagIC), and MicroSigX’s own commercial execution. The company says this will effectively compress the typical decade-long diagnostic development cycle to just five years.

M-Lab, the joint research facility of MicroSigX and MagIC, serves as an innovation engine to continuously produce new diagnostic technologies. The duo are also working on diagnostics for attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

“This kind of partnership is unique,” says Prof Chan, CUHK’s former dean of medicine.

“Many biotech firms work independently of academia. Likewise, a lot of university academics have no idea about the unmet needs of society. We bridge that gap,” he adds.

The company says it is currently advancing through clinical trials for China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approval, with plans to launch in Hong Kong by early 2026. Following MSX MetaGenie’s FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in February 2024, MicroSigX is pursuing a dual-track regulatory strategy for market entry.

Making a Mark on the Global Stage

This isn’t the founders’ first venture. They previously founded G-NiiB GenieBiome, which garnered international recognition with SIM01, a Lancet-published supplement developed to restore gut microbiome balance after acute Covid-19.

In just five years, G-NiiB GenieBiome expanded beyond Hong Kong to establish research and development and regional offices across mainland China, Southeast Asia and the U.K., while building international research partnerships in Australia and North America.

For the founders, their goals transcend beyond commercial success as they envision making the diagnostic accessible and affordable worldwide while establishing Hong Kong as a global biotech hub.

“MicroSigX will be a world-leading company in microbiome diagnostics. We are in a position to put Hong Kong on the world map and make it one of the leaders in the microbiome industry,” Prof Chan says.

www.microsigx.com

AWS ExecLeaders Singapore, held in conjunction with AWS Summit Singapore on May 29, 2025 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, brought together prominent business leaders and senior executives to explore how they are leveraging technology to drive their organizations forward. Themed “From Possibility to Practice,” ExecLeaders is the dedicated executive forum of AWS Summit, offering C-suite leaders and industry experts a platform for strategic dialogue on digital innovation, leadership and the critical business imperatives of transformation, agility and resilience.

Priscilla Chong, Country Manager of AWS Singapore, opened her welcome address at the summit by reflecting on Singapore’s transformation into a global powerhouse, as the nation celebrates 60 years of independence. Chong highlighted that this journey has been driven by three key pillars: people and culture, governance and process, and technology.

“Singapore succeeded because of its unique cultural DNA—rooted in multiculturalism, meritocracy and the relentless pursuit of excellence,” she said. “Today, teaching hard skills alone is no longer enough. We must combine the human touch with the capabilities of AI and technology.”

To support this vision, AWS has committed S$12 billion (US$9.3 billion) to strengthen Singapore’s digital infrastructure through 2028, expanding cloud and AI adoption. The company is also partnering with the Singapore government through various initiatives, such as SkillsFuture, to help prepare the workforce for the future.

“With the recent launch of Amazon Bedrock and the expansion of other AI services in Asia-Pacific and Singapore, we’re not just helping organizations deploy AI—we’re also taking a sector-specific approach to support key industries such as manufacturing, financial services and retail,” she added.

Elevate, Energize, Envision

Miriam McLemore, Enterprise Strategist at AWS, emphasized during her keynote that agility is crucial to driving innovation. She encouraged businesses to view constraints not as obstacles but as accelerators of progress. With a strong foundation in place, leaders can drive transformation by adopting three key practices: elevate, energize and envision.

McLemore said that to elevate, organizations must break free from traditional governance structures that slow innovation. For example, decentralizing by default can help avoid bottlenecks. To energize teams, leaders should equip them with the right skills, capabilities and tools. Having small, empowered teams with a clear mission can be incredibly powerful for any organization. Creating an environment of continuous feedback also fuels learning, sparks innovation and builds collective intelligence. She encouraged companies to reimagine how they onboard new capabilities as well.

“Think about different ways of introducing new capabilities to your organization so that you drive ownership, curiosity, mastery and clarity of purpose,” McLemore said.

Finally, to envision real transformation, leaders must step up and be bold. “Transformation is about having a clear vision,” she noted. 

Lead the AI Transformation

The first panel, titled “Navigating the GenAI Revolution: Strategies for Executive Leadership,” was moderated by Jeff Johnson, Managing Director, ASEAN, AWS. The panel featured Nikhil Eapen, CEO of StarHub Group; Rob Schimek, CEO of bolttech and Professor Eugene Fidelis Soh, Deputy Group CEO (Population Health) of National Healthcare Group.

Eapen shared insights on how StarHub modernized its digital infrastructure by adopting a hybrid multi-cloud approach to enhance customer and user experiences across different end customers. The telco is utilizing agentic AI to unify technical data for deeper insights into customer behavior.

Meanwhile, the National Healthcare Group, serving 1.5 million residents in central and northern Singapore, is harnessing data and AI to improve the quality of life of an aging population and “return the ‘health’ to healthcare,” said Prof Soh. He noted that Singaporeans have one of the longest life expectancies in the world at 85 years but spend the last decade in poor health. The challenge is to close the gap between lifespan and healthspan by eliminating those 10 unhealthy years per individual, collectively adding 15 million healthy years to the population.

