"AI in ASEAN Telcos: Real-Time Data, Real-World Disruption"

AWANI

ASEAN’s telecom sector is rapidly transforming through AI adoption, with Malaysia leading investments in real-time data platforms to enhance customer experience, automate operations, and unlock new revenue. Couchbase’s Gaurav Dhall shares insights on the drivers, challenges, and future of AI in regional telcos.

Transcript

00:00We're going to go for another discussion on the ASEAN level.

00:05ASEAN's telecom sector is undergoing a seismic shift driven by rapid adoption of artificial intelligence AI.

00:13And according to IDC, AI spending in Asia Pacific is projected to reach 78.4 billion US dollars by 2027,

00:21with telecoms among the top three industries leading this charge.

00:25And of course, in Malaysia, telcos are increasingly investing in AI-powered platforms.

00:30To enhance customer experience, automate network operations and also unlock new revenue streams.

00:36And this transformation is not just about technology.

00:38It's about survival and competitiveness in a region where mobile penetration exceeds 130%

00:44and data consumption is growing at over 20% annually.

00:48And joining us today is Gaurav Dahl, Global Vice President of Partnership at Couchbase,

00:54to unpack the drivers' challenges and as well as opportunities shaping AI adoption in ASEAN's telecom landscape.

01:02Gaurav, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

01:05Let's start our discussion with the key drivers behind this search in AI adoption among telecom players in ASEAN region and also Malaysia.

01:14What drives them to adopt AI in the current situation?

01:20Good morning. Thank you for having me here. It's a very interesting topic.

01:24South Asian telcos are rapidly adopting AI as 5G rollouts are driving an explosion in network traffic

01:32and customer expectations for personalized and real-time interactions are rapidly expanding.

01:41With the expansion of networks and with the role of 5G, rollout of 5G in Asia,

01:48there's been an exponential growth in data traffic.

01:51And Malaysia is leading that.

01:54As a country, as a nation, Malaysia has experienced a significant increase in 5G adoption amongst its population.

02:03The percentage of users using 5G has increased to about 54% compared to 25% just about six months ago,

02:12placing Malaysia as one of the fastest growing nations in terms of expansion in communications in recent times.

02:20With that comes the need to adopt this technology for personalization that consumers expect.

02:32There's a huge demand of hyper-personalizations.

02:35As you can see that the diverse and digitally savvy population around South Asia is expecting tailored services.

02:43And AI enables these telcos to analyze the customer behavior in real-time to allow them to offer personalized plans

02:52and support them on a proactive basis.

02:55On the other hand, the telco operators are using AI for operational efficiency

03:02and to make sure that they can use predictive maintenance to bring down their costs

03:07and minimize failures in their network traffic.

03:11And Gaurav, how are ASEAN telcos approaching this transformation differently compared to their global peers?

03:21Very interesting question.

03:22ASEAN telcos deal with very low ARPU, as the industry calls it, average revenue per user compared to the Western world,

03:34which is 10 times more, perhaps, return per average consumer in terms of payout per month.

03:43With that, there's a need for these telcos to undertake large-scale overhaul and make sure that they keep their technology fresh.

03:52At the same time, it's important to integrate AI into their existing systems without disrupting anything.

03:59At the same time, keep costs low because they have to service their consumers at very low cost.

04:06With this, there's a need to have a multi-cloud environment with edge computing that allows these telcos

04:14to prioritize flexible computing setups and deliver consistent services across urban and rural areas.

04:23There's an emphasis on AI.

04:25The regional telcos, especially in ASEAN, are increasing the use of responsible AI practices

04:31to make sure that they're able to offer transparency, they're able to deliver fairness,

04:38and they're able to build trust with their customers as well as with regulators.

04:44What's your view on the position of digital telecom startups in Malaysia itself?

04:49Are they better suited to adopt AI than established legacy players?

04:54Well, in ASEAN and in Malaysia, most of these startups are digital first players.

05:04They have very little legacy to work through.

05:06So for them, to build infrastructure, they have to be more agile,

05:11they have to use modern infrastructure, they have to use flexible processes,

05:15and they have to enable AI adoption faster than their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

05:21The telcos still hold a competitive advantage because they have a massive amount of customer data

05:28that they possess, and they can monetize that.

05:32Couchbase allows this to happen with a very flexible distributed platform

05:37that supports real-time AI integration for both startups as well as established telecom providers.

