KBTG Goes ‘All In’ on AI as Thailand's Tech Titan Bets Big with Ambitious Vision

Group Chairman of KASIKORN Business-Technology Group (KBTG), Ruangroj Poonpol, delivered a powerful speech at the second annual KBTG Techtopia, Thailand's largest technology conference, outlining the company's aggressive vision and commitment to AI development.

This year's event, themed "A Blast From the Future", delved into the likely future with over 50 leading experts from Thailand and abroad sharing their insights on artificial intelligence (AI) and game-changing technologies.

The event also showcased several cutting-edge use cases from KBTG [THaLLE, Finly, FinLearn, Luna and Future you], allowing participants to envision the immense potential of the next wave of AI and other technologies.

This year's conference was made even more special by the appearance of Dr. Andrew Ng, one of TIME's 100 most influential figures in the AI world. He presented his profound insights on the stage under the title "The Opportunities and Risks of AI".

This special speech focused on AI risks and opportunities, future AI development trends, and strategies for launching successful startups and fostering growth in Thailand. 

Underscoring KBTG's commitment to going “all-in” on democratizing AI technology ("AI for all"), Ruangroj, also known as Krating, announced the signing of two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Dr. Ng's AI Fund and DeepLearning.AI. This strategic collaboration aims to accelerate AI adoption in Thailand by unlocking the synergy between powerful AI tools and empowering Thais to leverage AI effectively.

The two most recent MOUs aim to form a partnership to drive AI education in Thailand.

The first is a collaboration between KBTG, DeepLearning.Ai, and AIAT to develop the KBTG.AI Kampus programme, which will support the Super AI Engineer Bootcamp. The programme not only provides experts, tools, and training courses to incubate super AI engineers, but it also provides AI curriculum support and consultation to Thai universities and government agencies.

Founded by Ng, DeepLearning.AIDeeplearning.ai provides essential online courses, knowledge, and tools to help people understand AI fundamentals and improve their AI skills and productivity.

The second MOU focuses on a partnership between KBTG, AI Fund, and the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) to develop an AI Assistant specifically designed for youth education. This collaborative effort aims to explore the co-creation of AI solutions alongside all three parties to address the challenges of mental health and educational equity in Thailand.

"We are glad to bring him to Thailand," Ruangroj said during a joint interview session for invited media and agencies with Dr. Ng at the Techtopia event. 

Sharing a common passion for AI and education, KBank and KBTG have partnered to ensure that this collaboration benefits not only themselves but also Thailand's entire AI ecosystem, fostering growth in both the education and startup sectors and propelling the country towards becoming a global leader in AI technology.

Prior to the event, KXVC, a venture capital arm of KBTG, announced its new strategic partnership aimed at growing and scaling new AI companies and startups in Thailand. 

By combining AI Fund's venture studio model with KBTG's cutting-edge technological expertise – a powerful force in Southeast Asia's tech scene – this strategic partnership aims to tackle real-world challenges through innovative new solutions. AI Fund and KXVC will join forces to build new companies and forge stronger connections within their ecosystems.

 

Ruangroj Poonpol

Committed partner in "AI for All"

While AI isn't a new concept, Ruangroj argues that we're currently experiencing a peak in its transformative power. Advancements in areas like generative AI, computer vision with large language models, and composite AI all point towards this.

This surge in capability is leading to a wave of enthusiasm for AI adoption, with both individuals and businesses eager to leverage its potential. 

Speaking on stage at the KBTG Techtopia event on the topic "Transform to Thrive in the Age of AI", he forecasted that by 2030, Domain-specific AI (Vertical AI) will dominate every industry. 

Emphasizing vertical AI (domain-specific AI) as a key trend, he said Vertical AI equips businesses with deep knowledge of their specific field, allowing them to address unique challenges. This approach offers advantages like tackling specific needs and meeting domain-specific challenges more effectively with less cost and resources. 

Furthermore, vertical AI often utilizes a "multimodal" approach, meaning it can work with various data types for a more comprehensive understanding. In some cases, it can even involve "multi-agent systems", where multiple AI programs collaborate on complex tasks.

This collaborative approach further enhances vertical AI's problem-solving capabilities.

"AI will trigger unprecedented economic changes, boosting global GDP by a staggering $15.7 trillion. Notably, Asia's GDP is expected to rise by over $1 trillion, representing more than 10% growth. Meanwhile, labour productivity will be a key driver, contributing 55% of all GDP gains from AI between 2017-2030," he noted.

While encouraging everyone and every business to engage AI as a companion and to embrace changes with an open mind, as demonstrated at KBTG, which has always been a pioneer in AI, he advised patience, curiosity and responsibility. 

KBTG's core transformation concept, "Human First, AI First", exemplifies this approach. Ruangroj explained that the company prioritizes humans as the center for unlocking business and customer impact. By 2027, they aim to achieve this through AI-powered revenue generation, product innovation, and productivity improvements. 

However, KBTG's ambitions extend beyond the company itself.

Ruangroj emphasized their commitment to an "all-in" strategy, aiming to bring all Thais on board to benefit from AI technology. He cited the two MOUs KBTG had signed with AI Fund as evidence of their dedication to Thailand. 

"We are all-in for Thailand, and we've made it possible by placing people at the center of our AI transformation," he said, underscoring that the human who improves by using AI would replace the human who just uses AI and the same for companies. 

 

 

Andrew Ng

AI Fund footprint: Expanding Reach, Extending Network

Emphasising his firm belief in Thailand's potential, Andrew Ng, a prominent figure in AI and managing general of AI Fund, praised the country as a top destination for the AI industry in the ASEAN region. 

Ng's visit aimed to explore opportunities for the AI Fund to contribute to Thailand's AI development through strategic partnerships. 

"The AI ecosystem, the startup ecosystem, the number of projects being done by KBTG and other Thai businesses are a reflection that there is truly something here. But I think for Thailand to reach its full potential, all of us will need to work hard and believe in the people and this country's potential to get there," he said in a joint interview.

He stated that technology is an essential foundation for all types of businesses. AI and smart technology are applicable to both small and medium-sized businesses and large corporations.

 "I've been saying that AI is the new electricity because AI is a general purpose technology, meaning it's useful not for one application, but for many applications. A bit like electricity in fact," he noted, highlighting the importance of everyone being well-educated in utilizing AI. 

"Thailand's focus on education is also seen as a key advantage for developing a skilled AI workforce," he said. 

He expressed an interest in sharing his expertise in AI training to strengthen the Thai workforce and improve education quality in AI fields, which aligns with the "Ignite Thailand" vision of becoming a digital economy hub. 

"When we were discussing, these ideas for us to participate in education came up. I think my teams were very excited to leap in and to work with Khun Krating [Ruangroj] and KBTG to pursue some of these initiatives," he said.

(from left) MC, Ruangroj Poonpol and Andrew Ng

This reflected his intention to collaborate with KBTG and KXVC to improve AI education in Thailand while also exploring potential partnerships with Thai businesses and entrepreneurs. 

To demonstrate his commitment, he held exclusive meetings with Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation,  and department representatives. 

He pointed out that the discussions encompassed more potential partnerships to increase Thailand's competitiveness in the AI industry, particularly people's AI and technology literacy.

"We have a few ideas, but it’s too early to say exactly what we will do. But I think you could imagine something that applications could work on. It’s still in the exploratory stage, but I am excited about exploring this navigation," he said, adding that healthcare, agriculture, and tourism – Thailand's strengths – might be a good starting point for this journey.

 

 

The importance of coding

He urged all parents to teach their kids how to code.

He said learning a little bit of simple coding – no need to acquire the expertise of a software engineer – would immensely improve an individual’s ability to utilize AI smartly. 

"With the rise of generative AI, the value of being able to write a small amount of code has increased for many more people, while the difficulty of doing so has gone down. And so what this means is that, I believe, we're entering a phase of society in which it makes sense for everyone to learn at least a little bit of coding, as it will make you more effective in a variety of non-software engineering jobs," he explained.

