Huawei Cloud President outlines their efforts to leverage AI technology
Alan Qi, President of Huawei Cloud Middle East and Central Asia, discusses their implementation of AI technology, the rate of digital transformation in the region and the potential challenges that could slow the rate of AI adoption for enterprises.
Digital transformation and intelligent upgrade happening all around the world at an increasing rate. How do you view these changes will impact enterprises and cloud industry of Central Asia region in recent years?
Digital transformation and intelligent upgrades are reshaping industries globally, and Central Asia is no exception. More than 70% of AI workloads will run on cloud platforms because cloud delivers the computing power, elasticity, and ecosystem needed to innovate faster. This transformation will unfold in four stages:
Digitisation: Digital tools are adopted to create new products and solutions. Enterprises in Central Asia are already moving to cloud-powered platforms, enhancing efficiency and unlocking new growth.
Digitalisation: Next, digital technology will integrates deeper into core operations, for example AI-driven customer insights in banking.
Intelligence: Technologies like foundation models, Gen AI, RAG, and fine-tuned models will transform personal, office, and production scenarios. For example, AI-powered predictive maintenance could save millions in downtime.
Sustainability: The final stage is AI-driven sustainability where AI agents, embodied AI or spatial intelligence becomes key driver of productivity, supporting autonomous economies.
With more and more enterprise adopting AI, what do you think are the main challenges for enterprise in the region, especially in Central Asia, that is looking to adopt AI-powered applications?
Adopting AI-powered applications presents many opportunities for enterprises in Central Asia, but it also comes with challenges. The four key challenges that enterprise in the region will need to address is:
First, scenario complexity . AI isn't one-size-fits-all. Different industries require customised models with varying scales and capabilities. A solution that works for one business may not fit another, so customisation is critical.
. AI isn't one-size-fits-all. Different industries require customised models with varying scales and capabilities. A solution that works for one business may not fit another, so customisation is critical. Second, data quality . AI thrives on high-quality data, but many enterprises struggle with unstructured, incomplete, or siloed data. Cleansing and processing this data often require significant time and resources before AI can even be deployed.
. AI thrives on high-quality data, but many enterprises struggle with unstructured, incomplete, or siloed data. Cleansing and processing this data often require significant time and resources before AI can even be deployed. Third, specialisation . While general-purpose AI models are useful, they often fall short in core production systems. Enterprises need domain-specific AI models fine-tuned for their unique operational needs—which require deep expertise and investment.
. While general-purpose AI models are useful, they often fall short in core production systems. Enterprises need domain-specific AI models fine-tuned for their unique operational needs—which require deep expertise and investment. Finally, limited AI computing power. Many regions, including Central Asia, still face infrastructure constraints. Training and running advanced AI models require high compute resources, which can be a barrier for enterprises that has no access to scalable cloud or on-premise solutions.
Overcoming these challenges will require collaboration—between businesses, governments, and tech providers. The potential is huge, but success depends on tackling these hurdles strategically.
Today, AI is a hot topic. From your point of view, how can Huawei Cloud help enterprises leverage AI technology effectively?
AI is indeed transforming industries worldwide, and enterprises looking to harness its power need a partner that simplifies adoption while maximising value. At Huawei Cloud, we enable businesses to leverage AI effectively through three key strengths.
First, abundant AI computing power . Many companies struggle with the high cost and complexity of building AI infrastructure. Huawei Cloud provides instant access to massive computing resources—eliminating the need for costly data center upgrades. Businesses can focus on innovation while we handle the operational maintenance, ensuring zero downtime and seamless scalability.
. Many companies struggle with the high cost and complexity of building AI infrastructure. Huawei Cloud provides instant access to massive computing resources—eliminating the need for costly data center upgrades. Businesses can focus on innovation while we handle the operational maintenance, ensuring zero downtime and seamless scalability. Second, our AI development and data governance platforms —ModelArts and DataArts. ModelArts is a one-stop platform for AI development, offering tools for model deployment, fine-tuning, evaluation, and compression. DataArts is a one-stop data governance platform that streamlines data governance and ensure efficient data provisioning.
—ModelArts and DataArts. is a one-stop platform for AI development, offering tools for model deployment, fine-tuning, evaluation, and compression. is a one-stop data governance platform that streamlines data governance and ensure efficient data provisioning. Third, diverse AI models. We support not only Huawei's Pangu models but also leading third-party foundation models like DeepSeek and Qwen. Through our professional services, enterprises can deploy these models as 'ready-for-service' solutions, accelerating time-to-value without the hassle of complex integrations.
With Huawei Cloud, enterprises don't just adopt AI—they scale it with confidence. Whether it's computing power or pre-trained models, we are here to turn AI potential into real-world success.
