Boao Asia Forum participants discuss the AI era: deeply exploring implementation pathways to bring AI from the laboratory to thousands of industries

Securities Times Reporter Wu Shaolong

From the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to industry integration and global inclusiveness, the Boao Asia Forum 2026 Annual Conference sub-forum “Entering the AI Era: Seizing Opportunities and Creating the Future” was held on March 26. Participants discussed the value gap in AI investment, the core logic of industry transformation, the trend of technological innovation scaling, and the development of human-machine collaboration, outlining a clear path for industry development in the AI era. The discussion also provided key ideas for enterprises to seize opportunities and address challenges.

AI Transformation Requires Moving Beyond Superficial Attempts

As AI becomes the core driver of global industrial change, many companies’ AI strategies are stuck in a “high investment, low return” dilemma. Roland Berger Global Managing Partner Dai Pu said that after surveying about 200 companies last December, they found that over 90% of companies were very disappointed with their AI investments. “We call this the ‘AI value gap,’” Dai Pu explained, noting that companies are in a state of “blind flying,” lacking a unified AI strategy, failing to achieve full-process system reconstruction, and ultimately unable to see tangible value.

Qualcomm Senior Vice President Qian Kun stated that AI is at a critical stage from frontier technology exploration to deep reshaping of industries and production methods. AI continues to evolve in reshaping human-machine interaction interfaces and intelligent agent experiences. End systems are beginning to “see what you see, hear what you hear, understand what we read and write, and communicate with us in natural language,” giving rise to a new generation of personal AI terminals.

Participants generally agree that the development of large language models has already reached a point of diminishing returns, and simply iterating models cannot lead to breakthroughs. The next stage of AI development involves moving from the virtual world of text and charts to perceiving physical spaces, integrating technology into production factors, sensing actions and behaviors, and playing a role in unstructured real-world environments. This has become the core focus for enterprise AI transformation.

The Core of Technological Empowerment Is Reconstructing Rules

The integration of AI with traditional industries has never been just “technology + industry.” In this transformation, companies across various fields have explored unique implementation paths, enabling AI to move from labs into thousands of industries and truly become productive forces.

ZTE Chairman Fang Rong believes that the integration of AI with traditional industries redefines industry rules. Companies should focus on seizing high ground with intelligent cores, safeguarding their foundations with digital sovereignty, and building a future through human-machine collaboration.

Qian Kun shared Qualcomm’s practices and reflections on promoting AI technology development, accelerating commercialization, and achieving large-scale adoption. He said Qualcomm continues to build user-centered intelligent ecosystems, promote the evolution of smart terminals, and accelerate turning breakthroughs in AI technology into scalable products and experiences. Additionally, Qualcomm launched the “AI Acceleration Program” in 2025, leveraging its Snapdragon platform and powerful computing systems to drive scalable AI applications across various industries.

Zhou Rui, Chairman of the France Bridge Think Tank, noted that one of the biggest changes brought by AI is the “mixing” of different industries, which creates enormous opportunities but also unprecedented complexity. “This requires investors, shareholders, and regulators to have strategic thinking and truly understand their own industries and related sectors to avoid becoming secondary industries behind AI.”

Using Technology to Promote Global Inclusiveness

At the forum, in response to the common anxiety about whether “AI will replace humans,” guests unanimously agreed that the ultimate value of technology is empowering people, not replacing them. Human-machine collaboration and leveraging each other’s strengths represent a bright future for AI industry development.

“Focus on how much AI amplifies human value, not how many people it replaces,” Fang Rong said. AI can have the greatest marginal effect in complex, low-tolerance processes, and the competition in human-machine collaboration capabilities will be the ultimate barrier in future AI industry competition.

Alibaba Vice President Xiang Huangmei believes that technology and AI are not only about the stars and the sea but can also contribute more to everyday life. “Thanks to China’s large internet user base, mature payment systems, and rich application scenarios, we have the three main grounds for ‘AI + consumption’ to land.”

On the global development front, Zhou Rui suggested that promoting AI inclusiveness worldwide requires integrating technology into local environments and achieving customized development. It is also essential to establish a trustworthy AI learning certification system to ensure that emerging economies see returns on their AI investments and maintain user influence.