“AI has helped the organization better understand population needs, develop risk segmentation models and more precisely target screening efforts,” Prof Soh said. “It also enables timely interventions. The data we bring together supports an integrated model of care we call the ‘river of life’—and AI powers this journey.”

Schimek explained that bolttech, as an insurtech, operates at the intersection of insurance and technology. “AI is transforming every part of the insurance value chain—from sales and risk assessment to underwriting and customer service,” he said. Technology enables bolttech to offer dynamic pricing and hyper-personalization, delivering tailored, affordable and accessible products to its clients.

Adapt to Stay Resilient

The second panel, titled “Breaking the Code: The Role of Women Leaders in Advancing Organizations and Technology” and held in partnership with Forbes Asia, was moderated by Rana Wehbe Watson, Editorial Director at Forbes Asia. The panel featured Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, VP of Technology at AWS and Lai Pei-Si, Group CEO of GXS Bank.

Bukovec noted that AI innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, making AI proficiency essential for everyone as AI assistants become embedded in nearly every workflow. Leadership is also evolving, she noted, with C-suite executives across industries now deeply engaged with AI to stay ahead and lead their organizations from the front.

Agreeing with Bukovec, Lai emphasized that leadership must be proactive in navigating what could be the most significant technological shift in a decade. She highlighted that adaptability and an open mindset are crucial for future resilience. As a digital bank, GXS Bank focuses on driving financial inclusion, with AI playing a critical role in helping solve real-world problems, such as addressing underserved needs in Southeast Asia.

In response to how women leaders could create more opportunities for other women to advance in the tech industry, Bukovec said, “I’m a big believer of human potential being everywhere, regardless of one’s background or gender. Anyone who comes through the door is coming through based on the merits of their inherent talent.”

She highlighted that the next generation of AI with speech capabilities will lower barriers to entry, allowing people to engage with technology without needing deep technical knowledge. “I think that’s going to have an incredible effect on the workforce of tomorrow; it will bring everyone through the door,” Bukovec added.

The AWS Summit Singapore was the second installment in the AWS 2025 ASEAN Summit series, following the first event in Bangkok and ahead of the next in Jakarta.

aws.amazon.com

The most successful organizations aren’t the ones with the most ideas, but the ones that can turn ideas into measurable business impact, fast. Across Asia-Pacific, we have seen this play out time and again; businesses that build innovation into their operating model are better equipped to respond to change, serve customers and lead in their industries.

At AWS, this has been our experience as well. Innovation is in our DNA. And it doesn’t start with a whiteboard or a brainstorming session, but with a customer problem. Every new feature, service or capability we have built in the region stems from a real customer need, whether explicitly stated or not.

More than 90% of new AWS features come directly from customer feedback. If something doesn’t address a real challenge or improve the customer experience, we don’t pursue it. This customer-first approach has resulted in a practical, repeatable methodology that organizations of all sizes can adapt and scale. The challenge is while technology can unlock possibilities, it’s culture and people that turn this potential into tangible business outcomes.

Building an Innovation Engine

At AWS, we’ve developed a powerful engine that turns customer feedback into continuous innovation. This engine runs on four essential components: our culture of innovation, our experimental builder mindset, our proven mechanisms and our flexible architecture. Together, these elements help organizations make innovation part of their daily rhythm, not an afterthought.

Turning ideas into results consistently takes more than good intent. At AWS, we use defined mechanisms that ensure clarity and accountability. One example is our “Working Backwards” concept, written narratives that start with the customer and work backward to create solutions. This sharpens the focus on customer outcomes and transforms vague ideas into concrete solutions.

We have also designed our technical and organizational systems to keep this engine running smoothly and enable rapid innovation. Our use of microservices and APIs lets teams test, build and launch without waiting for large-scale system overhauls. This architecture allows us to test hypotheses quickly, learn from failures and iterate rapidly.

Cultivating a Day 1 Culture

At Amazon, we often say it’s always Day 1, meaning we maintain the agility and customer obsession of a startup, even at our scale. This mindset shapes how we approach innovation. While mechanisms and architecture provide the foundation, culture is what determines whether innovation actually happens. We cultivate builders who think long-term, have an enormous level of curiosity and aren’t afraid to push boundaries. Our culture empowers teams to take intelligent risks, experiment, learn fast and fully own their ideas – including their failures.

“While it’s a huge tech company, it’s not actually the tech, but the culture and the people that were Amazon’s single most significant contribution to our transformation. They really live the culture and the values, and definitely we would not be where we are today without them,” says Dennis Omila, Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer, UnionBank of the Philippines.We encourage experimentation – even if it means getting things wrong sometimes. Intelligent failure is a critical part of the learning process. What matters is whether a team can extract insights and pivot quickly on what they learned.

