The AI-backed Business Processes for Growth

Senior VP of Canon Singapore Norihiro Katagiri Shares More

Global election outcomes. New work styles in the wake of the pandemic. Exponential tech advancements. These factors are changing the face of the business landscape, and how operations, transactions and interactions are managed. One common thread emerging from conversations surrounding these factors? Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In this article, Senior Vice President of Canon Singapore Norihiro (Nick) Katagiri shares why the inevitable AI will be the anchor in an ever-changing business landscape. Also, discover the very AI-powered solutions, which will make an appearance at the Think Big Leadership Business Series 2024 in Singapore, enabling process optimisation, task automation and revolutionising the way business is being done.

Q: Nick, you’re constantly travelling around the region and meeting business leaders. What have you observed to be the trends impacting businesses in Asia?

A: We are currently living in a time of constant global change and disruption. Recently, I have upped the frequency of my business travels because even within Asia, I am finding that customer behaviours and market conditions can completely change within months. But change presents huge opportunities, and to harness them, I think businesses in Asia must be ready to do so not a month or year later, but right now.

Besides having to navigate change, businesses in markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore need to deal with rising operational costs. In particular, SMEs struggle with the age-old problem of limited access to resources. In order to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape, they need to identify and focus on their main domains, grow their core competencies and outsource the management of their back-end operations. Basically, for jobs that are manual and repetitive in nature, leave them to AI.

Q: Why the pivot to AI? And will it be a boom or a bust?

A: What AI is great at is process optimisation. Take for example data entry in any industry — this is a job that leaves a lot of room for human errors, which can be costly. AI can do the same job without making mistakes, and so much faster. According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 20231, 75% of companies globally are looking to adopt technologies such as AI in the next five years.

Whether they like it or not, SMEs especially, must ride this trend of business process automation or be left behind. They must find new ways to capitalise on innovations and maximise productivity as well as operational efficiencies. That’s why our recently concluded Think Big event series in Hong Kong and the upcoming Singapore edition are centred on AI and its immense potential to transform businesses.

Q: Think Big in Hong Kong saw record-high attendance, rallying media journalists and business professionals across industries. Was there any solution that stole the show?

A: That would be Antelope Genie, a document management solution built on generative AI and large language models. One of our customers from the legal industry was amazed by its key features of automated content analysis, summarisation and comparison. Dealing with huge volumes of paperwork is a norm for law firms, with employees having to review 100, 200-page contracts as well as compare revised versions with earlier ones for changes, some of which are handwritten. Doing this point by point, page by page, is a nightmare.

This labour-intensive process takes mere minutes with Antelope Genie. How it works is that it captures the entire document and automates the conversion of information — even handwritten ones — into indexed data. This facilitates efficient document management. A summary of the document’s content is also generated instantly. Differences between the compared documents are also highlighted, allowing easy cross-checking and eliminating the need to review each document word by word. It drastically reduces workload.

What's more, hiring and training new people can be tough especially with budgetary and time constraints. With Antelope Genie, there is no need to increase headcount. Companies can also better allocate their existing manpower to focus on driving growth. And with successful tech rollouts, companies will usually see a return on investment within three to five years.

Q: Antelope Genie will certainly make a splash at Think Big in Singapore too. What other innovative solutions will be showcased?

A: Our solutions showcase will be divided into three zones: Front Office, Smart Workspace and Operational Hub. At the Front Office zone, guests will get to explore our visitor management system which creates a positive first impression at the office reception.

Over at the Smart Workspace zone, guests can envision the transformation of an ordinary office into a digital and highly efficient one with Canon’s AI-powered print and scan solution, document management solution, and AI-assisted multi-function devices. Finally, the Operational Hub zone is where guests will learn how our AI-driven intelligent video analytics, managed and digitisation services can help streamline operations.

Q: What an exciting showcase that befits the theme of “Towards AI with Canon”. Could you share examples of how these AI solutions empower workflow automation and thus improve operational efficiencies?

A: First is our intelligent video analytics, which integrates with CCTVs to detect real-time incidents. Its versatility allows it to be deployed in numerous industries. In healthcare, it can be used in hospitals and elder care centres. Many warded patients require 24/7 monitoring, but it is humanly impossible for medical staff to watch over them round the clock. Our intelligent video analytics automatically detects falls in real time and sends alerts to medical staff for them to take immediate action. This helps to increase the level of patient care.

We also have our facial recognition solution, which supports frontline operations. In education, the solution can be deployed in schools to automate attendance tracking. It also helps to generate real-time attendance statistics. With the data, teachers can promptly check in on students with high absenteeism rates.

“Seeing is believing. That’s why it’s important for business leaders and decision-makers to be at Think Big Leadership Business Series 2024 to experience how our AI-powered solutions make lives easier.”

- Norihiro (Nick) Katagiri, Senior Vice President, Canon Singapore

Q: That’s interesting — AI or tech in general is often perceived as cold, yet these examples show how we can elevate the human experience.

A: Exactly. In any business, the human touch remains important. Tech companies in the U.S. have announced return-to-office policies, and Asian offices are likely to follow suit. Many employees, being accustomed to the benefits of a hybrid work arrangement, are naturally frustrated. It is crucial that employers show care, starting with shaping work environments where employees can work safely, comfortably and happily.

Canon’s solutions play a key role in helping companies achieve that. Our Smart Surveillance solutions are designed to provide an additional layer of security. But what about improving employee well-being? We’re slowly making headway. Recently, for World Smile Day, we raised awareness on how our facial recognition solution can be used to encourage smiles and create positive emotions in the workplace.

Now, is there a way for us to step it up and utilise technology to monitor employees’ moods? Could we detect negative emotions, thus allowing employers to prioritise their mental health? How can we monitor these metrics, all while respecting privacy concerns? While we continue to focus on driving process optimisation and business workflow automation through AI, this can be an interesting area for us to examine.

Think Big Leadership Business Series 2024 will take place from 29 to 30 October at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay. The two-day event will be replete with solution demonstrations, illuminating educational sessions and networking opportunities. Nick will be at the event — be sure to connect with him and exchange insights!