The world of today has seen it all: a world where machines can think, learn, and even anticipate our needs. This technology has captured our imagination and sparked innovation throughout industries.
There are things that AI can do exceptionally well, and yet there are tasks that it cannot comprehend.

Any business leader should only implement AI into any workflow after testing the waters for that particular use case. As we delve into this technology, we need to gauge the incredible potential and the inherent challenges it faces.

Power of AI: What AI can do?

Automate, predict and analyse

AI can automate repetitive and tedious tasks, such as data entry, quality control, and testing, freeing up time for employees to focus on more strategic and creative tasks. It can analyse vast amounts of data and identify patterns, making predictions about future events with high accuracy.

By leveraging AI-powered predictive analytics, businesses can anticipate market trends, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions that drive growth and competitiveness.

Personalise experiences

AI has transformed the customer-business relationship, making it more personal and tailored to individual preferences. Advanced machine learning techniques and AI analyse vast amounts of data to understand customer preferences, purchase history, browsing behaviour, and demographic information.

This knowledge is then utilised and leveraged to deliver personalised recommendations, content, and offers across various touchpoints, including websites, mobile apps, email campaigns, and social media platforms. One of the key benefits of personalisation is its ability to enhance the customer experience and drive engagement.

Also Read: A new era of automation: Establishing best practices for intelligent automation and generative AI

Additionally, AI-driven personalisation enables businesses to segment their customer base and target specific audience segments with relevant messaging, promotions, and offers, maximising the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Enhance security

With the rise of cyber threats such as data breaches, protecting sensitive information and safeguarding against security breaches has never been more critical. Fortunately, AI-powered security solutions offer advanced capabilities to effectively enhance security measures and mitigate cyber risks.

One of AI’s key advantages in cybersecurity is its ability to analyse data and detect anomalies in real-time. By continuously monitoring network traffic, user behaviour, and system logs, AI algorithms can identify suspicious activities.

Another area where AI excels in cybersecurity is fraud detection and prevention. AI-powered fraud detection systems analyse transactions, user behaviour, and other relevant data points to identify fraudulent activities and unauthorised access attempts.

Limitations of AI

• While AI excels at processing large amounts of data and identifying patterns, it often struggles to understand context and make nuanced decisions based on situational factors. This limitation can lead to errors or misinterpretations, particularly in complex or ambiguous scenarios.
• Despite its advanced capabilities, AI fails to replicate human intuition, creativity, and emotional intelligence. Tasks that require abstract thinking, empathy, or artistic expression are challenging for AI systems to perform accurately.
• AI algorithms are trained on historical data, which may contain biases and prejudices inherent in human society. As a result, AI systems can perpetuate or even amplify existing biases, leading to unfair outcomes or discriminatory decisions, particularly in sensitive areas such as hiring, lending, and criminal justice.

Revolutionising industries across the board

The number of ways AI can be used in a business is endless. Every industry today can leverage this revolutionary technology to achieve greater heights, be it retail, finance, marketing, healthcare, etc.

Also Read: New year, new funding strategies: Powering up sustainability tech startups

Integrating AI with no-code development platforms has further accelerated its adoption and democratised its benefits across industries. No-code AI tools empower businesses to harness the power of AI without the need for coding.

It enables faster innovation, streamlined processes, and enhanced decision-making capabilities. This has transformed industries by enabling organisations of all sizes to leverage AI-driven insights and automation, driving growth and competitiveness in the digital age.

Conclusion

AI is by far the most revolutionary technology of our time. With its potential to transform industries and enhance human capabilities, it holds immense promise to revolutionise businesses and industries worldwide.

While it excels at processing data and making predictions, it still struggles with understanding context and replicating human-like intuition and creativity. But despite these challenges, the opportunities presented by AI are boundless.

Businesses can use this technology responsibly to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences. As we continue to harness this power, let us remain aware, ensuring that it serves as a force for positive change

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Alternō is a Vietnamese startup providing a thermal energy storage solution utilising sand battery technology. It recently secured over US$1.5 million in an oversubscribed seed investment round co-led by The Radical Fund (Singapore) and Touchstone Partners (Vietnam).