Finally, we have designed our organization to support innovation at scale. Leaders own specific outcomes with full accountability. Meanwhile, our “two-pizza team” model (small teams that can be fed with just two pizzas) ensures that groups remain small and agile, enabling them to make decisions quickly and own their outcomes. Most importantly, our organizational structure puts decision-making authority as close to the customer as possible. 

Clear ownership, fast decisions and alignment around customer outcomes help us move from ideas to results quickly – and help our customers do the same.

Bringing Innovation to Life

The ability to respond to change by leveraging innovation has become table stakes in today’s environment, where digital-native competitors are disrupting established players, customers expect more and wait less, and technology cycles are accelerating.

Our customers tell us that while they realize the imperative, they are struggling to find a catalyst to accelerate their transformation. Working backward from this, we created the AWS Innovation Hub in Singapore. Rather than another corporate showcase, it’s a hands-on workspace where leaders from across the region experience how innovation happens at Amazon and develop concrete next steps for their own transformation journeys. Visitors practice using our mechanisms, experiment with our frameworks and witness our customer-obsessed innovation in action.

Through industry-specific use cases, we demonstrate how AWS is helping transform businesses across the region. More than 90,000 startups in Asia-Pacific are using AWS to solve complex challenges, scale rapidly and stay ahead. Our real-world examples demonstrate the best of Amazon, AWS Partner Network and customer co-innovation with real-world solutions to solve real-world problems. We highlight locally optimized solutions with proven business and societal value: from financial services applications that expand access for the unbanked to healthcare solutions that improve access in remote areas. Rather than leaving with just inspiration, customers leave with a clear action plan of what they can do next and how to do it.

Innovation That Lasts

The journey doesn’t stop when a customer leaves the Hub. We continue working with organizations to build internal capability, refine their processes and keep moving them forward. In addition to business transformation, we’re focused on helping organizations use technology to solve meaningful challenges across the region to create lasting positive impact in our Asia-Pacific and Japan communities.

The Innovation Hub is much more than a collection of demos; it’s where we bring together our culture of innovation, cutting edge technology and proven mechanisms to solve real challenges. We co-innovate with customers and partners to build practical solutions, bridge essential skill gaps, prototype and validate ideas rapidly, and create responsible approaches to scalable digital transformation.

For CEOs and business leaders ready to transform their business and reimagine customer experiences, the AWS Innovation Hub offers a path forward. It’s where visionaries come together to build the capabilities needed to pull the future forward, creating meaningful impact that extends beyond business to benefit billions of people across Asia-Pacific and Japan.

The AWS Summit Bangkok, held on April 29 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, drew over 5,000 attendees. As the first event in the 2025 ASEAN Summit series, it explored the theme “From Possibility to Practice,” offering insights into key drivers of change and how innovation and transformation can be accelerated across the region.

The Bangkok Summit is also a celebration of the AWS Thailand Region, launched in early 2025, and the organization’s 10th year in the country. AWS has committed to investing US$5 billion in Thailand by 2037 to drive innovation and boost cloud infrastructure, offering local businesses, startups and public sector organizations access to advanced cloud computing services.

Among the notable speakers at the ExecLeaders was Ben Cabanas, WW Director of Technology and Customer Solutions at AWS. Cabanas noted the AI transformation sweeping across industries, citing how AWS customers are leveraging tools such as Amazon Q and Amazon Bedrock to improve customer service, execute complex workflows, analyze data and boost productivity. He emphasized the importance of improving AI literacy and building fluency in the workforce, “as AI will evolve more rapidly than any other transformative technology.”

He said those who can harness the power of AI, and do so quickly, will be an asset to any organization. He noted that agentic AI systems have quickly become the next step change, and it will further drive significant transformation.

Navigating the AI Journey

The first panel discussion, moderated by Jeff Johnson, Managing Director, ASEAN, AWS, delved into how executive leaders can effectively steer their organizations through the generative AI (GenAI) revolution.

Surachai Hirannitichai, EVP of Digital Technology & Transformation at Big C, shared that the company is prioritizing AI transformation this year. Big C has successfully integrated AI into its e-commerce operations, boosting the add-to-cart rate by 20% and reducing the workload for its contact center staff while improving operational efficiency. The company is now leaning further into the use of agentic AI, which has the ability to execute more complex, goal-oriented tasks with minimal human supervision.

True Corporation is working with AWS to develop an AI-powered business network intelligence center, a 24/7 network monitoring center that helps to improve the organization’s network services, said Prathet Tankuranun, True Corporation’s Chief Technology and Information Security Officer. He added that the vision is to link business data to this monitoring center to extract new customer insights, increase sales sites, upgrade capacity and more.

Omise Founder & Group CEO Jun Hasegawa said, “As a fintech company, we are always innovating. We have a lot of rich data but at the same time, we also struggle with how we can utilize this data to benefit our end users.”

Omise is now using AWS Bedrock and QuickSight to speed up processes and customer onboarding. These tools help analyze data and simplify payment routing systems for its customers. Hasegawa said that Omise staff are encouraged to use AI tools to improve efficiency, especially for repetitive tasks, so they can focus more on creative work that only humans can do.

Shifting the focus to the future, Johnson asked the panelists to predict the technological possibilities they see on the horizon.

“I think most of the digital transformation initiatives will rely heavily on GenAI or even agentic AI in the future,” said Surachai. “We need to choose the right solutions but most critical is a clear direction in the organization.”

Prathet said, “AI will help us, not replace us. It will do the things that we hate to do, like repetitive and mundane tasks.”

Hasegawa predicted that the second half of 2025 will see the rise of artificial general intelligence, followed by artificial superintelligence in 2027. “People may not necessarily be aware of AI, but it will be embedded in every aspect of our lives in the next couple of years,” he said.  

Women Driving Change

The second panel, held in partnership with Forbes Asia, explored the theme “Breaking the Code: The Role of Women Leaders in Advancing Organizations and Technology.” Moderated by Rana Wehbe Watson, Editorial Director at Forbes Asia, the panel featured Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Chairperson, Toshiba Thailand; Thapanee Techajareonvikul, CEO & President, Berli Jucker and Tippamas Achalakul, Head of Commercial Industries, AWS.

Reflecting on their leadership styles, the panelists shared insights into how they navigate challenges and drive impact within their organizations.

Kobkarn, who previously served as Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports, highlighted the importance of continuous learning and collaboration. “My mom taught me that every day is a new learning curve,” she said. “When I was appointed to oversee tourism and sports, I learned to adapt—to work not by controlling, but by collaborating with government officials and civil servants to achieve shared goals.”

Thapanee emphasized that fostering a learning organization—grounded in humility, openness to new ideas and a willingness to learn from others—is essential for navigating volatility and overcoming challenges.

Kobkarn said, “In crisis, there is always opportunity.” Amid the trade war and economic uncertainty, Toshiba used the opportunity to adapt and improve. By leveraging data, the company gained insights into younger generations, helping it identify and reach new customer segments.

“Technology can help businesses bounce back,” said Tippamas. In her role, she helps companies identify the right services to enhance their operational efficiency. “We work with customers to determine the best use cases and how they can be leveraged,” she explained. “Every company has its own unique characteristics, so it’s up to the leader to shape the organizational culture.”

Touching on diversity and inclusion, Thapanee shared that 60% of Berli Jucker’s workforce is female, with women holding 50% of management positions. She noted that the company has long embraced diversity and inclusion, which has become one of its key strengths.

The AWS 2025 ASEAN Summit series aims to bring together industry pioneers and visionary leaders to explore the future of technology. This year’s series consists of three events held in Bangkok, Singapore and Jakarta.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data technologies have evolved rapidly, reshaping industries over the past few years. No longer just a tool for segmenting customers by demographics or purchase patterns, AI now drives strategic decisions, transforming industries by enhancing customer experience and improving efficiency.

ADA, an AI and data company operating in 12 markets in Asia, has been a key player in this transformation. Over the past six years, it has grown significantly, becoming a leader in digital and data-driven business transformation across Asia.

Asia’s AI and Tech Leader

Founded in 2018, ADA has helped enterprises achieve their business goals, especially in marketing and commerce. Its data-driven approach has fueled rapid growth, making it one of Asia’s largest independent data, AI, and technology firms.

ADA employs more than 1,400 people and serves over 1,500 clients in 12 markets, including Japan, South Korea, India, and ASEAN countries. Its customers span various sectors, such as banking, insurance, retail, fashion, oil and gas, telecommunications, food and beverage, and automotive.

Srinivas Gattamneni, CEO of ADA, attributes the company’s success to its deep belief in the power of data and AI. “Our foundation is built on the conviction that AI is the future of data,” he says. “We focus on helping clients establish strong data foundations through engineering and analytics, enabling them to turn that data into personalized actions. From there, our AI CoPilots and digital operations drive impactful outcomes across the entire customer journey, fueling commerce success at every touchpoint.”

Gattamneni emphasizes ADA’s focus on business impact for clients. “Everything we do is outcome-driven, whether it’s driving sales and revenue growth, increasing customer lifetime value, or reducing customer acquisition costs,” he says. “Our goal isn’t just to provide solutions but to deliver measurable, transformative results.”

AI’s Growing Influence

AI is now a critical driver of revenue and growth, not just a supporting tool. Gattamneni says AI influences up to 35% of revenue in global industries, highlighting its role in shaping consumer behavior.

Sectors like travel and financial services have seen significant impacts from AI-driven innovation, while many traditional industries are just beginning to explore AI’s potential. “The trend is still in its infancy, but AI’s influence will grow across all sectors. We’re on the brink of a future where AI will be central to everything from content creation and marketing to commerce,” says Gattamneni.

Hyper-Customization at Scale

Data and AI are set to revolutionize marketing and commerce further in the coming years, particularly through hyper-personalization. Current personalization targets broad segments, but AI enables truly individualized strategies.

“With generative AI, we’re moving toward one-to-one marketing. Brands will be able to create highly personalized, dynamic content for individual consumers at a fraction of the historical cost,” Gattamneni says. “What was once cost-prohibitive is now achievable, allowing companies to engage consumers in a more meaningful, tailored way. We can now produce individually personalized creative content for close to one cent,” he adds.

Real-time pricing is another emerging trend, with product prices usually based on historical data. “With AI, companies can implement real-time pricing using factors like consumer demand, competitors’ pricing, marketing strategy, supply chain, and overall consumer behavior,” he says.

Gattamneni expects augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to play bigger roles in the future of commerce, allowing consumers to visualize how products fit into their lives. For example, consumers can use AR to virtually try on clothes, shoes, and accessories from home, offering a personalized shopping experience and eliminating the need to visit stores.

Building a Strong Data Foundation

ADA’s advantage, Gattamneni says, is its team of data scientists, data engineers, analysts, and industry specialists, whose combined expertise helps the company understand clients’ needs and deliver tailored solutions to meet business goals.

One key solution driving significant momentum is ADA’s suite of proprietary AI CoPilots. Launched in April, the CoPilots combine disparate data sets, visualize key insights in robust dashboards, and use AI models to support critical real-time decisions.

There are four versions: CoPilot for Full Funnel Marketing, CoPilot for Ecommerce, CoPilot for Conversational AI, and CoPilot for Customer Segmentation. “If you’re an e-commerce specialist, you can use CoPilot to get an integrated view of performance across all channels. You’ll see where demand is coming from, and with predictive and prescriptive AI models, you can make quick decisions on operations, pricing, and demand planning across channels and marketplaces,” he says.

“Our foundation is built on the conviction that AI is the future of data. We focus on helping clients establish strong data foundations through engineering and analytics, enabling them to turn that data into personalized actions.”—Srinivas Gattamneni

“For e-commerce specialists, CoPilot can help you make better marketing decisions across the full funnel and get a clear visibility of every dollar spent,” Gattamneni explains. “The response has been amazing. We already have about 100 clients across the region using CoPilot as part of their day-to-day operations.”

Global Expansion and Proficorn Ambitions

While ADA’s success in Asia is notable, the company is pursuing global expansion and aims to enter the U.S. market within six months. ADA already manages digital transformation for U.S.-based clients in Asia.

“We see exciting opportunities in the U.S., with its openness to innovation and startups,” says Gattamneni. In 2023, Japan’s Mitsui & Co., Ltd. invested US$58 million in ADA, valuing the company at US$550 million. Other investors include Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., Sumitomo Corp., and Malaysia’s Axiata Group Berhad.

However, ADA is not just chasing unicorn status. Gattamneni stresses the focus on becoming a “proficorn”—a profitable unicorn. “We’re scaling sustainably, focusing on long-term value creation,” he says.

 

www.ada-asia.com

Kenji Minefuji, Manager at the Business Innovation Group of Mitsubishi Electric, and his team go through 100 to 200 proposals from startups every month.

Each proposal is unique, but they share one thing in common—they hope that ME Innovation Fund (MEIF), a 5-billion-yen (US$38.27 million) corporate venture capital (CVC) fund set up by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and venture capital firm Global Brain, will invest in their business.

“We like companies with passionate founders,” Minefuji says, referring to one of the criteria the fund looks at when investing in companies. The fund has one main objective: to realize promising new startups that can collaborate with Mitsubishi Electric to uplift the quality of life for people.

Although the fund, launched in January 2022, is considered a new vehicle in the startup ecosystem, Minefuji believes that it has what it takes to be successful.

Industry Knowledge and Instant Chemistry

In the world of startups, entrepreneurs are often looking for investors who share the same mindset, understand industry pain points and can help them grow.

One of the companies in which MEIF has invested is Singapore-based software startup FTV LABS, a leading provider of Field Service Management (FSM) software KEGMIL. The startup empowers field service organizations with smart automation and insights to improve their operational efficiency, service performance and knowledge retention, which leads to greater customer satisfaction and profitability.

Minefuji is confident that FTV LABS has the best offering in Southeast Asia, combining industry knowledge, cutting-edge technology and a highly capable team that can help drive digital transformation across multinational corporations.

FTV LABS Cofounder and CEO Kelvin Ong says one of the key things that attracted him to the team at MEIF was their knowledge of the market and industry.

“We are operating in a niche space, but it has huge market potential. They understood our business, the industry challenges; there was instant chemistry,” Ong says. “We believe they are the right partner to help us achieve our goal of becoming the leading service provider of field service technology.”

Ong is also impressed by the proactive approach and level of support he receives from MEIF and Mitsubishi Electric. He says that even though there are many CVC funds in the startup ecosystem, not many offer the level of support that MEIF does.

The Right Support

MEIF has helped the company overcome various challenges, including matching FTV LABS with the right customer profile to validate its ideas.

“As a startup, we have limited resources and need to stay focused on refining our product and value proposition for the right customers.

