E-guide

How APAC
enterprises can
scale up their
AI initiatives
 E-guide

In this e-guide In this e-guide:

The complementary strengths of In the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has proved to be much more
AI and human intelligence
than just a buzzword, successfully redefining the way that businesses work.
When to deploy AI From finance to healthcare, various industries have shown tangible outcomes
from using AI as a part of their solutions, reiterating the immense possibilities
To do AI right, forget your AI
this technology can provide for the world.
strategy

How to scale up your AI In the Asia-Pacific region, expenses on AI systems are expected to rise from
initiatives $17.6bn in 2022 to around $32bn in 2025, representing a compound annual
growth rate of 25.2% during the forecast period. Much of the spending will
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI
come from the banking industry, which is investing in AI systems to mitigate
risks and detect fraud. This is followed by state and local governments, which
Naver outlines global AI are increasingly deploying AI in public safety and emergency response
ambitions
applications.
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety As artificial intelligence continues to grow, we take a look into the main
trends for AI deployment in APAC, what are the best strategies for
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
enterprises that are looking to scale up their AI initiatives, and how APAC
congestion
firms are using AI to increase innovation and optimise business
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Page 1 of 32
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In this e-guide
The complementary strengths of AI and human
The complementary strengths of intelligence
AI and human intelligence
Kathy Peach
When to deploy AI
When the pandemic forced millions of people into working and collaborating remotely,
To do AI right, forget your AI it not only caused an explosion in the use and development of new technologies for
strategy productive and effective collaboration, it also made many of us more aware than ever
of how technologies can enhance our thinking and creativity.
How to scale up your AI
initiatives At Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, our work rests upon the premise
that human intelligence combined with machine intelligence is more powerful than
APAC organisations to spend
either in isolation. When these are successfully combined, it is known as collective
more on AI
intelligence. Our Grants Programme awarded funding to 15 different teams around the
Naver outlines global AI
world that designed experiments to explore and test this idea in new ways to help
ambitions tackle pressing social and environmental challenges.

Wipro’s AI platform to improve Each experiment fell under one of four themes: exploring artificial intelligence (AI)-
vaccine safety crowd interaction; making better collective decisions; understanding the dynamics of
collective behaviour; and gathering better data.
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congestion

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In this e-guide
Exploring AI-crowd interaction
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence The first group of grantees looked at ways in which AI can complement human crowd
intelligence. This theme included experiments such as one by medtech Spotlab, which
When to deploy AI
used serious games to train AI models for medical diagnosis. It asked if citizens playing
online games could be as effective as physicians in training AI models for diagnosing
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy neglected tropical diseases, such as malaria.

The experiment found that AI models trained on images annotated by both adults and
How to scale up your AI
initiatives schoolchildren can obtain similar results to ones trained on physician-based
annotations, of around 93% accuracy.
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI Meanwhile, AI startup Samurai Labs grappled with how humans and AIs might work
together to moderate online spaces and reduce cyber violence – and discovered that
Naver outlines global AI sometimes machine creativity can outperform the human variety.
ambitions
Making better collective decisions
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety
This second group of grantees explored how technology can be used to improve
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic decision-making within groups by communicating opinion diversity. The University of
congestion Bristol built a swarm of robots to test whether they could help a crowd to reach an
inclusive and informed consensus on challenging (and often polarising) topics such as
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climate change.
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In this e-guide Participants input their responses to a question into the robot, which the robot then
displayed for other participants to see before they responded to the same question. It
The complementary strengths of showed that robot swarms can be used to engage people on challenging topics, to
AI and human intelligence
diffuse and influence opinions, serve as a prompt to launch conversations, and
empower introverts to share their opinions in large group of people.
When to deploy AI

To do AI right, forget your AI Understanding the dynamics of collective

strategy
behaviour
How to scale up your AI
initiatives The third group of grantees looked into ways in which positive behaviours and
collective action can spread, and be encouraged, within and between groups. Urban
APAC organisations to spend
design studio Umbrellium tested whether residents in a London borough could be
more on AI
connected together to collectively make environmentally friendly lifestyle changes to
Naver outlines global AI
reduce air pollution – even though the direct individual effects of these actions might
ambitions not be immediately noticeable.

