AIBP ASEAN B2B Growth
AIBP ASEAN B2B Growth
Generative AI in Indonesia : Conversations with IBM on strategy and leadership in Gen AI
In this episode, we will hear from Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting Indonesia and subsequently with Roy Kosasih, the President Director of IBM Indonesia. These conversations will illuminate the diverse applications and perspectives on Generative AI in Indonesia and how it will play a crucial role in IBM's plans for Indonesia.
The AIBP ASEAN B2B growth podcast is a series of fireside chats with business leaders in Southeast Asia focused on growth in the region. Topics discussed include business strategy, sales and marketing, enterprise technology and innovation.
YY - AIBP:Greetings and welcome to the ASEAN B2B growth podcast. In today's episode, we shine a spotlight on generative AI in Indonesia, this series of conversations with Indonesian business leaders took place during the IBM consulting forum on the 29th of November, 2023 In today's podcast, we'll hear from Pak Andrian Purnama, the managing partner of IBM consulting Indonesia. Subsequently, we will also hear from Roy Kosasih, the President Director of IBM Indonesia. These conversations will further illuminate the diverse applications and perspectives of generative AI in Indonesia and how it will play a crucial role in IBM's plan for Indonesia, especially with regards to AI for business.
Irza Suprapto:Hello, Pak Andrian. We are here together with Pak Andrian in Jakarta. Beautiful day today in Jakarta. Pak Andrian, would you just quickly introduce yourself? Yes.
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:My name is Andrian. Andrian Purnama. I'm a partner in IBM consulting Indonesia. I handle mostly sales. I am responsible for the country sales, and also, specifically I handle the distribution industry.
Irza Suprapto:Okay, you know, this year, especially with this event at IBM, a lot of the big topic on everybody's mind is generative AI, it was introduced this year, and everybody's talking about it. In Indonesia, what are you seeing enterprises do around the Gen AI space.
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:Enterprises in Indonesia, I see is very curious on Gen AI, right? You we see all the promise of Gen AI being broadcasted in every, almost every channel. You see it in YouTube. You see it in all the consulting pitch. Then Gen AI is the Gen AI in the next step. So I think they're looking at it curiously. They're exploring use cases where they can generate value for the Gen AI, and also they're starting to test it out, right? To test it out to went into a pilot to see whether this gen AI can give value for their business.
Irza Suprapto:In terms of industries or functions within organizations or enterprises in Indonesia, do you see certain industries or functions actually looking at Gen AI more seriously so,
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:and coincidentally, we also have the use cases that currently is, how you say is very, is very interesting for the companies. First, of course, it's about customer experience. About the customer experience, they're looking to optimize their back end function. So finance and HR is also prominent in the Gen AI space and also in IT space, the code generation and code assisting to create code for programs. Actually, that's also quite prominent for that, okay,
Irza Suprapto:in AI, and in terms of, you know, you mentioned earlier, they were starting to look at it. It's everywhere. Everyone is talking about it. But when it comes to actual implementation by Indonesian enterprises, what are usually that some of the challenges they face, I
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:think the challenges, and you will see it in the session also that we are talking about guardrails, right, how you can trust this gen AI, it's a new thing. It's a new thing, and you want to be careful, and you want to try to mitigate any risk that might be, might be surface because of this gen AI, because AI, as it as it is, right now, will give you a very structured, thorough answers, but the truth, whether the whether the answer is true, whether the answer is correct, that it's still up for the question right now. So company want to ensure that at least the answers from AI are correct , and almost always correct before they say that, okay, I will adopt this. Okay?
Irza Suprapto:And what? How does IBM help your clients, you know, implement these guardrails.