This is where Mitsubishi Electric fits in as our ideal customer. They gave us access to the various business units within Mitsubishi Electric so that we could test assumptions and gather user feedback. It would be nearly impossible for us to do this on our own,” Ong says. “They helped us push for meetings with the internal stakeholders and push for replies; they worked as if they were our internal managers.”

Minefuji believes the software company has huge growth potential. With Mitsubishi Electric’s scale and reach, FTV LABS’ solutions can be applied across the firm’s operations globally and adopted by other customers worldwide.

“We look forward to more collaboration opportunities with MEIF and other forward-looking field service organizations as we aim to deliver the best product for the industry and drive greater value for our customers,” Ong says.

And ultimately, this ties back to the main objective of the fund. Minefuji sums up, “Our hope is to be chosen by great startups. If we were to produce a unicorn company along the way, that would be a plus.” 

 

https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/cvc/

 

Over the recent years, many global technology companies have begun exploring and building a metaverse, which many believe would be the next evolution of the internet, a world where people can live, work, play and relax in a three-dimensional virtual reality that they can experience from the comfort of their own homes.

Although these metaverse development efforts are largely coming from tech giants in the West, it does not stop two Thai companies, T&B Media Global and MQDC from embarking on their ambitious metaverse journey.

Going on Full Steam

Since Bangkok-based entertainment studio T&B Media Global announced its Translucia metaverse project in October 2021, the company has made significant progress in its development, and has tied-up with many metaverse ecosystem players globally to help build Translucia, including New Delhi-based 3D modeling and rendering specialist Sunovatech, Switzerland-based digital asset bank Sygnum and Chinese creative company Black Flame. Translucia has also established a Research & Development Center in Melbourne, Australia to ensure it always has the most cutting-edge Web 3 technologies to incorporate into the project.

T&B Media Global Group Deputy CEO Bhak Tanta-Nanta says “many more global companies are expected to join Translucia this year” and adds that the company has some “really exciting and amazing events planned for 2023,” including the official launch of the Translucia website in the first quarter. Users can also expect to have a taste of the Translucia virtual experience—but in the real world—by the end of the year.

“We are moving full steam ahead in terms of building the world and narrative of Translucia,” Tanta-Nanta says.

Infinite Universe of Interconnected Metaverses

Imagine needing to have separate devices for WhatsApp, LINE, Facebook and any other popular apps available in our smartphones today—the experience would be horrible.

Like how one is able to use multiple apps within a mobile device, the Translucia metaverse works similarly: by enabling users to have interconnectivity to other metaverses from its own metaverse, Tanta-Nanta says.

“Essentially, Translucia is an infinite universe of interconnected metaverses. Inside the Translucia metaverse itself, we will build various worlds within and it is a never-ending process. Being a platform designed to provide interconnectivity to other metaverses is our aspiration to ensure a seamless experience for our users in the metaverse,” says Tanta-Nanta.

He says the company is currently evaluating various economic and tokenomics models for Translucia to ensure that businesses and people are able to benefit fairly, and securely, from participating in the economy of Translucia.

“We hope to launch the first phase of Translucia in 2025,” he says.

Metaverse for Good

Unlike other metaverses that may only allow users to work, live, relax and play, Tanta-Nanta says Translucia aims to serve a bigger purpose.

“Our goal is to build a metaverse for good—one that can reduce inequality, fight depression, improve the overall sense of wellness for our users and increase humanity by reconnecting people to values that make us human,” he says.

He adds that one of the reasons Translucia was able to attract various global companies into its metaverse project is because they share the same values and mindset of building a metaverse for good. “Our secret sauce is our purpose. Translucia is designed with positive impact in mind and companies that share these same values are easily aligned,” he says.

Early Supporter

One of the earliest supporters of Translucia metaverse is Bangkok-based MQDC, one of the leading property developers in Thailand. In September 2021, MQDC announced that it will be building its own metaverse called Idyllias within the Translucia metaverse.

Less than a year later, it announced that it has collaborated with global consultancy firm Accenture to develop the metaverse. “We are working very closely with Accenture to define the right and robust business model for our metaverse project. We need to make sure that everything we offer to our users will have a unique value proposition,” MQDC Metaverse Project Director Parut Penpayap says.

Just like its partner Translucia, MQDC is also moving at a fast pace. Penpayap says the company’s recent brand reveal in early February will be followed by various activities to create awareness of its metaverse. It also plans to officially launch its metaverse in 2025.

“We are going to keep the momentum going by unfolding the tangible experiences that people could encounter through the metaverse,” Penpayap says.

Transforming MQDC into a Digital Company

Penpayap says its metaverse initiative marks the “next chapter for MQDC.” He adds, “We see the Idyllias as a digital transformation initiative that could help us scale the business to the global level.”

He shares that its metaverse initiative comes in a three-prong strategy. First, is to provide virtual experiences as premium offerings to existing and future customers of MQDC. Second, is to develop virtual realms to attract users by offering a combination of virtual assets and experiences. Lastly, is to provide its customers a hybrid and seamless experience whether they are onsite at MQDC’s project sites, or online via the MQDC metaverse.

