From Aunties to Agents: The Shape of AI to Come

The «Fortune Brainstorm AI» event provided a dynamic and sometimes dizzying journey through the frontiers of artificial intelligence, financial services, infrastructure, and regional developments. With contributions from global banks, tech leaders, and AI think tanks, the afternoon session was a mosaic of use cases, strategic concerns, and bold visions.

AI’s insatiable demand for computing power has pushed data center growth into overdrive. Once peripheral, they now consume 3 percent of the world’s electricity, and are expected to double to 6 percent soon.

This insight stems from the «Fortune AI Brainstorm» event that took place this week in Singapore.

Smart Scale

Singapore, already pushing its 1.3 GW limits, is turning to green energy and exploring next-gen solutions, while nearby Johor Bahru rapidly scales up with projects like a 1 GW center in Kulai. The largest centers – like Virginia’s – already hit 100 GW, costing over $1 billion apiece.

The race to accommodate this hunger is not only about power; it’s about distribution, staff shortages, and the push for efficiency. The challenge is not just scale, but smart scale.

AI Agents, Applications and Interoperability

From single-task tools to complex multi-step AI agents, the landscape is evolving fast. Companies like Google (Project Astra, Gemini) and Accenture report use cases in HR, finance, life sciences, marketing, and customer contact centers. By 2028, Google expects AI to power 80 percent of its products.

But the move from Generative AI to Agentic AI brings new challenges: governance, risk, and explainability. «Humans won’t understand what machines say, we’ll need machines to explain,» quipped Siew Chan Cheong, Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Maybank, highlighting the epistemic gap between AI and human comprehension.

Interoperability and trust, not just performance, are becoming the new currencies in AI.

Banking: From Visibility to Virtuality

AI is poised to redefine banking, both internally and in the customer journey. Maybank and Swiss bank EFG International stress that banking is becoming «invisible» to users, buried in the fabric of apps and interfaces.

As AI moves into credit scoring, product development, compliance, AML, and transaction monitoring, the pressure is on to scale despite legacy systems.

The competitive edge from AI may be short-lived: Maybank foresees AI becoming a commodity within 3-5 years, placing the onus on banks to industrialize intelligently – targeting customer segments and product categories where AI adds real value. Yet not all customers or relationship managers (RMs) are ready.

EFG International's Sigrid Rouam, Global Chief AI Officer, called for a holistic wealth AI partner model, where AI supports life-cycle-based advisory, freeing RMs to focus 70 percent of their time on high-value interactions.

Regional Rivalries and Strategic Shifts

The Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi) is positioning itself to attract family offices, but struggles to convert those ambitions into banking activity. These cities are shaping up as investment management centers, not yet full-fledged financial hubs.

Meanwhile, Singapore's «Auntie» phenomenon (a nod to aging and societal reframing) and NextGen finance are reshaping how change is perceived, not as a future event but a long-term process already underway.

Asia is where infrastructure, regulation, and demographics combine to produce unique AI deployment patterns, especially visible in OneConnect’s comparisons of China and Southeast Asia.

AI Governance & Global Divides

Russell Wald of Stanford’s HAI presented the latest AI Index (2025, 8th Edition) – a 500-page pulse check on AI’s global state. Highlights:

  1. AI performance continues to rise (e.g., Midjourney).
  2. AI is embedded in daily life.
  3. Business is all-in on AI.
  4. AI is getting cheaper, faster, and more accessible.
  5. The innovation frontier is narrowing.
  6. Global optimism rises – but regional divides deepen.
  7. The US leads in top models – but China is closing in fast.

These insights reaffirm AI’s central role in shaping economic and societal futures—but also underline the need for inclusive policy, strategic foresight, and robust governance.

Fast-Forward Illusion

Despite all the talk of speed, a recurring insight was the illusion of progress. As one participant noted: «It’s not fast today – even if you think so.» The transformation is cumulative and cooperative, not simply disruptive