In this article, Alternō co-founder and CEO Kent Nguyen discusses his roller-coaster journey:

“Our journey began with a profound realisation between co-founders Hai Ho and myself, whose paths converged over a shared dedication to sustainability. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we collaborated on a sustainable travel project, laying the groundwork for a deeper connection.

Post-COVID-19, as Ho built an off-grid house and faced the limitations of lithium batteries while Nguyen delved into energy storage solutions, a casual conversation ignited the spark for Alternō. This moment of uncertainty marked the beginning of our quest to address energy storage challenges.

Also Read: Vietnam’s sand-based thermal energy storage startup Alternō secures US$1.5M

The urgency to accelerate our project was propelled by a gasoline crisis in Saigon in November 2022. During this critical period, we met Nam Nguyen, who would later become our CTO. Recognising the severity of the energy dilemma, we were determined to contribute to a sustainable future, not just for the world but for their children’s generation.

Embracing the entrepreneurial spirit

Our entrepreneurial journey involved significant personal sacrifices, with the three co-founders dipping into our savings to fuel our vision. This commitment underscored our beliefs in Alternō’s mission beyond a business venture; it was a pledge for our offspring’s brighter future.

Despite being a lean team, Alternō rapidly transitioned from concept to commercial product, achieving its first customer deployment within a year. This milestone was made possible with the support of organisations, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JETRO, Ho Chi Minh BSSC, UNDP, Impact Square, and Leave A Nest. Their assistance was instrumental in overcoming our early challenges and laying a solid foundation for Alternō.

What sets Alternō’s team apart is the personal connection to the agricultural sector, which many team members’ families are part of. This intrinsic understanding of the challenges within agriculture deepened our commitment to creating solutions that would directly impact our own families in the foreseeable future.

Envisioning a sustainable future

Alternō is poised to redefine the landscape of sustainable energy. The ambition is clear: drastically cutting global carbon emissions with their pioneering thermal battery technology. Alternō envisions a world where sustainable energy is accessible and affordable for all, heralding a new era of eco-conscious living.

The narrative of the three co-founders embodies the essence of innovation, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.

Also Read: Alterno, Forte Biotech, AirX Carbon win Net Zero Challenge 2023 in Vietnam

Our journey with Alternō is a beacon of hope, inspiring a movement towards a more sustainable and energy-efficient world.”

(As told to Editor Sainul Abudheen K)

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

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Recently, Singapore-based Addlly AI has been included in Microsoft’s Gen AI Growth Accelerator programme, run in association with BLOCK71.

“Participating in Microsoft’s Gen AI Growth Accelerator programme presents an unparalleled opportunity for Addlly AI. We anticipate the programme will further accelerate our growth by leveraging Microsoft’s ecosystem, including free access to cutting-edge generative AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4,” says Addlly AI Co-Founder & CEO Tina Chopra in an email to e27.

“We aim to integrate with the Microsoft ecosystem deeply, leveraging its advanced AI tools and cloud infrastructure to enhance our suite of content creation tools. This collaboration will not only accelerate our growth but also refine our offerings, ensuring our tools are at the cutting edge of technology.”

Furthermore, the mentorship and networking opportunities provided by the programme are invaluable to Addlly AI, facilitating connections with industry leaders, a global network of experts, and potential partners. This aligns seamlessly with the platform’s mission to perpetually innovate at the convergence of Generative AI and digital marketing, ensuring that its solutions stay at the forefront of the industry.

As an ecosystem partner, BLOCK71 is pivotal in extending Addlly AI’s presence into critical Asian markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Also Read: Unlocking efficiency: How Gen AI-powered email automation revolutionises customer service

In 2024, Addlly AI received the Bronze award at the esteemed ASEAN Digital Awards, acknowledging the innovative AI-driven digital marketing tools and the platform’s significant impact on the regional digital ecosystem.

Another noteworthy accomplishment was the successful integration into the IMDA Gen AI sandbox, facilitating the onboarding of SMEs onto the platform and providing training on harnessing Gen AI’s capabilities for content marketing efficiently.

Helping businesses embrace AI for content creation

Addlly AI positions itself as a strategic partner for businesses seeking to harness Gen AI’s potential for their content requirements. Positioned as a unique B2B SaaS platform, the company addresses the inefficiencies in content creation by amalgamating AI automation with editorial expertise. This ensures the swift and responsible generation of high-quality content that resonates with target audiences, adhering to stringent quality standards.