Importance of Interoperability

Penpayap adds that one of the main reasons MQDC decided to build its metaverse on the Translucia metaverse is the latter’s capability in interoperability. He says that with interoperability, users will be able to have a seamless experience.

“I see interoperability playing a key role in two aspects. First, is that users can make transactions within the MQDC metaverse, as well as other metaverses within the Translucia metaverse, using the same digital assets or tokens.

“The other aspect of interoperability is about the way that we could bridge the interconnection of the reward system between the physical world and the virtual worlds,” he says.

For All Well-Being

More importantly, Penpayap says the MQDC metaverse will continue to practice MQDC Group’s philosophy of “For All Well-Being,” whereby every decision it makes must contribute positively to society and the environment, and help overcome global and local pain points.

“Together with Translucia, we will be deploying and utilizing emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain to deliver the ‘For All Well-Being’ experiences to people around the world,” he says.

Without diving into the specific details, he shares that these technologies, when integrated with internet-connected devices, can help play a significant role in providing future living solutions for people both in the physical and virtual worlds.

“Basically, our aim for the MQDC metaverse is not just about improving the quality of life of our users, but also about taking good care of the planet and the world of biodiversity,” Penpayap says.

 

 

 

www.idyllias.com

 

Trusted Cybersecurity Specialist

cyan Digital Security, one of the leading cybersecurity providers in Europe, has been playing a key role in safeguarding mobile devices and their users from cyber threats for many years.

Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, cyan has partnered with several mobile network operators in different countries to protect millions of devices and users across the globe with its growing portfolio of modern cybersecurity solutions.

According to Frank von Seth, CEO of cyan, one of the key reasons the company is able to grow its client base consistently is the way it designs its cybersecurity solutions. “Cybersecurity solutions often tend to be large and complex, but cyan has designed its solutions in a way that allows mobile carriers to easily deploy the service and protect their customers at the mass level,” von Seth says. “We are able to win the trust of telecom companies due to the simplicity of our solutions.”

Launch of dtac Safe

This year, cyan and dtac launched dtac Safe, a value-added cybersecurity service aimed at protecting dtac’s customer base of 19.6 million. Under the partnership, cyan’s cybersecurity solution is integrated as an SDK within dtac’s existing app, which customers already have on their smartphones. Hence, no additional downloads or ongoing updates are needed. Users can activate dtac Safe with just a few taps and it starts protecting their device instantly.

“The digital landscape in Thailand is transforming at a fast pace with more users sharing personal information and making transactions online. Therefore, it’s essential to protect users and give them peace-of-mind while browsing online. This is where dtac Safe comes in—a mass cybersecurity product at a very affordable price,” says Alexandra Reich, the former CEO of dtac.

Raising Awareness, Driving Growth

According to Independent IT-Security Institute, 450,000 new malwares are found each day. Cyberattacks keep evolving on a day-to-day basis which requires cybersecurity providers to keep up with these developments and be one step ahead. “Today, we are seeing an increasing number of attacks against individuals. By just mistakenly pressing a button or a wrong link, cybercriminals potentially could have full access and control of your phone, and you may need to pay a ransom to regain control of your device,” says von Seth. With its own research centers and patent protected methods, cyan is able facilitate its Threat Intelligence to predict future threat development patterns and hence offers a future-ready protection for subscribers.

Although mobile users in Thailand are tech-savvy, and aware of the risk of cyberattacks, no one is immune to the shape-shifting nature of cyberattacks. Which is why it’s essential to have a service like dtac Safe that protects you in the background without you ever having to worry about clicking the wrong link or losing your data online. With dtac Safe, you have an invisible guard making sure you can enjoy your online journey unbothered.

To help drive the awareness of the importance of cybersecurity, dtac & cyan are working together on educating users on conscious cyber threat awareness and introduce attractive plans and packages to dtac subscribers. “We hope to make dtac Safe a cornerstone cybersecurity product that protects all users,” von Seth says.

Expansion in Sight

“Asia is a huge opportunity and an exciting market for us.” With the success story of dtac, cyan is gearing up to partner with other MNOs in the Asia Pacific region. “We are already in talks with key players in countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore,” adds von Seth.

This year, Dr. Reckendorfer & Partners helped cyan establish a regional office in Thailand to provide dedicated technical and go-to-market support for their Asia Pacific partners. “With our modern cybersecurity solutions and years of expertise in Western & Asian markets, we believe we are a perfect partner for MNOs in Asia,” says von Seth.

•  

www.cyansecurity.com

Building a successful metaverse is challenging as it requires a large amount of investment and the buy-in of various ecosystem players.

Despite the challenges, Bangkok-based T&B Media Global is showing that it is committed to building Translucia, a metaverse project in which it is investing US$300 million.