05:44You mentioned a little bit just now, but from your company's perspective,

05:49how can Malaysian telcos leverage an AI-powered real-time data platform

05:55to personalize customer experiences and also enhance data search capabilities

06:00and at the same time unlock new monetization models as you mentioned just now?

06:05Well, the mobile bandwidth used across Malaysia is on a huge surge.

06:11We're talking about 96% of Malaysian households have access to mobile bandwidth

06:16as of December last year.

06:19With that, Couchbase brings in a platform, a real-time platform,

06:24that allows to bring all this data together so operators can act on it instantly.

06:30They can personalize services on the spot.

06:33I'll give you an example.

06:35The telcos can combine their billing, their usage, and app engagement

06:39to develop a complete 360-degree view of their customers.

06:43With that, they can develop a target plan for upgrades

06:46to make sure that the network quality issues and improvement they're looking for,

06:50they're able to bring that together

06:52and deliver incredible quality of service to their consumers.

06:55On the other hand, enterprises can analyze what their engineers are working on,

07:04what searches are people working on, on live data.

07:08All this is extremely powerful, and Couchbase has a data-driven telecom network,

07:16provides a data-driven telecom infrastructure,

07:20wherein we can combine network, the device, and business support data

07:26to unlock new sources of revenue.

07:31Gaurav, how are telecom companies in Southeast Asia,

07:35especially incorporating data privacy, ethical AI practices,

07:40this is a very crucial question to be asked,

07:42and also at the same time, governance frameworks into their AI strategy itself,

07:47and regulators across the region doing enough to support this shift?

07:55Well, responsible AI, ethical AI,

07:59and making sure data privacy is preserved

08:04have become very important topics in our world, in the data world.

08:09Enterprises are dealing with it, telecom providers are dealing with it.

08:12Couchbase provides built-in security features

08:17that allows enterprise-grade security to be available,

08:22encryption for data that's at rest,

08:24or even when it's in transit on the network.

08:27We allow role-based access control, audit logging,

08:30and all these features that safeguard customer data effectively.

08:33To support responsible AI,

08:37our platform facilitates the development of AI applications

08:41that adhere to ethical standards

08:43by providing real-time data processing

08:46and minimizing biases throughout the data handling process.

08:52And finally, I want to ask you about this,

08:54because this is investment in the after-day

08:55for the telecommunication industry itself.

08:58So what are the challenges do you foresee or do you see

09:01of AI adoption in Malaysia and the wider of ASEAN

09:05and Southeast Asia region in that sense,

09:07particularly for telecom and also digital native companies?

09:12Well, again, that's an important question,

09:15and I'm glad you brought that up.

09:17Implementing AI solutions is challenging for telcos in ASEAN,

09:21largely due to issues of digital readiness.

09:24The regulations are tight.

09:25They're still forming.

09:26The infrastructure is at various degrees of sophistication

09:31and cybersecurity maturity.

09:34So that's a very critical issue.

09:37Even though Malaysia has very high connectivity,

09:40the rollout challenges remain in terms of rural networks,

09:44and it falls behind the urban networks.

09:46The networks in urban areas are so much more sophisticated

09:49than rural networks.

09:51So that brings down the ability to deploy strong AI adoption around.

09:58There are cities like Jakarta and Manila and Ho Chi Minh City

10:02where the networks are really incredible,

10:04and I've been to those cities,

10:05and I can tell you the networks there are much more powerful

10:08than remote areas where the connectivity is based on outdated systems,

10:12and that becomes an issue.

10:14The other big issue that I see is there's a wide variety

10:18and a very set of different data privacy,

10:25cybersecurity, and governance laws across countries in the ASEAN region.

10:31The legal framework is fragmented, and it's very complicated.

10:36And for that, the telcos have to attract really solid talent from around the world,

10:42bring them together to make sure that they're able to not only impact what the telcos are doing,

10:49but they're also able to impart that knowledge to the existing staff and make them competitive.

10:55So companies have to balance new to make sure, new with the future,

11:01at the same time making sure affordability of their operation and their infrastructure remains,

11:08and they're able to bring in incredibly sophisticated technology,

11:12very user-friendly, world-class services to the customers at very low cost.

11:20And that challenge remains.

11:22All right.

11:23Gaurav, thank you so much for joining us.

11:25Help us to understand better about the whole situation,

11:28especially in this ASEAN and also Southeast Asia region.

11:30That is Gaurav Dal, Global Vice President Partnership at Couchbase.

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