Next week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will go to Southeast Asia to meet with representatives from Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Artificial intelligence will be discussed during his visit, as the tech giant from the United States is placing a bet on generative AI as a long-term growth engine.
According to a business official, Nadella will go to Indonesia on Tuesday and meet with Prime Ministers Srettha Thavisin of Thailand and Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia on Thursday.
According to the spokesman, Nadella will also meet with other government representatives and travel to corporate developer events in each nation. The tour will also cover Microsoft's AI-related initiatives in the area.
Microsoft has long maintained connections with Southeast Asia, a rapidly expanding area home to more than 685 million people, where there is a rising need for data centers and cutting-edge technology to support digital transactions, e-commerce, and innovative new companies.
The business's Azure cloud division, which faces up against the regional branches of Amazon, Google, and Alibaba, established its first data center in Southeast Asia in Singapore in 2010 and has been planning to add other locations in Indonesia and Malaysia for a number of years.
The business promised last year to work with Thai government entities to build AI and cloud infrastructure.
Analysts also highlight the anticipated high demand in the region for AI-powered technology, which has already improved Microsoft's financial performance because to its collaboration with OpenAI, the firm that created ChatGPT.
Wedbush Securities managing director Daniel Ives stated, "It's a potential gold mine for Microsoft in Southeast Asia as the AI revolution hits the next stage of growth."
In the October–December quarter, Microsoft had its largest profit rise in over two years as the rising demand for its cloud services was fueled by optimism surrounding artificial intelligence. With the company's cloud business expanding 30% due to ongoing interest in cloud AI services, which Microsoft has been pushing into as part of its partnerships with OpenAI, net income in the quarter increased 33% from a year earlier to $21.9 billion.
Microsoft acquired a 49% share in the income of OpenAI's for-profit division by investing almost $13 billion in the firm. Microsoft's AI strategy is driven by Azure and a line of AI virtual assistants dubbed Copilot, which are powered by the same technology as ChatGPT.
After meeting with departing President Joko Widodo, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, hinted at the prospect of investing in manufacturing in Indonesia, which coincides with Nadella's travel to Southeast Asia. In addition, Apple declared that it would increase expenditure to assist its Vietnamese supply chain and that it would expand its regional headquarters in Singapore by $250 million.