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:Well again, IBM, we, we are in the leading fund in this, in this area, I think one of the, one of the IBM main propositions related to AI and Gen AI, with the introduction of our product, Watson X governance. I. Actually is looking into this, right? Looking into this how you can make AI trusted, how you can make AI trusted, and also the risk of AI is mitigated, right? So you need the correct data, you need the correct you need the correct data, you need the correct biases to be built into the system. And also you need to be able to ensure that the all the algorithms there is correct. So IBM, IBM consulting will help you implement that to translate your vision back to the execution in the field. I think that is where IBM consulting is really good at. Okay,
Irza Suprapto:thank you Pak Andrian and one last question for you, if you don't mind, you know, you've been in IBM for a long time in Indonesia. How have you seen, you know, Gen AI impact the way people look at technology. You know, I think things have evolved quite a bit over the last three to four or five years. How have you seen business leaders actually change their view on technology or they use cases of Gen AI going forward?
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:Well, up until a year ago, we actually never heard about Gen AI, with the advent of ChatGPT, suddenly, the access to AI, the access to knowledge, the access to the content creation that AI is capable of, is becoming democratized. So I think that's where the business leaders cannot how you say, cannot neglect this, right? They cannot neglect this. So business leaders, again, is very eager to harness the value of AI of Gen, AI of technology. But again, they have a company to think of, right? They have, they have a risk that they need to mitigate. So I think where they can mitigate that risk quicker, they will adopt it faster. Okay, so that, I think that's my, my opinion on that.
Irza Suprapto:So business leaders have to work very closely with, well, companies like IBM consulting, or even their internal, their
Andrian Purnama, Managing Partner IBM Consulting Indonesia:internal IT teams, and it become, it becomes multi how you say it becomes multi disciplines in this gen AI? Because this AI now is not only generating IT content, but mostly it's going to be generating business content. So you need to be ensured that all the content generated that you are going to use for the business is actually going to bring value for your business.
Irza Suprapto:Got it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Yeah, thank you,
YY - AIBP:Having just heard from Pak Andrian Purnama insights on the application of generative AI in Indonesian enterprises, particularly in enhancing customer experience and streamlining back end operations, will now shift our focus to Roy Kosasih. Roy, in his role as a President Director of IBM Indonesia, will discuss IBM's significant emphasis on Indonesia as a key growth market and exploring how generative AI is, making inroads across various sectors and contributing to IBM's vision for Indonesia as a tool for AI for business.
Irza Suprapto:Good morning and today we are joined at this IBM consulting forum by Pak Roy Kosasih, who works at IBM. Obviously. Pak Roy will be able to introduce himself a lot better than I can. So, but Roy, just a quick introduction about yourself and IBM Sure.
Roy Kosasih - President Director IBM Indonesia:Thank you. Well, my name is Roy Kosasih. I think you pronounce it right. Thank you. It's a very Indonesian name. Well, I'm the currently the country president, or President Director of IBM Indonesia. So this is quite a new position just established, you know when I joined, which is in January this year. And this is pretty much representing what IBM Global has desired for Indonesia, which is to grow multiple times. And that is because Indonesia now has been put as one of the top growth country for IBM, one of the top four in the in the world. Wow, yeah. Where I think the IBM plans that the most contributor in the future for IBM should come from this higher focus country right where Indonesia is one of them. So I am tasked to basically try to create a synergy within all of those IBM companies in Indonesia. You probably know we have been establishing or running our operations Indonesia with technology, IBM technology, as well as IBM consulting. But we also need to remember that few years back, IBM has acquired also a company called Red Hat. So combinations of you know these three companies, we are hopeful that, you know, we create a lot of synergy. Community and contribute to the growth of IBM in Indonesia by penetrating into a lot of the potential market that we want to develop in Indonesia, mainly, you know, the government sector, public sectors, the manufacturing industry, as well as the digital industry, represented in the E- commerce. So all of those activities basically create a huge opportunities for Indonesia, for IBM, and this is how we are planning to really able to capture this growth, by implementing a lot of new initiatives, also introducing the technology. Probably also know, Indonesia, sorry. IBM has been very famous with always coming out with new technology. We are always the pioneer in many sectors, right? Ai. So today we are talking about AI. AI has been like the the center of attentions for IBM to develop since many years ago. Right? We hear a lot of stories how supercomputer in the 80s. So you can imagine that actually, you know, we have been developing this supercomputer, AI, or machine learning since the 80s. I don't know if you know the story that in the 86 the year 86 there is a super computer called Deep Blue that was able to to beat right the most intelligent person in the world at that time, Gary Kasparov, yeah, who is the, you know, the chess champion of the world, right? And this is actually, you know, really the foundations of the how machine learning has been, you know, able to develop, to to mimic, if you will, yeah, the human intelligence, as well as trying to, then, you know, try to even to be more clever, if you will. But of course, in a certain area that we should have also, you know, trying to regulate how this machine learning will be able to help, yeah, the industry,
Irza Suprapto:yeah, I think it's very interesting, because you brought up deep blue and Gary Kasparov, that was actually just before I had my first computer. I think we had our first computer somewhere in the 90s, right? So, yeah, IBM has a very long history. You've been in Indonesia for a long time. It was very interesting to hear that Indonesia is actually a top four market globally for the IBM team strategically, right? And you've built out quite a business.
Roy Kosasih - President Director IBM Indonesia:Top focus. Maybe Currently, we are not the biggest contributor yet, yeah, but that's where you see growth with the highest growth, and therefore IBM is really focusing on how we can develop this market.
Irza Suprapto:Okay, that is very rare to see an international technology company focus on a specific market in Southeast Asia. So I think that speaks very well of well Southeast Asia, as well as the Indonesian market and the potential. But Roy speak to me a little bit around, you know, there's been all this talk about Gen AI as I think, because you've been a tech scene for a long time, it's not new so much in the world, but Gen AI chat GPT took the world by storm this year, right? In terms of what you're seeing with regards to your organizations that you work with your customers. What are the conversations you're having around Gen AI in Indonesia,
Roy Kosasih - President Director IBM Indonesia:right? Well, I think we all know Gen AI, generative AI has been, really, you know, taking ground by the introductions of chat GPT, I think, end of last year, right, early this year, and suddenly it's, boom, yeah, you know, everywhere and every, everyone, everywhere, they really want to have a grab of, you know, what is this, Gen AI, and how this can be utilized, or can be useful for The company's operations, right? And this is actually the main topics of, you know, a lot of our conversations now, I received a lot tremendous, you know, interest in the Gen AI, especially by the time IBM launched our Gen. AI, what's next again, you know, IBM has been really involved with this development of machine learning of the AI at the very beginning, right? And we have been famous with this, IBM Watson. So in the industry, they know Watson and how Watson have been able to contribute with a lot of, you know, making productions become more efficient. You know, streamlining all the data, doing a lot of data analytical that will be helpful for company, for a CEO of a company, to make a an informed decision, right? Which is, this has been really, really helpful. Watson is even, you know, one step ahead. Right? It's generative AI, which can even doing a lot of prediction, or more accurate predictions, by training the machine to analyze all the data you know to be more accurate, and then when it generates the whole prediction. It's gonna be exactly what we will need, as well as predicting based on the you know, the trend, as well as you know how this accurate, how the accuracy will be even more more targeted. Yeah, so, and this is what we have been explaining, right? I think it is going to be a much faster, much faster, basically, by analyzing all those data after we train this model and giving a much more accurate information and in, in the end, or as the result, then every company's operation will be much more, you know, efficient, yeah, more productive. And as well as, you know, I think they can easily multiply their production, right, as well as their efficiency. In
Irza Suprapto:terms of verticals in Indonesia, you know, there's so many different organizations, from public services all the way to retail. Are there certain verticals you are seeing with more interest in Gen AI,
Roy Kosasih - President Director IBM Indonesia:yes, actually, it's, I would say it's some it's mixed, yeah, everywhere everyone wants to have a grab horizontal, yeah, exactly, the government sectors, right? The public sectors. I think you get amazed to know that even now, the government is really looking at about AI and how this Gen AI can be useful as well, right, in mining, all of those data, the data that have been really captured, stored in many of the state owned enterprises operations, as well as the ministries, the one that you know, regulate all The for example, in the mining industry, right? Indonesia is one of the richest country, contains all of those minerals and mining products, right? So those data can be utilized by the government to be more effective, more useful, as well, as you know, increasing basically, the export of the of the mining products, for example. So all of those data will be very useful in the government sectors as well as for example, the Ministry of Health is also trying to look at how can utilize all the health data of the Indonesia citizens in order to give a better service. Right? Or better, life science industry development, again, in order to really giving the good service to the Indonesian citizens in the industry, in the private sectors, manufacturing, we know that the Indonesia government now it really wants to develop the manufacturing industry as