I recently had the privilege of moderating a high-level discussion at the Milken Institute’s Asia Summit, titled “You and AI: Breaking Boundaries Everywhere”. The panel emphasized how successful artificial intelligence adoption hinges on strategic integration, a clear focus on business outcomes, and a significant investment in workforce reskilling — rather than on the technology alone.
The discussion brought together Hans A.T. Dekkers, General Manager at IBM; Grace Park, Chief Data, Analytics, and AI Officer at Prudential; Rodrigo Kede Lima, President of Microsoft Asia; and Panos Madamopoulos-Moraris, Founder of Exoscaleton, Senior Advisor at Stanford University, and former Founding Managing Director of Partnerships and Industry Programs at Stanford HAI.
The consensus rapidly emerged that the enterprise adoption of AI remains in its early stages. Many organizations struggle to see a return on investment — not because of the technology itself, but due to challenges in integration, measurement, and workforce adaptation. The panelists stressed that success depends less on algorithms and more on a deep understanding of business processes, domain expertise, and the effective integration of AI into day-to-day workflows.
The core discussion centered on how organizations can effectively harness artificial intelligence. It was emphasized that AI’s true enterprise value often resides not in massive, general-purpose models, but rather in more focused, domain-specific systems trained on proprietary data. When integrated into workflows, these systems become unique business assets. This perspective was reinforced by the idea that even the most advanced models remain ineffective without clarity on the specific business problems they are intended to solve.
Key prerequisites for success were identified as defining the right outcomes, measuring impact effectively, and investing in teams to ensure they can adapt and grow alongside the technology. Further analysis pointed out that technology itself is rarely the primary bottleneck; instead, organizational culture and processes frequently pose the greatest challenge. Success, therefore, demands both top-down strategic vision and bottom-up engagement, supported by significant efforts in workforce reskilling.
Meanwhile, as the AI ecosystem evolves rapidly across the U.S. and Asia, talent acquisition and retention remain pressing challenges. We all agreed that advances in robotics and the intersection of physical and digital environments promise to transform both business and society.
The panel concluded on a pragmatic yet optimistic note: AI’s transformative potential is real, but unlocking it will require sustained investment in people. As a moderator, I left encouraged to see that the conversation moved beyond existential risks and regulation, focusing instead on practical implementation, value creation, and the challenges organizations face.
You can watch our full panel discussion here.