Local AI growth threatened as a result of skills shortages

Though Thailand has a high adoption rate for artificial intelligence (AI), the country’s global competitiveness and economic growth are threatened because 47% of businesses cite a lack of digital skills as the main barrier to expanding Al use, according to Amazon Web Services (AWS) research.

- SUCHIT LEESA-NGUANSUK

Mr Vatsun says to maintain Thailand's competitive edge on the global AI stage, a clear 'AI First' policy is needed to drive adoption.

More than 600,000 businesses in Thailand report use of AI, yet only 16% of Al-adopting large enterprises are harnessing the technology to innovate new Al-driven products or services, compared with 40% of AI-adopting startups, reflecting a “two-tier AI economy”, noted the research.

The report “Unlocking Thailand’s AI Potential” was conducted in collaboration with Strand Partners, using an AI adoption survey in Thailand with participation from 1,000 business leaders and 1,000 nationally representative members.

Recent research by the Telecoms Advisory Service, commissioned by AWS, found cloud and AI added more than US$3.3 billion to Thailand's GDP in 2023.

Cloud services are set to add $2.8 trillion to Asia-Pacific regional GDP by 2030, with nearly $203 billion alone coming from cloud-enabled AI, according to the research.

“AI adoption is gaining momentum. In Thailand, 150,000 businesses adopted AI solutions in 2024 — nearly one every three minutes,” said Nick Bonstow, director of Strand Partners.