Wipro’s AI platform to improve It found that communication and collaboration among citizens led to the sustained
vaccine safety adoption of these actions to decrease air pollution. The experimental groups saved, on
average, four times more carbon dioxide emissions than the control groups, who were
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic not allowed to communicate and collaborate within their groups.
congestion
Meanwhile, Nottingham University’s team explored ways in which improving inter-
Getting more PRO+ essential group communication might mitigate the tragedy of the commons (overusing of shared
content resources). The participants took part in a task that mimicked a common resource

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In this e-guide dilemma – participants (members of the public) in groups could individually claim from
a common resource, but faced the prospect of receiving nothing if the total of their
The complementary strengths of claims exceeded a certain threshold.
AI and human intelligence
It found that communication (strongly) and connectivity (modestly) enhanced
When to deploy AI sustainable resource use, and that these two factors mutually reinforce each other.
This has potential future applications for problems such as over-fishing, water table
To do AI right, forget your AI
depletion, or even the fuel crisis witnessed in the UK last year.
strategy

How to scale up your AI Gathering better data

initiatives

APAC organisations to spend

The fourth and final group focused on ways in which collective intelligence and AI can
more on AI be applied to data. This included an experiment that took place in Bolivia, where
Swisscontact, a charity that focuses on international development projects, turned the
Naver outlines global AI usual development model upside-down by bringing Andean farmers into the world of
ambitions meteorology.

Wipro’s AI platform to improve Instead of imposing new technologies on them, their crowdsourced reports of micro-
vaccine safety climate changes and pest outbreaks helped to power better forecasts across the
region. Farmers who crowdsourced reports on pests and disease outbreaks were more
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
likely to act on the information they received to protect their crops, such as by
congestion
irrigating their crops more and applying more pest repellent, compared with farmers
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who were not involved.
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In this e-guide The breadth of the experiments supported through the grants programme illustrates
the diverse applications of collective intelligence and its potential to solve complex
The complementary strengths of societal challenges. It is vital that we continue to develop and test new and unique
AI and human intelligence
collective approaches, and collaborate in new ways in order to accelerate learning in
the field.
When to deploy AI

Despite its potential, collective intelligence design is still a nascent area for research
To do AI right, forget your AI
funding and is dwarfed by investments in AI, so funding for experimentation is crucial
strategy
to help push the boundaries of existing practice and knowledge. Our hope is that these
How to scale up your AI experiments, which were backed by Nesta, Wellcome, the Omidyar Network and the
initiatives Patrick J McGovern Foundation, will prompt other funders to direct their resources to
collective intelligence.
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI Funders who want to solve the complex global challenges of our time, from climate
change to misinformation, will recognise the urgency of making progress in how we, as
Naver outlines global AI humans, understand, think and act together. Collective intelligence is about combining
ambitions the best of human and machine intelligence to do that. It’s the best way to empower
communities to act on the problems that matter to them and create the futures they
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
want and deserve.
vaccine safety

Kathy Peach is the director at Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design
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In this e-guide
When to deploy AI
The complementary strengths of
Cliff Saran, Managing Editor
AI and human intelligence

In the world of artificial intelligence, there is a tendency to consider the ultimate goal
When to deploy AI
as creating something that humans can interact with in a natural way.
To do AI right, forget your AI
Today, smart speakers like Alexa and the Siri "intelligent" voice assistant on the iPhone,
strategy
are far from natural. How often do people refer to the name at the start of a sentence
to get someone's attention? Yes it does happen, but talking to a smart speaker is a long
How to scale up your AI
initiatives way from having a natural conversation.

APAC organisations to spend

Nevertheless, it has its uses, from controlling smart home devices via voice, to finding
more on AI out something useful and online shopping.

Naver outlines global AI

The thing is, human beings have adapted pretty well to interacting with the rather
ambitions dumb smart speaker or intelligent voice assistant. And this is not a massive revelation.
From the very beginning, early man adapted to use tools to enable people to achieve
Wipro’s AI platform to improve things they could not have done otherwise. In modern times, the automobile presents
vaccine safety an unnatural user interface. No one would argue that it is not natural to use your right
foot to accelerate or brake, yet we have adapted to the point that it makes sense to us.
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion What about software? In the days of green screen terminals, operators needed to
learn and type in obscure codes to input relevant data into an electronic form. Today,
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the graphical user interface means that these codes have been mapped onto
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In this e-guide meaningful, human readable words and phrases that the user can pick from a drop
down menu or use a button to click on "yes" or "no" or "cancel".
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence
The written word
When to deploy AI
For thousands of years people used the written word to distribute information. These
To do AI right, forget your AI
days, those words are written on a computer keyboard. Some people may choose to
strategy
use AI-powered speech-to-text, but people write in a very different way to how they
would speak. The information they want to impart may actually become watered down
How to scale up your AI
initiatives and lost in the verbosity of natural language.

APAC organisations to spend

The question AI pioneers need to ask is whether the front-end user interface of a
more on AI software application can be improved by using AI. It may make sense to deploy AI
processing to provide insights at the back-end, but is the user interface a good use of
Naver outlines global AI powerful AI resources? In a word processor, for instance, the spell checker is simply a
ambitions pattern matching algorithm. But grammar checking requires an understanding of
context, something AI is notoriously bad at doing. AI pioneers need to focus on the
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
things that truly add the most value to society and understand that humans are pretty
vaccine safety
good at adapting to work within the limitations of the tools they use.
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congestion
Next article
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In this e-guide
To do AI right, forget your AI strategy
The complementary strengths of
David R. Hardoon, managing director of Aboitiz Data Innovation
AI and human intelligence

If anything, the past few years have shown that artificial intelligence (AI) is more than
When to deploy AI
just a buzzword. AI has successfully redefined the way that businesses work. From
finance to healthcare, various industries have shown tangible outcomes from using AI
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy as a part of their solutions, reiterating the immense possibilities this technology can
provide for the world.
How to scale up your AI
initiatives As more people continue to experience the benefits of utilising technologies to ensure
businesses are future-ready, there is no doubt in my mind that AI will only continue to
APAC organisations to spend grow in importance in 2022 and beyond. This mirrors the sentiment of Kearney's
more on AI survey respondents, where more than 70% of them see AI as crucial to Southeast Asia's
future.
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions That said, the reality is that there is currently a gap between the number of people
who favour AI adoption to be accelerated, and those that are truly able to adopt and
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
operationalise it to its fullest potential, with over 80% of the region still in the early
vaccine safety
stage of AI adoption.
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
To close the gap and drive progress in the region, businesses must direct their
congestion
attention to the accurate aspects of operationalising AI. There are a few common
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misperceptions that could be stalling the progress of AI adoption that often land
content companies in a catch-22 situation. So, let's do some myth-busting.

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In this e-guide
Myth #1: You need an AI strategy
The complementary strengths of
It may seem paradoxical, but in order to operationalise AI, businesses have to first
AI and human intelligence
forget their AI strategy. Instead, focus on your business objectives, and use AI as a tool
When to deploy AI
to help achieve those goals. It is important to think of AI as an enabler, while the goals
should guide how it is being used and implemented.
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy For example, in the Philippines, it took Republic Cement almost a month to measure
the compressive strength of cement, which is crucial to the acceptance of the product
How to scale up your AI for concrete mixes used in constructing vertical structures.
initiatives
To transform the way the industry worked, we used a tool that predicts cement quality
APAC organisations to spend based on historical data to help operators and quality managers optimise
more on AI concentrations of raw materials and save time. This resulted in better resource
management and increased operational efficiency.
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions At the same time, we also improved the quality of cement products in terms of
consistency and reduced CO2 emissions. Indeed, when businesses focus on their end
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
goals and use AI as a "catalyst" to reach the destination, they can produce quality
vaccine safety
results.
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In this e-guide
Myth #2: There is a "perfect" solution and timing
The complementary strengths of for when AI comes in
AI and human intelligence
It is not always possible to know if a solution is "right" if you do not try it out. With
When to deploy AI human behaviour and technology constantly evolving, the AI solution you designed
today based on a specific set of data and models may become obsolete by the time
To do AI right, forget your AI
you decide to launch it. It is important not to be obsessed with perfection and wait for
strategy
governance or frameworks to be in place before operationalising an AI solution.
How to scale up your AI
To address the challenge of fostering financial inclusion for the unbanked population
initiatives
and providing fair access to banking and financial services for micro SMEs like mom-
APAC organisations to spend
and-pop stores, UnionBank maintained a razor-sharp focus on these goals and
more on AI evaluated the available data to find innovative solutions that were compliant with the
bank's risk appetite.
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions For instance, looking at power usage data in a restaurant to assess potential
profitability for the bank may not be the best model to evaluate loan applications, but
Wipro’s AI platform to improve the key is to constantly work on improving the AI model until the goal is realised. Other
vaccine safety data points and appropriate considerations can be used to refine the existing model.
With consumer behaviour and market trends constantly changing, finding the "perfect"
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solution or timing could result in missed opportunities. Sometimes, it is about
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operationalising AI solutions in identified quick wins considered as "low-hanging fruits"
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which build small steps to achieve game-changing solutions down the road. This can
content help gain buy-in for future AI projects to accelerate the adoption process.

