KBTG sets new goals for 2025, embracing the Era of Agentic AI through the Human-First x AI-First Transformation

Mr. Ruangroj Poonpol, Group Chairman of KBTG, said, "Throughout 2024, KBTG has achieved milestones in AI across various dimensions. These achievements span from research and development of AI innovations such as AINU, THaLLE, Future You, Koo Kid, AI-Enabled Video Analytics, and Document OCR, to the development of AthenaMind, a platform for creating bespoke AI agents or AI models for internal use. HR Chat Agent, the first AI agent to be deployed for KBTG employees, can answer questions and provide information on employee benefits such as group insurance, expense accounts, provident funds, and leave policies."

KBTG is the only Thai organization to win The Innovators 2024 award from Global Finance in the category of 'Compliance/Risk Innovation: Best eKYC Innovation to Minimize Facial Fraud.' This achievement was made possible by its AI-powered face liveness detection technology, now being used in various applications within KASIKORNBANK (KBank) and commercially offered through AINU. Furthermore, KBTG has forged both domestic and international partnerships to drive innovation and research in AI technology. These collaborations include the Equitable Education Fund (EEF), the Artificial Intelligence Association of Thailand (AIAT), AI Singapore, Google Research, MIT Media Lab, and AI Fund. KBTG's research papers have also been featured at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL 2024), which is the world's most prestigious natural language processing (NLP) conference. In total, the organization has published 30 papers in international journals, including 2 in Rank A* journals and 5 in Rank A journals. These research findings have been leveraged to create innovative products and services such as AI-powered data analytics, enhanced eKYC processes using computer vision, and real-time customer inquiries through NLP-powered chatbots.

In 2025, three key AI trends are expected to dominate:

1. AI for Human Intelligence: This involves leveraging AI to aid in decision-making and driving business impact.
2. AI Agents: These are specialized AI models capable of performing end-to-end tasks and making precise decisions.
3. AI Guardrails: This refers to the responsible use of AI to mitigate risks through comprehensive awareness and governance, while maintaining flexibility.

The key technology that will serve as an essential tool for KBTG is Agentic AI, an AI model that not only operates independently but also coordinates and commands other AI systems to perform more complex tasks. In the coming year, KBTG will focus on fostering collaboration between humans and AI while maintaining a human-centric approach through three main aspects:

Agentic Platformization: Developing new platforms to manage AI agents more easily, conveniently, and quickly while enabling seamless collaboration with humans. These include AthenaMind, an AI agent creation platform developed for internal use by KBTG. It serves as an AI Agent Factory, helping create AI agents for various applications within KBTG. Currently, KBTG is planning the development of AI agents for other functions, such as a PDPA Chat Agent and a Regulatory Chat Agent.

Agentic Orchestration: Creating and designing new operation workflows to enable AI agents and humans to work together efficiently and achieve business impact. For instance, KBTG has initially introduced an AI coding assistant to software development to enhance developers' efficiency and speed, reducing their working time by at least 20 percent. So far, more than 500,000 lines of code have been generated using AI. The next step is to advance the AI coding assistant into an AI Coding Agent, which will function like a junior developer capable of writing code from start to finish based on clear requirements. This development will further reduce coding time and accelerate the software development life cycle (SDLC).

Agentic Humanization: Equipping employees with the right mindset, skills, and an open work culture, enhancing their knowledge and capabilities in AI, while fostering human-AI workforce integration to promote the seamless integration of AI technology into employees' daily tasks. KBTG has since achieved 100-percent AI literacy, raising awareness of AI among all employees. Initiatives include the establishment of a Machine Learning, AI, and Data Analytics (M.A.D.) Guild and the KBTG Democratization of AI Council (K-DAI Council) to widely promote AI adoption. The focus is to drive human transformation, empowering employees to reach their full potential, with AI serving as a crucial tool to unlock and navigate them towards their goals.

KBTG aims to generate more than 10 billion Baht in business impact by 2029. This effort involves transformation into an AI-infused organization, with AI integration into internal work processes and seamless collaboration among employees across all areas, AI-driven innovations to meet customers' needs, and enhancement of organizational capabilities. Additionally, KBTG seeks to advance Thailand's economic and social development towards regional leadership by applying AI research to deliver value to society and the nation. Notable examples include AI for education, AI as a youth advisor, and AI for healthcare, following the 'KBTG AI For Thailand' concept through existing and future partnerships.