Can you share about the progress of Huawei Cloud in the Middle East and Central Asia region, and also any successful cases in the Central Asia region?
In Middle East and Central Asia, we have supported more than 900 customers and more than 400 partners across industries from government, education, logistics, carriers, and cloud native.
These growth are the testament that we have gained the trust of customers and partners from the region by providing innovative solutions, cloud services with exceptional performance, and reliable services. For example:
In Logistics,
For SMSA, a leading Saudi Arabia logistics provider, we provided innovative solutions to explore new business model, and deployed a unified cloud platform that integrated different data systems. This enabled operational efficiency, efficient decision-making driven by data, and lower total cost ownership (TCO).
In Gaming,
We also empowered a top gaming company by providing cloud services with exceptional performance through Huawei Cloud platform, ensuring ultra-low latency to meet application latency requirements for ultra-smooth game experience.
In Government,
Additionally, in Saudi Arabia, we partnered with a key government agency to ensure 24/7 uninterrupted services. Through Huawei Cloud's reliable services and dedicated team, we helped them achieve zero downtime, while client of another cloud vendor faced a 20-hour downtime.
As Central Asia and the Middle East continue their digital journey, we are committed to being the trusted cloud and AI partner that helps governments and enterprises innovate, scale, and lead.
Image Credit: Huawei
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TECHx
an hour ago
- TECHx
Can Ethical AI Be More Than a Talking Point?
Home » Editor's pick » Can Ethical AI Be More Than a Talking Point? Ethical AI is moving from talk to action as global laws, pledges, and accountability measures reshape how technology is built and deployed. AI is everywhere in 2025. It writes, designs, predicts, diagnoses, recommends, and increasingly, governs. From smart cities to courtrooms, its decisions are shaping our lives. But as AI grows more powerful, one question gets louder: Are we building it responsibly? Or are we just saying the right things? This month, the European Union made headlines with the passage of the AI Act, the first major attempt to regulate AI at scale. This sweeping law bans certain uses of AI, such as real-time facial recognition in public spaces and social scoring systems. It also imposes strict rules on high-risk applications like biometric surveillance, recruitment tools, and credit scoring. Why does this matter? Because it signals that AI governance is moving from voluntary ethics to enforceable law. The EU has set a precedent others may follow, much like it did with GDPR for data privacy. But here's the catch: regulation is only as effective as its enforcement. Without clear oversight and penalties, even the best laws can fall short. Europe's AI Act is a strong start, but the world is watching how it will be applied. Across the Atlantic, the United States is facing growing pressure to catch up. In May 2025, Congress held a new round of hearings with major AI players like OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. Lawmakers are calling for clear standards and transparency. Several of these companies have signed voluntary AI safety pledges, promising to develop systems responsibly. Meanwhile, South Korea is exploring a different path. Officials are developing an AI Ethics Certification, a system that would allow companies to prove that their models are fair, transparent, and safe. This is a smart move. Turning ethics into something measurable and certifiable could help bridge the gap between values and verification. However, the success of this initiative depends on how independent, transparent, and rigorous the certification process is. Principles Are Easy. Proof Is Hard. It's worth noting that almost every major AI company today has published a set of ethical principles. Words like trust , safety , accountability , and fairness appear prominently in blog posts and mission statements. But dig deeper and you'll find the real challenge: How are these principles enforced internally? Are external audits allowed? Are impact assessments made public? Is there a clear process to test and mitigate bias? When AI Ethics Fails We've already seen what happens when AI is built without enough attention to fairness or inclusivity. In 2023, a widely used hospital AI system in the U.S. was found to recommend fewer treatment options to Black patients. The cause? Biased training data that didn't account for structural inequalities in healthcare. In 2024, generative AI tools sparked criticism for gender and racial bias. When users searched for terms like 'CEO' or 'doctor,' the images generated were overwhelmingly of white men, despite the global diversity of those professions. These are not one-off glitches. They are symptoms of a deeper issue: AI systems trained on biased data will replicate, and even amplify, that bias at scale. That's why ethics can't be a box to check after a product launches. It must be embedded from the start. A New Ethical Frontier: The UAE Leads in the Middle East Encouragingly, ethical AI leadership is emerging from regions not traditionally known for tech regulation. The United Arab Emirates is one of them. The UAE's National AI Strategy 2031 places a strong emphasis on fairness, transparency, and inclusivity. This isn't just talk. Institutions like the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) are actively training a new generation of AI researchers with governance and ethics embedded in their education. This is a critical development. It shows that countries outside the usual power centers, like the U.S. and EU, can shape global norms. The UAE isn't just importing AI innovation; it's helping design how AI should be governed. Platforms