Don't Waste a Crisis: True Corporation's Sigve Brekke on Betting Big on AI

 

 

The Norwegian CEO explains why artificial intelligence is less about cutting costs and more about reimagining the entire business — and why Thailand's digital moment may be closer than anyone thinks.

 

 

In a glass-walled meeting room at True Digital Park in Bangkok, Sigve Brekke pauses mid-conversation, turns to an AI assistant, and asks it to suggest talking points for the very interview he is giving. Within seconds, three bullet points appear — accurate, contextually sharp, and unnervingly on the nose. He grins. "You don't need to be a professor in technology to use AI," he says. Point made.

 

 

 

Brekke, the Norwegian executive who steered the merger of True and DTAC to create Thailand's largest mobile operator, is one of the most vocal advocates for AI adoption in the region. But his pitch is different from the usual boardroom rhetoric. He is not talking about automation. He is talking about reinvention.

 

"Look at all the different crises that Thailand and the world have faced," he says. "You can sit still, hide, and wait for it to pass — or you can see it as an opportunity and come out stronger." The phrase he returns to, borrowed from CP Group's senior chairman, is telling: "Don't waste a crisis."
 

 

 

 

Beyond Cost-Cutting

True is not short of AI use cases. The company uses machine learning to predict network failures before they occur, deploys energy optimisation algorithms to cut power consumption during low-demand periods, and has mapped more than 1,000 internal processes — from HR recruitment to tower deployment — with the goal of automating as many as possible through what Brekke calls "touch-free operation."

 

But it is in customer engagement where his ambitions are most striking. True is using AI to profile each of its 40 million subscribers individually, analysing usage patterns, communication habits, and household characteristics to construct personalised offers.

 

"AI will read you," Brekke says. "It figures out what you need, what product to offer, and when to reach you."

 

 

 

 

The company has also launched an AI-enabled home device connecting appliances, CCTV systems, and lighting into a single conversational platform and an AI tool tailored for pet owners — reflecting research that roughly one in three Thai families treats a pet as a family member.

 

"Most companies are using AI just to reduce costs," Brekke says. "That's good, but it's not where the real power is. The power is in using AI to serve customers better, to create new products, and to actually grow the business."
 

 

 

 

 

People First

The consistent thread running through Brekke's strategy is that technology is only as transformative as the people wielding it. True has appointed a Chief AI Officer — among the first Thai companies to do so — and recently gathered 2,000 employees for a dedicated, full-day AI training session with external experts. The goal: 100 per cent of the workforce actively using AI tools by the end of next year.

 

Brekke himself relies on a personalised "CEO AI" trained on 12 months of internal documents, board papers, and correspondence to track commitments and prepare for engagements. True has also partnered with Google to extend AI literacy to 12 million university students nationwide.

 

"AI is the new internet," he says. "The risk is not losing your job to AI. The risk is not learning what AI can do, so you cannot qualify for the new jobs it creates."

 

 

 

 

 

Governing the Machine

Brekke is candid about the dangers. He cites algorithmic bias as evidence that deployment without governance is reckless and calls on every company to establish clear boundaries around data use. Governments, he warns, cannot afford complacency.

 

"It took ten years to regulate social media," he says. "Don't wait five years for AI policies. By then, it will be too late."

 

His broader ambition is to position True not as a telecoms provider, but as a technology company woven into the financial, media, healthcare, and security fabric of Thai life — a cornerstone of a digital economy growing at twice the pace of overall GDP.

 

"Thailand has something," he says. "A digitally savvy population. Early adopters. Real momentum." What it needs now, he suggests, is the will to build on it. True, for its part, is placing its bets.