One of the platform’s key highlights is its zero-prompt AI writing tools, which require no prompts, making them highly user-friendly and efficient, particularly beneficial for MSMEs and enterprises. Moreover, Addlly AI leverages the latest and optimised Language Model Libraries (LLMs), which aim to guarantee the creation of engaging, relevant, and SEO-friendly content, from blogs, social media posts, newsletters, and AI-generated images to editorial services.

The platform plans to support multiple Asian languages, enhancing accessibility and relevance across the region.

Addlly AI emerged from Chopra’s visionary leadership, leveraging her extensive business journalism and content marketing background alongside her deep understanding of the Gen AI landscape. Identifying a niche in the market for streamlined, high-quality content solutions, Addlly developed a suite of tools to revolutionise content creation through AI’s transformative capabilities.

Also Read: From peak scrolling to personalised communities: The Gen AI solution

The team, comprised of professionals with diverse backgrounds from JP Morgan, PIMCO, Blackrock, Google, and PwC, brings a wealth of experience to the table, propelling the adoption of Gen AI in content creation.

“Our clientele includes forward-thinking corporations, MSMEs, and government agencies in Singapore and Indonesia. We engage our target audience through strategic marketing efforts, highlighting our suite of AI-driven solutions that have garnered recognition for innovation, as evidenced by our win in the ASEAN Digital Awards,” Chopra explains.

“Singapore government initiatives, particularly the IMDA Gen AI Sandbox, have been instrumental in fostering early Gen AI adoption. These programmes have been pivotal in encouraging early Gen AI adoption, thereby playing a crucial role in helping us attract our initial customers by showcasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our AI-driven content solutions.”

Exploring new frontier

Founded in March 2023 by Chopra and Ronie Ganguly, Addlly AI’s journey began with bootstrapping during the alpha phase, leading to the launch of a beta version of its tool in August 2023. By October of the same year, the company achieved a full commercial launch, marking a significant milestone in its trajectory.

In January 2024, Addlly AI secured its first round of funding at a US$5 million valuation cap, enabling the company to expand its AI-driven digital marketing capabilities. The company will mainly focus on developing advanced video and brand imaging tools while enhancing its social listening features.

Run by a team of 15 members in Singapore, India, and Indonesia, in 2024, Addlly AI aims to significantly expand its presence across other Asian markets, building on its strong customer base in Indonesia.

Also Read: Gen AI in banking: How to ensure a successful transformation for an age-old industry

“Our strategy includes leveraging our AI Playground, a comprehensive suite of tools designed to simplify the content creation process and deliver personalised, efficient solutions for enterprise customers. This initiative aims to enable businesses across Asia to harness the full potential of Gen AI for their content creation needs, ensuring they stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape,” Chopra says.

Addlly AI is one of the companies participating in the TOP100 programme by e27. According to Chopra, this provides a unique opportunity to amplify Addlly’s reach and impact across Southeast Asia, connecting with investors, mentors, and potential partners.

“It is an avenue to showcase our innovative AI-driven solutions, leveraging regional visibility and business matching opportunities for strategic growth in markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. This aligns with our mission to revolutionise digital marketing content creation with our advanced AI technology,” Chopra stresses.

“We eagerly anticipate showcasing our suite of innovative tools at TOP100 and Echelon X, connecting with potential partners, and drawing inspiration from industry leaders. These platforms offer a unique opportunity to share our vision and explore new frontiers in AI-driven content creation.”

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Image Credit: Addlly

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Ultimately, for a potential user of an immersive experience, the choice to engage in it or not boils down to one thing: Does the perceived benefit of the experience outweigh the friction of completing all the steps needed to complete it?

This general concept applies to almost everything humans do and is even more crucial when designing immersive experiences.

Friction can be present in many situations:

In Augmented Reality, users need to take out their smartphones, scan a QR code, download an app, wait for the experience to load, and quickly understand its mechanics. In the case of a geolocalised experience, they need to go somewhere if they are not already there. If a face or an image needs to be detected, the user’s environment must be well-lit and have enough space.

