TechTouch Asia

Consumers in Singapore are quite open to AI, but even in one of the world’s most AI-forward markets, AI-powered customer service is failing to deliver on its promise, said Qualtrics’ 5th annual Consumer Experience Trends report* in October. Two-thirds (68%) of consumers in Singapore think AI will have a positive effect on society (the highest globally), but only four in 10 trust organisations to use AI responsibly. This trust deficit represents a challenge for businesses banking on AI to transform consumer experience, Qualtrics noted. Irene Ng (IN), CX Strategist at Qualtrics , provided TechTrade Asia with a few more insights. Q : Why does the most AI-savvy customer base, which is already using AI extensively for personal tasks, still insist on a human safety net in customer service? IN : Consumers in Singapore have experienced enough poorly deployed AI to know the difference between AI that helps and AI that deflects. Seventy-three percent use AI daily, and 68% believe it will p...

Cohesity, the AI-powered data security provider, will expand its use of Amazon Web Services (AWS) technologies to help customers protect, backup, and recover data at scale. This agreement reinforces AWS and Cohesity’s shared commitment to built-in data security, enterprise-grade resilience, and data-driven innovation. “Deepening our collaboration with AWS and taking this powerful step forward in our shared vision to deliver cyber resilience to organisations everywhere is great news for the industry,” said Sanjay Poonen, CEO and President, Cohesity. “By integrating Cohesity’s AI-powered data security capabilities with the secure-by-design, scalable global infrastructure and powerful AI capabilities of AWS, we will provide customers with even more effective options to confidently secure their data, keep it resilient, and leverage it to fuel business priorities.” "AWS customers want to do two things with their data: keep it protected and put it to work,” said Matt Garman, CEO a...

Avanade has announced strategic investments to help mid-market businesses across Asia Pacific (APAC) unlock AI’s potential. Avanade Agentic Platform  A purpose-built agentic AI platform that enables mid-market organisations to scale AI confidently, securely, and with measurable business impact.  Built on Microsoft technologies, the Avanade Agentic Platform moves organisations beyond experimentation to deploy scalable, outcome-driven AI solutions. It combines Avanade’s Microsoft expertise, decade-long investments in AI, and its vision for responsible, human-centred innovation.  The Avanade Agentic Platform includes a library of pre-built, industry-specific agents and templates that integrate easily with tools like Microsoft Copilot Studio and Azure Foundry — automating tasks, boosting productivity, and unlocking new insights while keeping in control.  APAC AI Modernization Hub Sited in Malaysia, this hub is a regional centre of excellence helping organ...

Primer, the unified infrastructure for global payments and commerce, has launched Primer Companion - a purpose-built AI agent created to tackle the complexities of global commerce. Primer Companion brings intelligence into every layer of the payment stack, helping teams optimise performance, automate decisions, and unlock new revenue opportunities in real time. Unlike generic AI tools trained for broad insight and recommendation, Primer Companion is designed to understand the language, logic, and nuances of a merchant’s payment ecosystem. “With Primer Companion , we’re addressing one of the biggest gaps in payments,” said Gabriel Le Roux, Co-founder and CEO of Primer. “Speaking to merchants globally, payments are one of the most critical yet under-resourced functions in any business. Often, just one or two people are responsible for managing millions - even billions - in payments, constantly scanning for risks and opportunities. By combining Primer’s data and expertise with gener...

Nearly all data leaders (95%) admit they lack full visibility into AI decision-making, according to the Global AI Confessions Report: Data Leaders Edition from Dataiku, the universal AI platform. Source: Dataiku landing page . The current state of agentic AI. A study* conducted by The Harris Poll for Dataiku surveyed 800+ senior data executives worldwide, including in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the UAE. The report revealed that while 86% of respondents estimate AI has become embedded into their daily operations, concerns about governance gaps, lack of explainability, and misplaced confidence remain. As an example, 19% of data leaders always require AI agents to “show their work” before approval, and 52% have delayed or completely blocked agent deployments specifically due to explainability concerns. CIOs and chief data officers (CDOs) carry the weight of responsibility. Under half (46%) are most likely to be credited for AI gains, but over half, 56%, are most likely to be bl...