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In this e-guide
Myth #3: Everything we do with DSAI should be
The complementary strengths of kept under lock and key
AI and human intelligence
AI transformations do take a lot of time and effort, and I can understand why most
When to deploy AI companies feel that knowledge gained during the process should be kept proprietary.
However, I truly believe that sharing is caring. Through sharing, we can support the
To do AI right, forget your AI
industry as a whole to progress, as we can mutually learn from each other on
strategy
possibilities and challenges.
How to scale up your AI
It is also important to note that though AI frameworks and models can be identical,
initiatives
data will never be the same as it has to be adapted based on the objectives of each
APAC organisations to spend
individual business. By sharing case studies, we can short-circuit the sometimes
more on AI arduous process of innovation and create more relevant and wonderful solutions.

Naver outlines global AI

With its myriad possibilities, AI has been trumpeted as a saviour to the problems of
ambitions tomorrow. Hence, it is not surprising that the world is plagued by these myths as
people believe that we have to be careful about its application, from planning an AI
Wipro’s AI platform to improve strategy to finding the "right" solution and protecting the knowledge gained from
vaccine safety multiple trials. However, it is exactly because AI presents so many opportunities that
businesses need to focus on their end goal, share the knowledge gained with others to
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
enable progress across industries, and have a ‘just do it' attitude to try, try and try
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again because there isn't a perfect plan.
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In this e-guide
How to scale up your AI initiatives
The complementary strengths of
Aaron Tan, Executive Editor, APAC
AI and human intelligence

Most business executives believe they need to harness artificial intelligence (AI) to stay
When to deploy AI
ahead of the pack and grow their business, but they often fail to scale up their AI
initiatives across their organisations, according to an Accenture expert.
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy
Citing a global study by Accenture, Lee Joon Seong, managing director for applied
intelligence in ASEAN at the consulting firm, noted that while 88% of global executives
How to scale up your AI
initiatives believed they needed AI for their business to survive, the same proportion also
struggled to scale AI initiatives beyond the pilot stage.
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI “A lot of people understand the potential of AI and have embarked on AI initiatives,
but not many have fully realised their full potential,” said Lee.
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions The ability to scale is seen as a barometer of success in AI adoption, given the time,
talent and resources involved in AI projects. Here’s what organisations can do to scale
Wipro’s AI platform to improve up their AI initiatives:
vaccine safety
Earmarking AI as part of your business strategy sounds obvious, but many
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic organisations still struggle to get that right.
congestion
Lee noted that while chief data and analytics officers can build an AI platform, an
Getting more PRO+ essential organisation’s business functions may choose to “get on with business as usual”.
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In this e-guide To align AI initiatives with the rest of the business, Lee said sponsorship from the
leadership team is critical, citing organisations such as Singapore’s DBS Bank, whose
The complementary strengths of CEO has been very vocal about the use of data and AI.
AI and human intelligence

When to deploy AI
The missing middle
Another ingredient for scaling up AI initiatives is access to talent, though Lee said
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy organisations must be clear on the sorts of talent they need.

“When you put businesspeople who have weak understanding of AI with a bunch of
How to scale up your AI
initiatives data scientists and engineers, nothing happens,” he said.

APAC organisations to spend

According to Lee, the crux of the matter is what he dubbed the “missing middle”, or
more on AI the lack of people with analytics skills and the ability to build bridges between business
and data science teams.
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions “We want a lot of data scientists, but we also want a lot of analytics artists or
translators who can bridge between the science of data and the art of business,” said
Wipro’s AI platform to improve Lee.
vaccine safety
Lay your data foundation
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion Lee noted that having a strong data foundation is key as “data is the rocket fuel for
growth” of AI initiatives. Noting that technology is evolving rapidly, Lee said
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organisations that are managing data at scale today would have to do so on the cloud.
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In this e-guide Many Accenture clients, however, are still operating traditional data platforms which
are becoming obsolete, he added.
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence Also, organisations often do not know how much data they really need – and even
though it is generally accepted that the more data one has, the better it is, that is not
When to deploy AI always the case, said Lee.

To do AI right, forget your AI “They also have issues with data quality and other dimensions, and everybody is using
strategy
a slightly different version of the data with no single source of truth,” he added.

How to scale up your AI These challenges, said Lee, cannot be easily solved in the short term, but on the other
initiatives
hand, organisations have a pressing need to differentiate themselves through the use
of AI and data. Organisations can start by getting a set of data right to support a
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI
specific AI use case that has been prioritised at a strategic level.

Naver outlines global AI “If supply chain is an area you want to focus on, then fix the supply chain related data
ambitions and get that into production first while you think about other data,” he added.

Wipro’s AI platform to improve Massive experimentation

vaccine safety
Working with a set of data to support specific use cases is a hallmark of organisations
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with a mindset of massive experimentation and rapid prototyping.
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In this e-guide Singapore’s Changi Airport, for example, worked with Accenture to create a smart
luggage fitted with sensors that collects data on vibrations and other factors related to
The complementary strengths of the condition of the airport’s baggage handling system.
AI and human intelligence
“So, instead of having people inspect the baggage handling system, we created a
When to deploy AI luggage with sensors to do preventive maintenance,” said Lee. “That solution didn’t
exist before and therefore you need to do experimentation and try it out.”
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy
Democratising AI
How to scale up your AI
initiatives Paving the way for AI and data science capabilities to be democratised and accessible
to citizen data scientists is another way to scale up AI initiatives. Lee said that while
APAC organisations to spend citizen data scientists may not be AI experts, “they can also develop AI solutions by
more on AI leveraging tools and capabilities out there to achieve impact”.

Naver outlines global AI “As we help our clients scale and get talent, including analytics artists who understand
ambitions industry and business, we are trying to help democratise data science and AI by
grooming citizen data scientists,” he said.
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety Lee said the availability of cloud-based AI application programming interfaces today
also makes it easier for one without coding skills to build AI models. “You will still need
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
AI specialists with PhDs because they will help you differentiate, but at the same time,
congestion
you’d also need a lot of citizen data scientists,” he added.
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In this e-guide
APAC organisations to spend more on AI
The complementary strengths of
Aaron Tan, Executive Editor, APAC
AI and human intelligence

Organisations in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are expected to spend more on artificial
When to deploy AI
intelligence (AI) systems over the next three years to improve employee efficiency and
speed up decision-making, among other goals, according to research by IDC.
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy
According to the research firm, spending on AI systems will rise from $17.6bn in 2022
to around $32bn in 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of 25.2%
How to scale up your AI
initiatives during the forecast period.

APAC organisations to spend

Much of the spending will come from the banking industry, which is investing in AI
more on AI systems to mitigate risks and detect fraud. This is followed by state and local
governments, which are increasingly deploying AI in public safety and emergency
Naver outlines global AI response applications.
ambitions
Those in the professional services industry are also expected to spend more on AI to
Wipro’s AI platform to improve resolve customer issues through augmented customer service agents, and to
vaccine safety streamline complex and repetitive business tasks. Such AI deployments are among the
top five use cases that will account for $6.1bn, or 34.5% of total AI spending, and is
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
forecasted to grow to $10.8bn by 2025.
congestion
In deploying AI, organisations will spend more on hardware, which will account for
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more nearly half of their AI spending. The largest areas of investment will be in servers,
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In this e-guide which will represent over 84% of total spending, while the rest will go towards storage.
Software, on the other hand, will account for 31% of AI spending in the region. Some
The complementary strengths of 71% of total AI spending in software will go towards AI applications and platforms.
AI and human intelligence
“Many of the changes caused by the pandemic will stay and we expect the adoption
When to deploy AI momentum of practical AI use cases such as remote or contactless engagement to
continue,” said Jessie Cai, associate research director for cognitive computing and AI at
To do AI right, forget your AI
IDC Asia-Pacific. “In the long term, clear guidance on the management of the
strategy
associated risk factors of AI solutions will further boost the confidence level of buying
How to scale up your AI organisations,” she added.
initiatives
As organisations deploy more AI applications, they will also need to address increasing
APAC organisations to spend government regulations and mandates of AI’s trust, robustness, and its ethical use, said
more on AI Vinayaka Venkatesh, senior market analyst at IDC. “Customer-facing industries such as
financial services, hospitality and tourism will take the lead in addressing these
Naver outlines global AI government mandates,” he added.
ambitions
Despite the growing momentum of AI, organisations continue to face challenges in
Wipro’s AI platform to improve scaling up their AI initiatives. According to an Accenture study, 88% of global
vaccine safety
executives believed they needed AI for their business to survive, but the same
proportion also struggled to scale AI initiatives beyond the pilot stage. The ability to
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
scale is seen as a barometer of success in AI adoption, given the time, talent and
congestion
resources involved in AI projects.
Getting more PRO+ essential
Next article
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In this e-guide
Naver outlines global AI ambitions
The complementary strengths of
Aaron Tan, Executive Editor, APAC
AI and human intelligence

South Korean internet giant Naver has been shoring up its artificial intelligence (AI)
When to deploy AI
capabilities in recent years to counter the dominance of the US and China in the field.
To do AI right, forget your AI
In 2017, the company, which operates the top search engine in South Korea, the Line
strategy
messaging app and other online services such as e-commerce, set out to build a global
research network by acquiring the Xerox Research Centre in France.
How to scale up your AI
initiatives
Since then, it has expanded its research footprint to Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
APAC organisations to spend
More recently in September 2021, it appointed Kim Young-bum as chief scientist of the
more on AI newly formed Naver Search US (NSU), the epicentre of its global research network.

