“AI Is Winning Trades. But Can It Lead?”
“AI Is Winning Trades. But Can It Lead?”
Blog Article
At the Asian Institute of Management, one of Southeast Asia’s top business schools, Joseph Plazo—founder of AI investment firm Plazo Sullivan Roche—offered a message rarely heard in boardrooms today: pause.
His technology powers some of Asia’s most reliable portfolio strategies.
And yet, he stood in front of the next generation of business leaders to say:
“A bot can optimize a trade. Only a leader can own its consequences.”
???? **From Execution to Ethics: What Leaders Must Still Own**
Plazo is not retreating from AI—he’s refining how it’s led.
“Speed does not imply wisdom. Nor does precision imply perspective.”
He recalled a moment in 2020: a bot under his direction flagged a short on gold—hours before the Federal Reserve’s emergency announcement.
“We reversed the trade. The machine was right on data—but wrong on timing.”
???? **Why Strategic Friction Still Matters**
Plazo introduced a concept he now teaches internally: **Strategic Friction**.
“A moment of hesitation can preserve more value than a flawless trade.”
He then outlined **Conviction Calculus**, a leadership-level framework for decision validation in AI-assisted organizations:
- Are we compromising trust for short-term gain?
- Have human signals—history, intuition, market tone—been applied as counterbalance?
- Does our governance framework include accountability for algorithmic decisions?
???? **The Scaling of Systems Must Be Matched by Strategic Intent**
Plazo pointed to Asia’s surging fintech sector—with massive investments in algorithmic trading and automation infrastructure from Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines.
But he cautioned:
“Governance is lagging behind growth.”
He referenced recent collapses of AI-driven hedge funds in Hong Kong in 2024, where systems failed to interpret macroeconomic risk.
“The code executed flawlessly. The oversight didn’t exist.”
???? **The Future of Machine Strategy Must Be Story-Aware**
Plazo is now advancing what he calls **“narrative-integrated AI”**—systems that integrate geopolitical signals, regulatory context, intent, and human tone into algorithmic output.
“Strategy lives in story, not just numbers,” he said. “AI must learn to read both.”
Following his talk, venture firms from Tokyo and Jakarta began discussions on enterprise-level governance systems for algorithmic infrastructure.
One executive here called the talk:
“A boardroom blueprint for AI era decision-making.”
???? **The Real Risk: Perfect Execution Without Reflection**
Plazo closed with a sobering truth:
“Flawless execution without intent can still cause systemic damage.”
The message was clear: AI may dominate execution, but humans must lead intention.