AI All-in — Suphachai maps CP’s digital banking future

Suphachai Chearavanont is moving to place artificial intelligence at the centre of CP Group’s next digital transformation, positioning Arise Ventures Group as a key vehicle for building new infrastructure around AI, data and digital finance.

The senior CP Group executive, who is also chairman of True Corporation Plc and chairman and chief executive of Arise Ventures Group, has set out a wider vision in which AI is no longer treated simply as a technology tool, but as a core infrastructure layer for the economy.

That strategy is closely linked to Ascend Bank, CP Group’s branchless banking venture, which is being prepared for launch within July.

Suphachai said the timing of the launch, whether a few days before or after competitors, was less important than the readiness of the system and the ability to create a digital financial platform genuinely connected to AI and the new economy.

The Bank of Thailand has approved a new virtual bank framework as part of its wider digital-finance agenda, with the Finance Ministry approving successful applicants to establish virtual banks in June 2025.

Ascend Bank is one of the most closely watched players because it sits within a larger CP ecosystem spanning payments, retail, telecommunications, data and digital services.

The immediate corporate question is linked to CPALL’s extraordinary general meeting on May 29, when shareholders are expected to consider a proposed restructuring involving Counter Service, Thai Smart Card and CPAXT under the virtual bank business structure.

Suphachai declined to comment on the shareholder decision, but said he remained confident that the group’s branchless bank could move ahead as planned.

For Suphachai, Ascend Bank is not meant to be a conventional digital bank transplanted onto a mobile app.

It is being framed as part of a broader AI ecosystem that connects e-wallet services, virtual banking, data centres and AI technology under the Arise platform.

He said AI would create an impact larger than the internet era because it would not only change communication, but also reshape how economies, education systems, financial services, healthcare, industry, robotics, automation and even future warfare operate.

The internet has already transformed the world once, but Suphachai believes AI will move faster and with greater force.

He warned that the combined impact of AI and AI governance could be more far-reaching than wars or several geopolitical crises because the technology will penetrate the structural foundations of economies and security systems.

That is why Arise has been set up to play a role beyond technology investment.

Suphachai described it as a future infrastructure platform designed to expand real access to essential services, particularly finance, education, healthcare and AI capability.

One of its core missions is to address the problem of people who remain underserved by the traditional financial system.

Suphachai said virtual banking and AI could help people outside formal banking channels gain access to loans, reduce reliance on informal debt and create wider opportunities for financial security.

He said previous attempts to solve grassroots financial exclusion through digital banking had produced limited results.

But AI, when combined with data and digital platforms, could improve risk analysis, credit access and the design of financial products with far greater precision than older systems.

Ascend Money has separately described its virtual bank ambition as a model built around people with limited access to conventional finance, including gig workers, small merchants and underserved users.

The company has said experience from TrueMoney and Ascend Nano would support its effort to provide clearer, safer and more inclusive financial services.

Suphachai is also pushing Arise’s AI strategy beyond finance.

In healthcare, he sees AI as a tool that could expand access to preventive care at population scale by analysing individual health data, genetics, diet, sleep and behaviour to provide more personalised recommendations.

He argued that traditional healthcare systems cannot provide such individualised support to tens of millions of people at the same time, while AI could help shift the system towards earlier prevention rather than late-stage treatment.

In education, Suphachai said AI could become a major tool for lifting the quality of learning.

However, he stressed that technology alone was not enough; AI governance would be essential if the technology was to create real value for society rather than deepen risks.

He compared the coming AI transition to the earlier rise of smartphones.

In the past, few people imagined that computers would one day sit in everyone’s hands, but smartphones made that shift a daily reality.

AI, he said, is likely to follow the same path by becoming embedded in every device, every economic system and every part of daily life.

Over the next three to five years, he expects the world to enter what he called an “AI All-in” era, in which AI will be built into business systems, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and ordinary human activity.

Even so, he warned that the growth of AI must be tied to governance, sustainability and social responsibility.

If technology damages the environment or human quality of life, he said, economic growth built around it will not be sustainable.

For Thailand, Suphachai sees the AI transition as a strategic moment.

He said the country must decide how it wants to position itself amid global technology competition, supply-chain relocation and the race among major powers to secure new investment bases.

Thailand could become a neutral space in the new global economy if it has a clear strategy covering energy, technology and the digital economy, he said.

China, the United States and Europe are all looking for new investment bases in the region, creating an opportunity for countries able to offer stability, infrastructure and strategic clarity.

The broader Arise strategy has already been tied to investment in digital infrastructure.

Earlier this year, Arise Ventures Group announced a strategic investment in True Corporation, with the aim of accelerating AI, cloud and digital innovation across the region.

Suphachai’s wider message is that the next phase of competitiveness will not be determined by technology alone. He said the heart of the AI transition is human development, especially education and opportunities for young people to think differently and create new ideas.

If the education system does not change, he warned, Thailand risks remaining trapped in old patterns even as the rest of the world moves into a new AI-driven economy.

Bangkokbiznews