Naver outlines global AI

An established AI researcher, Kim led the dynamic ranking science group at Amazon,
ambitions where he developed key technologies to understand a user’s context and intentions
for the Alexa AI platform.
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety Speaking to Computer Weekly from the US, Kim talks up the work of NSU, how Naver,
which wants to reach one billion users globally in five years, is applying AI models to
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic deliver good user experiences and the role of open innovation.
congestion

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In this e-guide How is Naver implementing AI in its products and what kinds of
problems are you trying to solve?
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence Kim Young-bum: We’re trying to develop state-of-art technologies for different global
products that feature AI capabilities. We are currently researching and developing AI
When to deploy AI products and we are trying to bring separate Naver services into one group so that
there are organic relationships between them.
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy
Could you share more about the AI capabilities? For example, how is AI
How to scale up your AI used to deliver personalised search experiences for users?
initiatives
Kim: The goal is to provide the best optimised experience for individuals. So, when you
APAC organisations to spend say “experience”, it’s not limited to one single service, it’s for many different products,
more on AI
services and platforms. Our AI technology aims to help users in the Naver ecosystem
achieve their goals.
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions
What kinds of data do you use from users to deliver that experience?
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
Would it be things like search history, where the users come from and
vaccine safety
their behaviour on different services? What are some of the key data
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points that shape how Naver’s algorithms work?
congestion
Kim: What’ve you mentioned are some of the data points we use. The data we are
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using is anonymised and authorised by users who have agreed to provide us with their
content personal and sensitive information. There are many different services in Naver that are

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In this e-guide connected to our search service, and we look at the interaction data of users across
those services.
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence Queries will be important. So, for example, if a user uses certain queries to search for
something, we see if the user scrolls down the results page, clicks on specific things or
When to deploy AI uses the “back” button to go back to where they were.

To do AI right, forget your AI But it’s not limited to search – we also look at similar types of data from Naver services
strategy
like online shopping. For Naver Shopping, for example, we look at whether the user has
viewed or purchased an item, whereas for Naver Map, we look at their relative and
How to scale up your AI
absolute locations. All of that data is being used to develop our AI models.
initiatives

APAC organisations to spend Can you share how Naver improves its AI models over time? What sorts
more on AI
of feedback do you get from users?
Naver outlines global AI Kim: We use both explicit and implicit feedback. I think a major trend for in-house
ambitions
developed AI services is to take into account user feedback. Customers are the ones
who know what’s the ideal environment for them. So, to create this environment, we
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety need to get feedback directly or indirectly to optimise the system and become more
customer-centric.
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion
There have been a lot of conversations in the industry about the need for
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explainable AI. What is Naver’s take on that?
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In this e-guide Kim: From our perspective, explainable AI is very critical and important. We are
adopting the concept in areas such as privacy. In the past, we focused on getting as
The complementary strengths of much data as possible and understanding the correlation between the data. Now, we
AI and human intelligence
are training our AI models with common sense and assumptions so that we can look at
causal relationships and increase the efficiency of data use.
When to deploy AI

We are also addressing the bias issue. For example, if there is a deep-learning model
To do AI right, forget your AI
with a particular neuron that is creating gender bias, then we will work to deactivate
strategy
that neuron.
How to scale up your AI
When implementing AI services, there are promises we have to keep for users. We
initiatives
need to win trust from users, and we aim to utilise the interpretability of our system to
APAC organisations to spend improve this.
more on AI

Can you give me a sense of the role of NSU in the broader scheme of
Naver outlines global AI
ambitions
things? Was it set up to gain access to talent?

Kim: Yes, we set up our office in the US to attract global talent so we can enhance our
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety technology and competitiveness on the global level. Our team members used to work
for other companies, but because they trusted me and the vision of NSU, they decided
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic to join.
congestion
For example, we have professor Yoon Kim who is currently working at the
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In this e-guide also have Rutgers University professor Karl Stratos, who is a global natural language
processing expert.
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence Our direction is to create a global service and we want everybody to use Naver services
in their daily lives. So, as the first step, we need to develop global-level technologies
When to deploy AI that can lead the search engine industry, and to improve Naver Search’s capability. We
also plan to build an ecosystem by connecting various Naver services and as our
To do AI right, forget your AI
ecosystem expands, we can get closer to our users.
strategy

But instead of following research trends, we are going to focus on the practicality of
How to scale up your AI
our services. So, whether something delivers better performance is not important.
initiatives
What matters is whether the user experience is better, not the technology or
APAC organisations to spend performance.
more on AI
I believe if you provide the best services and products, it will naturally lead to further
Naver outlines global AI development of the technology. That’s our purpose and vision.
ambitions

Is Naver making its tools available to third-party developers that might

Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety
benefit from the technology you’ve developed?

Kim: That’s a very important point you’ve made. To reinterpret your question, I think
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion you are asking if we are going to allow open innovation.

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When you are building a global scale project, mainstream adoption is necessary. If
content that’s the reality, then there’s a clear limit in our own in-house technology. So, I

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In this e-guide believe our services and technologies should be shared, so that third-party
technologies can be included and interoperable with ours.
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence Currently, we are going to focus on making our technology more sophisticated and we
are reviewing the plan to make it accessible from an open innovation point of view. At
When to deploy AI the same time, we need to strike a balance between quality and openness, because we
have to be able to control quality.
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy
But as we are aiming for global usage, once our technology is sophisticated enough, we
might disclose it to third-party developers. I think your question was very sharp.
How to scale up your AI
initiatives
Do you see the technology you are developing being applied in other
APAC organisations to spend domains or used by businesses?
more on AI
Kim: Yes, and we can do that through a technology called Ocean, which stands for
Naver outlines global AI Optimal Composable Experience Action Network. Technologically speaking, it was
ambitions
developed to create the best experience based on user behaviour and it’s going to
connect all Naver products and services into a network.
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety
The importance of this particular technology is that user experience doesn’t come from
one single service. And once you have the Ocean model implemented, you can remove
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion many of the limitations that you used to have because the model’s data is based on
actual behaviour. This can also be used by businesses with multiple platforms and
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In this e-guide Has Naver has submitted its algorithms, for example, those used for
image recognition, for third-party benchmarking?
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence Kim: What’s important to us now is to focus on long-term rather than short-term
value. And when I say long-term value, it’s not about getting more advertising income.
When to deploy AI We are going to focus on optimising user engagement. And once we improve user
satisfaction, our user base and engagement will increase, and we will be able to
To do AI right, forget your AI
monetise that and ultimately achieve our goal of reaching one billion users.
strategy

How to scale up your AI

initiatives
Next article
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI

Naver outlines global AI

ambitions

Wipro’s AI platform to improve

vaccine safety

Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic

congestion

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content

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In this e-guide
Wipro’s AI platform to improve vaccine safety
The complementary strengths of
Aaron Tan, Executive Editor, APAC
AI and human intelligence

Wipro has teamed up with stem cell technology firm Transcell Oncologics on the use of
When to deploy AI
its Holmes artificial intelligence (AI) platform to improve vaccine safety.
To do AI right, forget your AI
Currently, vaccine safety assessment often involves testing on animals to measure
strategy
adverse impacts. By applying AI to the vaccine development process, whether it is
repurposing drugs or developing messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based vaccines,
How to scale up your AI
initiatives Wipro said Holmes is capable of predicting adverse neurovirulent impacts resulting
from vaccinations.
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI The platform can also be integrated into existing workflows, including quality control
tests in vaccine production, batch-wise release and other safety evaluation assays,
Naver outlines global AI enabling researchers to ascertain the safety and potency of vaccines.
ambitions
Wipro said Holmes was the first in a series of offerings that the partnership will offer to
Wipro’s AI platform to improve determine the safety and efficacy of a wide range of products from vaccines to
vaccine safety prescription medications, cosmetics and more.

Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic “Enhancing neurovirulence safety assessment through augmented intelligence is a
congestion huge step forward in vaccine research and development,” said Harmeet Chauhan,
Wipro’s global head for engineering and research and development.
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In this e-guide “This innovative technology allows life science companies and vaccine manufacturers
to develop, trial and release safer and more effective vaccines for people around the
The complementary strengths of world. Our partnership with Transcell Oncologics will bring the best of AI and stem cell
AI and human intelligence
technology to researchers, medical professionals and, ultimately, patients through
safe, accelerated vaccination programmes,” he added.
When to deploy AI

Transcell CEO Subhadra Dravida said the partnership would bring new and advanced
To do AI right, forget your AI
insights from the use of stem cells in an in-vitro setting and will lead to “new medical
strategy
treatments and accelerate innovation and vaccine availability that is vital to saving
How to scale up your AI lives”.
initiatives
According to a 2020 paper by a team of US-based researchers, machine learning
APAC organisations to spend models, trained on specific biomolecules, have offered inexpensive and rapid
more on AI implementation methods for the discovery of effective viral therapies.