well. Manufacturing horizontal, and this is how we see a lot of interest as well. Yeah. So again, you know, they knew that AI, especially Gen AI, will be helpful in, you know, increasing their productivity, their efficiency, and so on. And one other things, which is pretty much typical for Indonesia, and it's going to be useful. Indonesia is a vast country, yeah, geographically, you know, we have 18,000 island Yes, right? And that spread across this geographical conditions, right from west to east. You know, it, it is actually slightly wider than the America, North America geographical conditions, right? And we have a big challenges in the logistics sectors, and we know that by utilizing Gen AI, this can be addressed, okay, so from the planning, you know of the shipping, transportations, etc. You know, this can be really, really utilized. How logistic challenges in Indonesia, geographical conditions can be, can be managed, can be solved with the utilizations of Gen AI,
Irza Suprapto:perfect. So you're seeing interest across all industries, different use cases. Which brings me to my last question, Pak Roy in terms of since Indonesia is one of the top focus for IBM, and obviously the largest market here in Southeast Asia, fourth largest country in the world, what is IBM doing in order to build its capabilities, in order to support this growth to organizations in Indonesia?
Roy Kosasih - President Director IBM Indonesia:Right? So. That's a very good questions. I'm not sure whether you have already heard but our global CEO and chairman, Mr. Arvind Krishna, I think, recently made a statement right that IBM is committed to train 2 million people in generative AI, mostly people from the marginal, the marginal communities, right? This is part of how IBM wants to contribute to the development of AI, to the implementations of AI, as well. As you know, the acknowledgement that this, there is new technology now that will change the whole world. Yeah, right for a better side, and IBM is really committed for that one. This is also a part of the commitment that IBM will, even, you know, share its technology as a whole, to try to introduce to 30 million or try to develop and train 30 million people globally on technology. How this technology can also help people to address, you know, people who are really underserved, and how to educate and develop them, as well as now I'm talking about Indonesia, in Indonesia itself, early this year, by March 2023, we just launched what we call as IBM Academy for hybrid cloud and AI. So again, in particular, we're really targeting AI. And in fact, this is part of our commitment now for Indonesia that we want to train a minimum of 100,000 students on hybrid cloud and AI in the next few years, right? So we are now in collaborations with the Minister of Education and Research and Development in order to really targeting those students, yeah, the university students. This is part of this minister of education program, what she called as a campus Merdeka program, that you know, will be really targeting and training all of the students. But in addition to that, we are also not only kept with this, our collaborations with the government, with the government, with the Ministry of Education, but we also now in collaborations with several independent universities, whether it is a government universities or state universities or public universities, that private universities as well, a lot of research university as well that, you know, we try to introduce our program for them to be absorbed as part of their curriculum as well. Okay, so, you know, a lot of activities that we want to introduce about this AI concept and how this can be utilized and students can be really, you know, mastering how to utilize artificial intelligence.
Irza Suprapto:Perfect. I think that's fantastic news, because I think in Southeast Asia, in Indonesia as well, the ministries have always said that talent gap is something they need to fix. And it's great that IBM, with its long history here, is participating in that. Thank you very much, Pak Roy Kosasih, it was a pleasure speaking to you, and I look forward to what IBM does here in this country over the next few years. Sure. Thank you.
YY - AIBP:As we bring our exploration of generative AI in Indonesia to a close, we would like to thank all our guest from Indonesia for the available insights on how generative AI is shaping the business landscape in Indonesia and in the wider ASEAN region.
AIBP Intro:We hope you've enjoyed the episode. For more information about business growth in the ASEAN region, please visit our website, www.IoTbusiness-platform.com.