Amid concerns about AI ethics and responsibility, which he and his team take very seriously, he said that the matter surprisingly depended on the domain-specific task. For example, if we're building a self-driving car, the self-driving car industry has evolved certain processes for testing and ensuring safety.

Meanwhile, in some general practices, particularly high-risk AI applications, he proposed brainstorming as a solution to mitigate potential pitfalls.  

“When a team brainstorms all of the things that could go wrong, they could then be systematic in terms of determining what outcomes were acceptable, what metrics needed to be put in place to monitor if something that could go wrong had gone wrong, and the mitigation and rollback plans,” he explained.

As a result, they will have contingency plans in place to shut down the system and roll back if the predicted situations occur.

"I don't pretend that it solves all the problems but I think that's been very helpful for addressing a lot of the problems that AI might otherwise cause...and I think these types of practices would continue to work even as they get more powerful with agentic AI as well," he said.

He has a simple advice to acquire expertise in AI: Cultivate the learning habit, because no skill or knowledge can be acquired in a short period of time.

"I don't know anyone that became really good with AI over a weekend. So, the trick is to not work really, really hard over a weekend. The trick is to learn a little bit every week, and continue to do so for years.... Then, half a year, a year, or two years, you can actually get really far. So, one of the things I hope you can persuade more people in society to do is make learning a habit," he said.

 

 

Next AI Trends

As the field of AI rapidly evolves, predicting the next breakthrough can be challenging. However, AI expert Ng also shared several short-term trends he was confident would shape the industry.

Agentic AI has emerged as a key trend, focusing on interactive AI workflows. This approach involves users engaging in multiple interactions with AI agents, resulting in improved outcomes and more sophisticated applications. Unlike traditional single-prompt systems, Agentic AI creates a more dynamic and iterative process. 

AI at the Edge is gaining significant momentum. This trend sees Large Language Models (LLMs) running directly on devices, enabling AI capabilities without internet access.

"LLMs running on my laptop without Wi-Fi help me work even on airplanes without internet access," Ng explained. This development broadens the scope of AI integration across various applications and environments. 

Ng also highlighted the image processing revolution, which he believes was following closely behind text processing breakthroughs. This trend goes beyond mere image generation, encompassing advanced understanding and analysis of visual data. 

"I think that would have applications in manufacturing, inspecting or processing healthcare images," he stated. 

He noted its potential impact on autonomous vehicles, as improved image analysis could significantly enhance their capabilities.

"These trends – Agentic AI, Edge AI, and advanced image processing – are expanding AI capabilities, increasing the range of tasks AI can handle and creating new opportunities across sectors," he said.

As these technologies continue to develop, they promise to open up exciting new possibilities in numerous industries, further cementing AI's role in shaping our future, he concluded.

 

 

Further collaboration

KBTG Group Chairman Ruangroj said that in addition to developing a co-venture build model, the collaboration with AI Fund would contribute to the development of Thailand's ecosystem, facilitating the incubation and grooming of AI "talents" and "startups".

Meanwhile, he and Ng agreed to broaden their network of partners in Thailand in order to position the country at the forefront of the next wave of AI and other innovative technology.

Citing the two MOUs as a great start to taking action to unlock the country's AI potential, he said that the the program – to be launched later this year – would include several online Thai language courses and a Super AI Engineer bootcamp, with the goal of bringing around 6,000 AI talents to the industry each year.

Sharing Ng's belief that education is a worthwhile investment, he explained that the collaboration with AI Fund in education would focus on two key areas: training people in AI and using AI to solve educational problems, such as assisting in the training of upper secondary students. 

Meanwhile, as Thailand's godfather of startups, Ruangroj has pledged to collaborate with AI Fund to help Thai AI startups go global while also serving as a strong gateway for other international venture capital to invest in Thailand and the region. 

"Many other collaborative projects will follow. We intend to explore the entire runway of this AI ecosystem. I can assure you that there is an abundance of venture capital available for investment. We just need to show them that we have the potential, and KBTG and KXVC are committed to making it happen with a human-centered approach that ensures no one falls behind," he said.