In Virtual Reality, users must have bought a headset and be willing to wear it for an extended time. They are hopefully not sensitive to motion sickness if the experience is poorly designed. Here, as well, the gameplay must be learned quickly, and all interfaces have a learning curve: even something as simple as a finger pinch requires a few tries and mistakes.

What about Mixed Reality? Well, you can blend both. The Cherry on the cake is that the video passthrough is still imperfect, and the field of view is often limited in the case of transparent screens.

That’s a lot of friction to overcome! This is why putting a specific technology in a project just for the sake of this technology itself is doomed to fail.

Also Read: How immersive tech can boost your health and happiness

There are many factors you can consider and implement to maximise the usage of such experiences. In the end, it boils down, obviously, to the value you’ll provide.

• Content: Yes, content matters, especially when the goal of the experience itself is to enjoy good content. This includes art, culture, entertainment, or gaming.
• Social incentive: As a result of the experience, the user gets a sharable image or video that fits their persona – generation, perceived status, brand preferences, etc.
• Financial incentives: A coupon, loyalty points, an entry in a sweepstake, or a free item.
• Solving a problem: Most likely, in an industrial context, if your solution improves a time-consuming or costly process, it’s very likely to stick. VR Training and AR assistance for complex tasks are the most common. It must be more efficient than the current solution.
• Brand engagement: For existing clients. Besides client acquisition, customer retention and loyalty can be achieved through immersive experiences. You will provide value by designing a concept that will engage existing customers in a brand they like.
• Learning: Adding an element of education or an essential piece of information lets the user get something out of the experience.
• Innovation: This is the exception. If the technology by itself is brand new and promising, users will queue up to try it. Be careful; it doesn’t last.

These are only the tip of the iceberg; each needs to be carefully thought about during the project design phase.

As a side note, sometimes, the experience is valuable even if nobody uses it, as it can serve as a showcase for the end client: innovation, brand advertisement, being a first player, etc.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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The post Friction vs value: The key to engaging users in immersive experiences appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia’s Earth Venture Capital (Earth VC), a venture firm with global reach focusing on climate-tech solutions, has made an investment in Blykalla, a Swedish company specialising in the production of advanced small modular reactors (SMRs).

The company has raised a total funding of 80 million Swedish Krona (US$7.34 million), with the funding round being led by Norrsken Launcher and Nucleation Capital.

Farvatn and several private investors also participated.

The fresh funds will be used to propel Blykalla’s industrialisation of its advanced nuclear reactor, the SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead-cooled Reactor). Specifically designed for commercial power production in a highly compact format, the SEALER integrates unique safety features made possible by proprietary innovations.

Also Read: Mobile cafe startup Jago raises US$6M to deliver affordable coffee across Jakarta

Founded in 2013 by Janne Wallenius, Peter Szakalos, and Jesper Ejenstam, Blykalla is on a mission to change the energy future of the world, by providing green, safe, baseload energy through next generation small modular lead-cooled reactors.

Blykalla develops and constructs lead-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs) to provide a safe, scalable, and carbon-free baseload power supply. The company achieves high safety through lead-cooling, enabling a compact format and cost-effective design suitable for mass production. Its unique reactor design offers safe and environmentally friendly baseload energy, serving as an ideal complement to solar and wind power.

Blykalla’s flagship product, SEALER, is an advanced SMR utilising liquid lead cooling. It facilitates the decarbonising industrial processes by producing hydrogen, biochar, and biofuel, along with local electricity. Additionally, it promotes a circular waste model, extracting up to 140 times more energy from uranium ore while producing minimal waste, which requires storage for just 1% of the deposit time compared to conventional nuclear power.

Tien Nguyen, Founding Partner at Earth Venture Capital said, “Our investment in Blykalla underscores a firm belief in deep-tech at a moment when Southeast Asia’s need for clean, sustainable energy is undeniable. With Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand at the forefront, SMR-powered demand is estimated to exceed 10 GW by 2035. This reflects an acute need for energy solutions that can drive economic growth while ensuring climate sustainability. Blykalla’s innovative approach is perfectly aligned to address this challenge, offering a scalable, efficient energy solution.”

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Image credit: Blykalla

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