At the Global Trade Leadership Summit this week at AMD, Dublin, Chen Cui, Co-founder and CEO of GingerControl, asked an important question: how will artificial intelligence transform decision-making, trade compliance, customs and supply chains, and what skills will future leaders need?
The presentation began by looking at how quickly technology is developing. From smartphones and reusable rockets to AI, each new wave of technology is arriving faster because it can build on the infrastructure created by the last.
Trade, however, has traditionally moved at a different pace and Chen highlighted the contrast with the long process of digitising customs systems. The EU’s move towards electronic customs systems has taken more than a decade, while new AI tools can reach millions of users in a matter of months.
For trade compliance, the opportunity is becoming clearer. AI can take on decisions where there is a right answer, moving from simple lookup to assistance and eventually to more autonomous processes. Decisions that require judgement, explanation and accountability remain with people.
Chen also made a strong case for something that is often overlooked in conversations about AI: the importance of data. As tools become more widely available, the quality and organisation of a company’s own data will become increasingly important.
For the trade profession, that leaves an interesting question. AI adoption may still be at an early stage, but the technology is moving quickly. The businesses that are ready to take advantage of it will be those that understand their data, their processes and, perhaps most importantly, which decisions can be handed to a machine and which should remain with a human.
Thanks Chen for your valuable contribution ot the Global Trade Leadership Summit at AMD this week. Plenty of food for thought.