for Global Dialogue Major events like AI Everything and GITEX GLOBAL, hosted in Dubai, are also evolving. They're no longer just product showcases. They now bring together global experts, policymakers, and ethicists to discuss responsible AI practices, risks, and solutions. These events are important, not only because they give emerging markets a voice in the AI ethics debate, but because they encourage cross-border collaboration. And that's exactly what AI governance needs. Why? Because AI systems don't stop at national borders. Facial recognition, large language models, predictive analytics, they all operate across regions. If we don't align on ethics globally, we risk creating fragmented systems with uneven protections. What Needs to Happen Now It's clear that we're moving in the right direction, but not fast enough. What's missing is the bridge between principles and practice. We need: Not just values, but verification. Not just pledges, but clear policies. Not just intentions, but independent audits. Ethics should be baked into the AI lifecycle, from design to deployment. That means testing for bias before the model goes live, ensuring transparency in how decisions are made, and creating clear channels for redress when systems fail. AI governance shouldn't slow innovation. It should guide it. The pace of AI innovation is staggering. Every week brings new tools, new capabilities, and new risks. But alongside that speed is an opportunity: to define the kind of AI future we want. In 2025, ethical AI should not be a trending topic or a marketing slogan. It must be the foundation, the baseline. Because when technology makes decisions about people, those decisions must reflect human values, not just machine logic. By Rabab Zehra, Executive Editor at TECHx.
Arabian Business
4 hours ago
- Arabian Business
OPEC+ countries announce oil production increase
OPEC+ countries have announced a significant increase to oil production levels in July. The eight OPEC+ countries, which previously announced additional voluntary adjustments in April and November 2023 met virtually on May 31 to review global market conditions and outlook. The countries are: Saudi Arabia Russia Iraq UAE Kuwait Kazakhstan Algeria Oman OPEC+ oil production boost In view of a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories, and in accordance with the decision agreed upon on December 5, 2024 to start a gradual and flexible return of the 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary adjustments starting from 1 April 2025, the eight participating countries will implement a production adjustment of 411,000 barrels per day in July 2025 from June 2025 required production level. This is equivalent to three monthly increments as detailed in the table below. The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions. This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability. The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation. The eight countries reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that were agreed to be monitored by the JMMC during its 53rd meeting held on April 3, 2024. They also confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024.
Zawya
7 hours ago
- Zawya
CDC Sets the Bar for Ethical Innovation with APEA 2025 Win
Commerce Dot Com Sdn Bhd honoured with Corporate Excellence Award at APEA 2025 for driving ethical, inclusive, and impactful digital transformation in Malaysia's public procurement sector. PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 31 May 2025 - In an era where digital transformation often prioritises scale and speed, Commerce Dot Com Sdn. Bhd. (CDC) is proving that integrity, inclusion, and impact can and should guide innovation. This conviction has now been recognised regionally, as CDC was honoured with the Corporate Excellence Award at the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards (APEA) 2025. The award recognises companies that exemplify business leadership and innovation grounded in ethical values. For CDC, it's a milestone that crowns a 25-year journey of shaping Malaysia's public procurement landscape through technology that serves not only government, but people. "This award affirms a principle we've held since day one: innovation must be purposeful, and progress must be principled," said Group Chief Operating Officer Abdul Halim Mohammed Yusof. "We accept this not just as recognition, but as a responsibility—to continue leading with ethics, empathy, and excellence." CDC pioneered the digitalisation of Malaysia's public procurement in 2000 with the launch of ePerolehan—a system that now connects over 180,000 registered suppliers, including a growing base of SMEs and micro-enterprises. Beyond numbers, ePerolehan represents a vision: to democratise access, enhance transparency, and reduce friction in public-sector spending. This approach, anchored in good governance, has earned CDC trust from both the public and private sectors. Its systems are not only robust and secure, but designed to serve national development priorities such as vendor empowerment, fiscal responsibility, and data accountability. From employee wellness to leadership development, CDC's internal programmes are structured to ensure its values are not just stated but lived. Looking ahead, CDC is not resting on legacy. It is actively enhancing ePerolehan with AI-driven analytics, real-time decision dashboards, and user-centric design updates, all while maintaining the highest standards of data integrity and public accountability. As digital governance becomes a strategic priority across Southeast Asia, CDC is also exploring regional collaborations to share Malaysia's e-procurement model and insights. Hashtag: #CommerceDotCom #ePerolehan #EthicalInnovation #PublicProcurement #DigitalTransformation #APEA2025 #CorporateExcellence #GovTech #MalaysiaTech The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Commerce Dot Com Sdn Bhd
