Generative artificial intelligence (AI), immersive technology and climate technology are the top three trends that will impact Thailand the most in the next 12 months, according to the Thai branch of global consultancy McKinsey & Company.
“Generative AI has already shown the potential for transformative business impact. This new entrant represents the next frontier of AI,” Gordon Candelin, senior expert and leader of McKinsey Design Southeast Asia at McKinsey & Company Thailand, told the Bangkok Post.
Immersive technology, climate technology and generative AI are among the 15 trends listed in the company’s 2023 Tech Trends Outlook published in July. The research assesses trends in major technology areas year-over-year, from advancements in AI to nascent technologies like quantum computing.
While generative AI is still very nascent, there is a lot of excitement around the possibilities for businesses to use this technology. Some of the more obvious use cases would be for improving customer experience touchpoints, said Mr Candelin.
“Our latest research on generative AI found that about 75% of the total value potential of applying generative AI will be realised in four business functions, one of them being customer operations. Generative AI could increase productivity at a value of 30-45% of current function costs,” he said.
Use cases include enhancing self-service via automated channels and giving human customer-care agents more targeted information to increase sales.
There is still a lot of work to be done to explore and understand the opportunities and risks involved in using generative AI, said Mr Candelin. In order to stay competitive, businesses can simultaneously explore immediate opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness while considering the long-term benefits of using generative AI.
The second trend is immersive-reality technologies as there are announcements that signal technical leaps in future devices.
For example, Apple’s release of its Vision Pro AR/VR headset next year has renewed interest in immersive technologies, highlighting a significant investment in the promise of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Although total investments in AR and VR declined in 2022, investors show continued interest in the trend — at least seven investment rounds of US$100 million or more closed last year.
“Our research suggests the emerging metaverse could generate up to $4-5 trillion in value across consumer and enterprise use cases by 2030,” Mr Candelin said.
There are a number of relevant uses cases, including providing immersive consumer experiences to help drive tourism.
Climate technology could also become an important driver for many businesses in the coming year, Mr Candelin said.
The pandemic provided an opportunity to see how Thailand’s natural resources rebounded when given a break from mass tourism, but given the importance of the tourism sector on the economy, ensuring the sustained viability of Thailand’s natural ecosystem requires several different sectors to act.
The company’s 2023 Tech Trends Outlook report also says tech talent is a source of competitiveness, and the lack of it is a key issue constraining growth. A survey of 3.5 million job postings in these tech trends found that many of the skills in greatest demand have less than half as many qualified practitioners per posting as the global average.
The shortage of qualified talent has been a persistent limiting factor in the growth of many high-tech fields, including AI, quantum technologies, space technologies, and electrification and renewables. The talent crunch is particularly acute in cloud computing and industrialising machine learning, which are required across most industries.
It is also a major challenge in areas that employ highly specialised professionals, such as quantum computing.