Naver outlines global AI “Given a target biomolecule, these models are capable of predicting inhibitor
ambitions candidates in a structural-based manner. If enough data is presented to a model, it can
aid the search for a drug or vaccine candidate by identifying patterns within the data,”
Wipro’s AI platform to improve they added.
vaccine safety
In the case of Covid-19 drug and vaccine development using AI, the researchers noted
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic that employing neural networks and supervised learning methods had proven to be a
congestion
game-changer, though a large training dataset and knowledge of the right biotargets
such as viral spike proteins are needed.
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content

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In this e-guide Amid the pandemic, technology suppliers have been stepping up to make their
products available to individuals, businesses, researchers and medical workers tide
The complementary strengths of over this difficult period.
AI and human intelligence
Alibaba’s Damo research academy, for example, has made its genome sequencing
When to deploy AI algorithm available to medical institutions that are conducting coronavirus analytics,
including viral genetic data screening, evolutionary analysis, protein structure analysis
To do AI right, forget your AI
and diagnostic reporting.
strategy

The algorithm can reportedly complete the diagnosis of new coronavirus within 14
How to scale up your AI
hours, which is five times faster than other sequencing solutions in China.
initiatives

APAC organisations to spend

more on AI Next article

Naver outlines global AI

ambitions

Wipro’s AI platform to improve

vaccine safety

Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic

congestion

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content

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In this e-guide
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic congestion
The complementary strengths of
Aaron Tan, Executive Editor, APAC
AI and human intelligence

Australian’s University of Melbourne has teamed up with a slew of public and private
When to deploy AI
sector organisations to create an artificial intelligence (AI) application that can predict
traffic congestion up to three hours ahead, as well as optimise traffic and improve road
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy safety.

The AI application, to be hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), can also optimise
How to scale up your AI
initiatives traffic signals for on-road vehicles, freight and public transport such as buses and
trams.
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI Majid Sarvi, a transport engineering expert and director at the university’s Australian
Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem, an initiative to test integrated transport technology
Naver outlines global AI on the streets of Melbourne, said the AI application observes the nature of traffic and
ambitions figures out complex traffic patterns across the network through machine learning.

Wipro’s AI platform to improve “If we can upscale the application to provide more accurate prediction with machine
vaccine safety learning and real-time data, it will soon be possible to substantially reduce delays in
hotspots across Melbourne and many locations across the globe,” he added.
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion PeakHour Urban Technologies, a Melbourne-based AI specialist with a focus on
transportation, developed the application’s AI core engine which uses AWS to power
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In this e-guide its predictive capabilities. The company is also using AWS to ingest, store and process
large amounts of traffic data.
The complementary strengths of
AI and human intelligence “Pioneering AI in forecasting real-time traffic lies at the heart of this effort,” said Omid
Ejtemai, founding CEO of PeakHour Urban Technologies.
When to deploy AI
“We are using a multi-disciplinary approach, combining deep knowledge of mobility
To do AI right, forget your AI with vast amounts of real-time data analytics to predict and optimise traffic in large
strategy
cities.”

How to scale up your AI The Victorian department of transport provided traffic data and insight to support the
initiatives
creation of the application.

APAC organisations to spend Victorian minister for transport Ben Carroll said managing a complex transport
more on AI
network presents many real-time challenges.

Naver outlines global AI “Not only does this world-first technology help Victorians navigate congestion by
ambitions
predicting traffic patterns hours in advance, but it paves the way to the future of
connected and autonomous vehicles,” Carroll said.
Wipro’s AI platform to improve
vaccine safety
Besides Melbourne, other cities in Asia-Pacific have also started to harness AI to
improve local transportation systems.
Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic
congestion
In Malaysian capital city Kuala Lumpur, Alibaba’s City Brain AI platform is being used to
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analyse massive amounts of real-time data generated by 382 camera feeds and 281
content traffic light junctions.

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In this e-guide By linking up with urban management systems – including emergency dispatch,
ambulance call, traffic command and traffic light control – the platform was expected
The complementary strengths of to optimise Kuala Lumpur’s traffic flow and traffic signals, as well as identify the
AI and human intelligence
quickest routes that emergency vehicles can take to avoid gridlock traffic.

When to deploy AI City Brain made its debut in Alibaba’s home city of Hangzhou in September 2016 and
has since increased average travel speeds at traffic-clogged junctions by up to 50%.
To do AI right, forget your AI
strategy
Wang Jian, chairman of Alibaba’s technology steering committee and the brains behind
City Brain, said this was accomplished not by diverting traffic from one part of the city
How to scale up your AI
to another, but by leveraging data analytics to control traffic light timings and other
initiatives
factors that affect traffic.
APAC organisations to spend
more on AI

Naver outlines global AI

ambitions

Wipro’s AI platform to improve

vaccine safety

Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic

congestion

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