Godfrey Sullivan: Azerbaijani market has great potential for AI

Currently, the world is taking strides in artificial intelligence. As lots of projects are being implemented in this area, AI is becoming part of people's lives. The application of artificial intelligence in many fields, especially the economy, creates many opportunities. However, certain things must be done for companies to be prepared for AI and its application in their businesses, and society must be ready as well.

Godfrey Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa of Visa, the international payment technology company, answered the questions from Report on the subject.

- AI is a very trendy topic at the moment. How can businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, capitalize on this opportunity?

- Small businesses have great chances to grow by taking advantage of AI opportunities, as they face many challenges when it comes to digitizing their day-to-day operations. Artificial intelligence can help companies change the way they do business in order to predict demand for their products. AI can also help them better price their products for different customer segments. It will even support them in developing new offers and products for these customer segments.

I think there is a huge opportunity, but it will be important for large companies and the government to work together with SMEs to share the possibilities that artificial intelligence will create.

- If we let our imagination run free about AI, what does tomorrow promise? What can we expect?

- I guess we will have AI-powered apps on our phones. Perhaps these will be developed by fintech companies and use artificial intelligence to answer all the questions we have about financial services. For example, you will be able to ask these apps which credit card is the most attractive. The program will scan all the different credit cards available on the market and suggest the one that most suits your needs and interests.

If you enjoy travel, food, and cinema, you will get the most attractive options. I think AI will also change the shopping experience. We will no longer need to browse through long product lists on e-commerce sites. We will be able to interact with artificial intelligence, tell what we are looking for, and completely tailor searches to our specific needs.

So, I think that in the span of a few months, the current anxiety around artificial intelligence will gradually recede. But as companies integrate AI into their products over the next two years, we'll see productivity progressively increase and better experiences delivered.

Visa has been using artificial intelligence in its operations since 1993, and the use of these capabilities delivers security, reliability, and convenience to people as well.

- Does Visa contemplate using AI against fraud?

- Last year, Visa celebrated 30 years as a pioneer in artificial intelligence, becoming the first payment system to use neural network technologies for real-time, risk-based fraud analytics. Since then, our company has spent more than $500 million on AI and data infrastructure, enabling us to power 100 different capabilities that use AI to ensure safer money movement and prevent fraud before it happens.

We implement the best AI-powered anti-fraud and risk management solutions, like Visa Advanced Authorization (VAA). As a result, in 2023, we managed to help block $40 billion in fraudulent activity, nearly double from the year prior. Furthermore, we are now expanding our AI-powered value-added services products to address our clients’ ever-growing security needs.

Furthermore, last year we launched a $100 million generative AI ventures initiative. This investment aims to support emerging companies that are dedicated to developing generative AI technologies and applications that will impact the future of commerce and payments.

- How suitable is the Azerbaijani market for artificial intelligence?

- Azerbaijan is one of the region's leaders in digital payment development. It has a dynamic and prolific fintech ecosystem, with consumers and businesses ready to swiftly adopt the newest payment solutions and banks possessing advanced capacities and infrastructure to implement them. Therefore, I believe that the Azerbaijani market has great potential for all innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence.