SAS streamlines AI capabilities in the ASEAN region

Investing in AI and advanced analytics is a key pillar in driving the future of any nation, says Amir Sohrabi, Regional Vice President for ASEAN-Korea and Head of Digital Transformation for Emerging EMEA & Asia Pacific at SAS.

AI adoption in Southeast Asia continues to be one of the fastest in the world. While Singapore has been leading the pact, other countries in the ASEAN region are catching up fast as well, especially with governments in these nations announcing more initiatives to support AI development.

In Malaysia, AI development and adoption remains imperative not just for the government but for organizations in the country as well. Government agencies in Malaysia continue to enhance their public services while businesses are leveraging their data to develop more use cases that cater to both enterprise and consumer needs.

With data being core to AI development, having access to it and being able to get the best analytical insights for it is crucial. For government agencies, partnering with tech companies has enabled them not only to develop more offerings but also improve their product services.

For example, the Department of Statistics in Malaysia partnered with SAS to certify data professionals with advanced analytics tools and techniques, aligning with Malaysia’s goal of becoming a technologically advanced economy. In the financial sector, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad partnered with SAS to implement the SAS Asset Liability Management to bolster its risk monitoring and oversight for its interest rate risk and liquidity risk management.

Talent, technology and funds in AI

According to Amir Sohrabi, Regional Vice President for ASEAN-Korea and Head of Digital Transformation for Emerging EMEA & Asia Pacific at SAS, governments in Asia Pacific have made AI a strategic priority for them to make sure their citizens are enabled. Governments also want to ensure organizations, both in the public sector and private sector, are aware and are implementing strategies and policies in place that is going to allow them to leverage and yield economic benefits of the digital economy.

“This is driven by what's happening in the world of advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning. When we look at it at the macro level, there is an intense appetite to make sure that this is being infused at all levels within the economy and society itself,” said Sohrabi in an interview with CRN Asia.

IDC’s data show that over 25% of organizations looking at AI are going to make sure that they enhance their operations and they're going to be able to provide better yields to their customers. IDC also states that there is going to be around US$27 billion in value that's gained by using GenAI in the economies of ASEAN.

“What does it mean to our customers? It means that there are three things that they need to focus on - talent, technology, and funds. You need to have the talent base to be able to leverage technology. You need funds to be able to retain the talent. And you need to invest in technology to innovate, create and grow. I think ASEAN is a region that is continuing to invest in that. Specifically, we see that in Malaysia and Singapore, from the talent investment side, whereby the government has huge initiatives on it,” explained Sohrabi.

Interestingly, Sohrabi believes that the challenge is not just developing talent but also retaining talent. SAS has worked with numerous government agencies and education institutions to develop talent as they have the content, coursework, and syllabus to ensure this

“The key thing is going to be also retaining that talent. You can create the talent funnel, but then you need to make sure you can retain that talent. For example, when we talk about data science talent, it is a finite talent globally. These individuals become very sought-after team members globally. And the way the global talent is working right now, you can be sitting out of anywhere and working for anybody,” said Sohrabi.

In Malaysia, SAS is working with government agencies like MDEC to train talents. Sohrabi feels that there needs to be assurance that the that talent developed is retained and is able to contribute to Malaysia as well.

“How we do that? This is where we are very much engaged with our customers. We make sure that this talent is continually working on new and innovative programs or initiatives. We know what it takes to create that talent pool, to curate and retain that talent pool from our legacy, from our history, because that's where we came from. We didn't just come to the table. We can leverage that to drive and create policies to effectively curate that talent,” he added.

When it comes to technology, Sohrabi pointed out that SAS’s 47 years history has continued to make them one of the key leaders when it comes to advanced analytics and AI.

AI in government and financial institutions

When it comes to government agencies in the region, Sohrabi pointed out that the agencies now realize that it's important to have AI to streamline more government services. However, the challenge they face is working through access to data. This includes ensuring who will have access to whose data, where and when they have access to it.

“We see that the regulatory frameworks are starting to be much more attuned with all the changes that are happening with. For example, looking at the increase in digital transactions that are happening. It is a natural byproduct of the digital economy but also increases the risk to investors. We need to be able to make sure that we can help them manage that risk by leveraging the latest in our technologies. We continue to be the only vendor that is ranked in the top right quadrant of major research reports when it comes to solutions like risk and fraud,” said Sohrabi.

Apart from regulatory frameworks, Sohrabi highlighted that trustworthy AI is imperative for any nation because they need to make sure the AI programs coming out are trustworthy and are going to be beneficial to the citizens and be fair.

“When we look at the financial services industry, as an example, if these AI programs are biased by anyway, it is going to create challenges. For example, a bias AI program could end up in a situation where some people get loans, and some people don't because there's a bias in the code. As such, trustworthy AI is a big topic for us as a company. We believe the way that's solved for is that government and industry need to work actively together,” added Sohrabi.

Regionally, SAS recently announced its collaboration with Axslogic to provide financial institutions with end-to-end customer journey and life cycle management solutions to enhance their credit portfolio management for optimizing revenue and managing risk effectively. The collaboration will see SAS Viya 4 technology and SAS Enterprise Customer Decisioning combined with Axslogic's proven content and deep domain knowledge and expertise to ensure quick, professional, and successful deployments aligned with the goals and strategies of financial services institutions globally.

The SAS partner ecosystem

For SAS, Sohrabi mentioned that partners play a big role for the company’s growth trajectory because they are a key lever in the growth strategy. He said that SAS has a lot of partners within the region that are engaged with them in the ecosystem.

Sohrabi said, “We are creating joint enablement academies, where partners are also taking on talent and they're able to leverage it around their ecosystem as well. Our growth to our partners is a key focus area for us for the next two to three years. We will leverage our partners to continue to develop and grow the talent pool and make sure as well that we are providing a structure to our partners.”

According to Sohrabi, when partners become certified on SAS, the certification gives them a lot of credibility, especially in accomplishing their mission based on specific global standards. It elevates the partners’ know-how and status in front of customers.

“We continue to make sure that we can support our customers in a very proactive manner, where they're leveraging the best practices in enablement and certification. This makes partners more relevant in front of their customers and our customers collectively. Just as we invest in talent, we continue to invest in technology as well and make sure that we are a viable economic value for our customers,” explained Sohrabi.

In conclusion, Sohrabi reiterates that investing in AI and advanced analytics is a key pillar in driving the future of any nation. From an economic perspective, while there are currency fluctuations across the region, he believes countries will not deviate from their AI plans.

“If you don't invest into the future and are not future-proofing your business by making sure you're investing in the talent and the technology by putting the funds into it, then your relevancy will go down because you just will not be as competitive in a market that requires you to be hyper-competitive,” concluded Sohrabi.