Collaboration on a Global Scale

In September, Translucia added four world-leading partners—Sunovatech, Sygnum, Economics Design and Black Flame—to develop its metaverse ecosystem. With the four additions, Translucia now has six partners committed to the project.

According to Dr. Jwanwat Ahriyavraromp, Founder and CEO of T&B Media Global, collaborating with these world-leading partners will play a critical role in transforming Translucia into a virtual world worth over US$3 billion.

Sunovatech, based in New Delhi and specializing in 3D modeling and rendering design, will be responsible for helping to develop 3D assets and environments for visualizing Translucia by using its unique Unreal Engine technology development and specialists.

Switzerland-based Sygnum, which is also the world’s first digital asset bank, will help create Translucia’s financial structure. At the same time, Economics Design, based in Singapore, will be working closely with Sygnum to build Translucia’s economic infrastructure.

Chinese creative company Black Flame, which specializes in visual design and has worked on blockbuster animations such as Ne Zha and The Monkey King 2, will help create digital assets such as landscapes, avatars, architectures, environments and holistic concepts, and will also contribute to Translucia’s story creation.

Earlier this year, Translucia teamed up with Two Bulls, a creative technology development company, to launch the Metaverse Research and Development Center in Melbourne with an initial investment of US$100 million to research new technologies to bridge the real and virtual worlds.

Ahriyavraromp has been very pleased with the progress of Translucia, as the metaverse is able to attract the interest of many global players. “Much like the Internet, we knew that the metaverse can’t be built by one entity. We have always expected that we’d work with hundreds, if not thousands, of talented people around the world to help bring Translucia to fruition. We just didn’t anticipate how many super talented and passionate people we’d find so quickly!

“The partners joining us believe that we are all able to make a difference by working towards reducing inequality and Translucia promises to be a magnifier of the good we hope to share with the world.”

Integration is Key to Success

Like most technologies, such as cloud computing and mobile telecommunications, integration plays an important role in the success of a technology.

Understanding that there are other metaverses being developed by other players globally, Ahriyavraromp explains that the partners will also be working towards enabling Translucia to “perfectly integrate with other metaverses.”

He says Translucia aims to develop an ‘infinite universe’ capable of interconnectivity with other metaverses leveraging Web 3.0 capabilities. He further adds that the Translucia metaverse will have shared infrastructure, utilities, technologies, hardware and software.

“Integration is key and it’s also the core function of Internet technology. If metaverses don’t integrate, it will greatly hinder adoption of the metaverse technology because the user experience would not be seamless,” he points out.

“For instance, a reader is enjoying this article on their most favorite news website. Once done, if they have to disconnect from the Internet and log into a different Internet to enjoy another article on a different news site, that would be a horrible experience, and no one would want to do that. Likewise, the experience would be the same if metaverses didn’t integrate.”

Building the Right Purpose

While technology and integration play important roles in the success of a metaverse, Ahriyavraromp says another key factor, which may be the most important factor of all, would be to ensure the metaverse serves a purpose for users and the community.

“Translucia is a metaverse designed to contribute to the economy and society by transforming the way we live and experience life. Unlike other metaverses, Translucia focuses on creating happiness, not only from external sources, but also internally from one’s mind and body.”

When it is completed, Translucia will comprise four key levels: Central Translucia, Pillars of Nature, Nature’s True Home and Beyond Boundless.

According to Ahriyavraromp, Central Translucia—also known as the Central Hub of Limitless Opportunities—is a place where you can pursue various interests, and where dreams can become real. The Pillars of Nature comprises various fascinating ecosystems, including flora and fauna, to be explored and discovered, while in Nature’s True Home, users have access to a “hidden realm of nature’s wonders and enchantments” that, Ahriyavraromp says, is “a special world where you can choose your destiny as nature’s guardian.”

As for Beyond Boundless, Ahriyavraromp describes it as “a place where the mind and soul will find rest and be lifted by those we love and trust.”

“At the very core of Translucia’s value proposition is an engine that will convert goodness into wellness, prosperity and, ultimately, happiness. In this sense, ‘goodness’ is defined as being good to others, to the world, and to yourself.”

More Partnerships Ahead

Translucia currently has many of its building blocks in place—from the synergies between the real and virtual worlds, the environment, to the financial infrastructure. However, Ahriyavraromp is confident that more elements can be included into the metaverse.

In fact, with the right technology in place—both hardware and software—the metaverse could be used to improve one’s health, financials, and mental wellbeing.

“Anything is possible in the world of metaverses,” Ahriyavraromp claims.

He says that by focusing on individual goodness, Translucia isn’t just a tech company as it is shifting focus from traditional P&L (Profit and Loss) to include each individual’s Purpose and Legacy.

He adds that the process of creating the Translucia metaverse platform has been an exciting journey and a rewarding one so far. “What has made this journey so rewarding is that we’ve been able to meet so many wonderful people who share the same vision and values as we do.

“We’re looking for IoT technologies and partners who have the AI and hardware to help bring this engine to life, translating actions in the real world into benefits in the virtual world and vice versa.”

www.translucia.org