At the TechSauce Global Summit (Aug 4–6), Dr. Pinnaree “Pin Pin” Tea-makorn, AI Strategist and Sasin core faculty member joined a panel discussion on “Unsettling Workforce: Building the AI-Ready for Tomorrow.” Dr. Pin Pin shared two powerful insights on stage: Critical thinking is essential. Students are submitting assignments with fabricated ChatGPT citations — a widespread issue across education. This underscores the urgent need to cultivate critical thinking skills so students can partner effectively with AI.

1. Human creativity is irreplaceable. While generative AI can compose music, write poetry, and create visual art in seconds, Dr. Pin, a pianist herself, emphasized that the human drive to express ourselves is something AI cannot replicate.
2. “As Gen Z enters the workforce with fresh expectations and AI continues to reshape job roles across industries, it’s clear that education, business, and policy must evolve together to meet the challenge,” said Dr. Pin Pin on LinkedIn.

Jeffrey Char, Founder & CEO of SOGO Energy and Visiting Professor at Sasin also drew a bold connection between AI acceleration and a looming energy crisis. He spotlighted how AI infrastructure and data centers are rapidly becoming some of the world’s largest energy consumers. By 2030, electricity demand from AI could reach 945 TWh — enough to power all of Japan. Asia, home to the fastest-growing digital economies, also faces the most acute energy supply challenges. Jeffrey emphasized, “Energy equals competitiveness,” but warned that AI’s current energy trajectory is unsustainable without bold new solutions. His answer? Next-generation geothermal. Japan’s abundant geological heat, engineering expertise, and decades of geothermal experience position it to lead in this area. If AI is Asia’s digital edge, geothermal may be the key to preserving it. All insights in this post are based on reflections originally shared by Roy Tomizawa, CEO & Founder of Reinventing Asia and former Chief Executive of Sasin Executive Education.