What does your head office need to know about the Asia Pacific region?
Karishma Vaswani, Asia Opinion Columnist, Bloomberg
What your head office in Europe or North America doesn’t know about the Asia Pacific region could fill a library, and then some. But what are the key trends you need to keep them on top of? For this discussion on the region’s politics, societies and ways of doing business, we’re fortunate to the joined by leading observer, analyst and commentator Karishma Vaswani. Karishma - who was previously the BBC’s lead Asia presenter (having also been BBC Asia Busines Correspondent, Jakarta Correspondent and BBC World Service Indonesia Editor) - now leads Bloomberg’s opnion writing for the region, with a special focus on China. Come prepared with the sorts of questions head office asks you about the region. Karishma’s recent op-eds have included China’s growing influence in Southeast Asia, the future of Hong Kong as a regional business hub, and how the countries of Asia are dealing with global talent. Karishma grew up in Jakarta and has worked in India and Indonesia, and is currently based in Singapore.
Are you AI ready?
Echo Jin, Chief Financial Officer - Asia, Microsoft
Over the past two years, AI has developed rapidly from being an emerging technology to a proven solution. But not all organisations are confident they’re ready to deploy it. While virtually all Finance functions are keen to implement AI, they face a number of challenges, including lack of system readiness, confusion with internal processes, and slow decision-making. At the same time, Finance leaders know that many AI tools are easy to deploy, and quick to adopt. Microsoft Asia CFO and Global CFO Network member Echo Jin has agreed to share her own Finance function’s AI journey, and some of its learnings, including the importance of a growth mindset, a culture of continuous learning, and a willingness to allow the team to take risks and iterate.
Additional session to be advised.
Members may attend with a member of their Finance team. Light refreshments will be served.