Joseph Araneta Gamboa l October 11, 2023 l Business Mirror
IT’S the season of conferences and conventions for the country’s business and industry groups. In each and every conference I attended last week, AI or artificial intelligence was the hottest topic among bankers, insurers, financial executives and even retailers.
Last October 2, the Ethics Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) held a webinar on “Ethics in Technology.” Headlining the online seminar were: Dr. Benito Teehankee, professor of business ethics at De La Salle University; data scientist Dominic Vincent D. Ligot, executive director of online community Data Ethics PH; and, lawyer Leandro Angelo Y. Aguirre, deputy commissioner of the National Privacy Commission. This was the opening salvo of the annual Finex Week celebration with the theme of “Navigating Global Uncertainties Toward Sustainable Growth.”
Singapore-based Charlton Media Group organized a series of international conferences on October 3-5, 2023. First was the “2023 Asian Banking and Finance Forum” with Patricia Nichol, partner of Bain & Co., as keynote speaker on generative AI opportunities in financial services. Dr. Adrienne Heinrich, head of AI and innovation at Union Bank of the Philippines, then spoke about how to leverage AI to revolutionize banking products for a digital world.
A session on driving customer engagement and loyalty through digitization featured a panel of experts including Ernst & Young (EY) Partner Anurag Mishra, The Collinson Group Vice-President James Ellis, Security Bank Corp. Head of Retail Banking Rahul Rasal, China Banking Corp. Head of Consumer Banking Aloysius C. Alday Jr. and RCBC Bankard Services Corp. President and CEO Arniel Vincent B. Ong.
This was followed by the presentation of SB Finance Co. Inc. President Abigail Marie D. Casanova and a fireside chat with Bank of the Philippine Islands President Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco. Capping the conference was the session on disruption and innovation in banking headlined by Tonik Digital Bank Inc. Founder Greg Krasnov, GoTyme Bank Corp. President Nate Clarke and Maya Bank Inc. President Angelo Madrid.
Next was the 2023 Insurance Asia Forum with keynote speaker Charisse Rossielin Cruz, consulting partner of EY, whose topic was on next-wave life insurance. Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Philippines) Inc. (Manulife) CEO Rahul Hora talked about resilience and adaptability in navigating the challenges of the insurance industry in the post-pandemic era, while Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. (Sun Life) Chief Distribution Officer Al Quitangon spoke on building a purpose-driven agency force in the digital age.
Panelists for the session on driving innovation and customer centricity in insurance were Manulife Head of Strategy Prahlad Agarwal, Allianz PNB Life Insurance Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Gino Carlo Riola and Sun Life Chief Human Resource Officer Michelle Cordero-Garcia. Etiqa Life & General Assurance Philippines Inc. President Rico T. Bautista provided key updates on the life insurance industry.
Another panel session dealt on cybersecurity and data privacy in the digital insurance era. It featured FWD Life Insurance Co. Inc. Chief Risk Officer Angela Rowley, AIA Philippines Life & General Insurance Co Inc. Head of Enterprise Digital Transformation Samson Kenneth A. Radovan and AXA Group President Pradeep Bhanotha, while ZA Tech Country Manager Tyler Thuy Long shared his journey toward the digital future.
Finally, there was the 2023 Retail Asia Forum with Boston Consulting Group Partner Julian Cua as keynote speaker on reinvention and revolution in the Southeast Asian retail sector. Cegid Group Asia-Pacific Commercial Director Marco Lim talked about finding the right strategic omnichannel platform for retail leaders and a fireside chat with Ace Hardware Philippines Inc. CEO Bernard L. Ong followed regarding brand relevance in the time of digital.
Strategies for thriving in the retail renaissance were tackled at a panel session with Megaworld Corp. First Vice-President Graham Coates, HMR Philippines Inc. CEO Sam Powell, Watsons Personal Care Stores Philippines Inc. Director Jared Ernest M. De Guzman and Suyen Corp. Head of Retail Operations Marcela Dragoiu-Luca. The state of Philippine retail was analyzed by Wilcon Depot COO Rosemarie B. Ong, while the net promoter scores of Philippine retailers were discussed by Yukiko Tsukamoto and Gina Yu-Aquino of Bain & Co.
Another session on disruptive technologies and emerging trends shaping retail had the following panelists: Havas Chief Digital Officer Shayne Madamba, Oddefy & Proddhouse CEO Frankie Primavera and Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia Chairman Charlie P. Villaseñor. The last panel session focused on strategies of effective customer engagement, highlighted by the presentations of SariSuki Stores Inc. Head of Strategy Pavan Powar, H&M Southeast Asia Media Manager Gino N. Cruz and Unilever Southeast Asia Digital Hub Lead Wence Wenceslao.
In all of these sessions, AI was extensively touched upon as the business community becomes more and more fascinated with the proliferation of generative applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. We are indeed entering a new era of pervasive intelligence with smart devices that are getting better, while those who can’t get going will be left behind.
*** Joseph Gamboa is the vice-chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines and director of Noble Asia Industrial Corp. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions and the BusinessMirror. #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph