Kyndryl managing director Malaysia and Indonesia Effendi Azmi Hashim.
KUALA LUMPUR: Businesses across all sectors need to use artificial intelligence (AI) with clarity rather than dive into it for fear of losing out, says Kyndryl managing director Malaysia and Indonesia Effendi Azmi Hashim.
As an information technology (IT) infrastructure services provider, Effendi said some people in management that he had spoken to, were unsure of why their companies are beginning to use AI or how to use it responsibly.
“When I say clarity, I mean knowing why you are using it, and what is the goal or outcome you want to see.
“The problem with AI is most people will try to use it for everything,” he told StarBiz on the sidelines of the “Third Malaysian banking conference 2024: Banking in the era of GenAI reshaping banking, innovating for the new economy and accelerating sustainability,” here yesterday.
According to Effendi, once a budget has been allocated for AI, it was wise to aim for full optimisation of what can be achieved, namely the process, function and industry.
“If you are going to do it for the process, then what is the time frame you would like to see things change?
“If you are doing it for function, how can AI make the workforce more productive? These are questions to ask,” he said.
He added some businesses are already halfway into their AI journey, only to make a pit stop and question why they started in the first place.
“A question I get asked a lot is, what is AI? I’m not being asked that as a test, but rather to give them an assurance that it is relevant and what can be achieved from it.
“When businesses and organisations have strong and solid plans for their AI journey, then they are more likely to be responsible when using AI and have strong governance backing it,” Effendi noted.
Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers chief executive Edward Ling said the use of AI in the banking sector is not new.
It was no longer the matter of adopting AI, but realising its full potential and how it can be of assistance, he said.
There are two aspects of productivity which had been estimated to increase by 30% from the use of AI.
“First, there’s speed, which determines how more efficient an organisation can become. But then we also need to focus more on the value creation of it. For instance, if we’re talking about sales and marketing, how can AI personalise customer service or create better products?”
Meanwhile, Malayan Banking Bhd
(Maybank) group technology, data and digital, human capital director Dr Shameem Farouk said the bank began its AI journey in 2018.
Her role was to upskill and reskill employees so they would be ready for AI.
“I organised a programme for them to learn about AI and at a strategic level, how AI can contribute value to our customers and shareholders.
“Our top management took the time to also learn programming, because for them, they see the future as the bank being enabled by technology,” she said.She added the competition was no longer just among banks, but technology companies that were venturing into banking.
“Maybank looked at our talent and said they must be of high technology capability people. If the senior management and top management are to lead a tech workforce, then we ourselves need to be equipped to know how to do it,” Shameem noted.
On the question of where Malaysia’s banking sector and its adoption of AI stands among the other countries in the region, Ling said the sector is not too far behind its peers.
“When we went overseas and exchanged experiences, we found that we are really not that far behind, or we are at par. So it all depends on individual banks, how fast you are picking yourself up,” he said.
Ling explained that bigger banks that have more funding might invest more, leading them to have stronger advancements in the industry.
Smaller banks, he noted, could face some difficulties in terms of guidance.
Silverlake Group Islamic finance and innovative service chief executive officer Othman Abdullah said he noticed a lack of technology to help share the syariah aspect of Islamic banks.
He said many of the syariah committees he had spoken to had welcomed tools that could help them make their work more efficient and productive.
