Salesforce’s Arundhati Bhattacharya Urges Human-Centric AI as Asia Accelerates Tech Adoption
Asia’s fast-growing AI ecosystem has prompted a strong call for caution from Salesforce South Asia chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, who said the region’s next phase of technological expansion must centre on human well-being. Speaking at the Mint All About AI Tech4Good Awards, she stressed that rapid advances in sectors such as digital finance, health care and education make it essential to build responsible and transparent AI systems.
The event, now in its second year, brought together innovators and policymakers from countries including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and India.
Call for Ethical and Responsible AI Systems
Bhattacharya said Asia is entering a period where AI adoption is rising sharply, increasing both opportunities and risks. She urged companies to embed ethics, privacy protections and accountability measures into every stage of AI design. According to her, technology should serve communities, not outpace their ability to regulate or understand its impact.
She highlighted that emerging technologies such as generative AI and machine learning have the potential to improve early diagnosis in healthcare, support personalised learning in education and speed up government services. At the same time, she cautioned that these systems can reinforce bias and weaken privacy if deployed without strong guardrails.
India’s Digital Inclusion as a Model
Drawing from India’s transformation in financial inclusion, Bhattacharya said that digital infrastructure can create large-scale social impact. She pointed to Aadhaar-based verification, widespread access to mobile devices and instant payment systems as examples of how technology can uplift underserved communities when designed with accessibility and trust in mind.
She said Asia’s experience shows that technology can unlock economic potential but must be guided by frameworks that prioritise people above efficiency or scale.
Sovereign AI and the Need for Guardrails
The region’s push toward sovereign AI models has increased significantly this year, driven by concerns over reliance on global platforms and the need for systems that understand local languages and cultural nuance. Bhattacharya said locally trained models will be important for long-term resilience, especially in diverse markets.
She encouraged developers and businesses to see AI guardrails not as restrictions but as essential infrastructure for building trust, safety and sustainable innovation.
Final Thoughts from TheTrendingPeople.com
As Asia’s AI ambitions accelerate, the call for human-centric design highlights a critical balance between innovation and responsibility. With expanding digital ecosystems across industries, the region’s next challenge will be to prioritise ethics, transparency and inclusion while building advanced technologies. Bhattacharya’s message reinforces the need for long-term trust as the foundation of AI-driven growth.