At a gathering of future economists and code-literate capitalists, Joseph Plazo—AI investor and founder of Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital—chose to talk not about growth, but governance.
As the Philippines builds its reputation as a technology hub — the atmosphere inside AIM’s lecture hall was not electric, but charged—with thought.
Plazo, a man whose trading systems are trusted by institutional investors across continents and have posted almost mechanical consistency, did not arrive to dazzle.
“Delegating decisions doesn’t absolve responsibility.”
???? **When the Innovator Becomes the Interrogator**
He doesn’t throw stones from the sidelines. He shaped the system that now dominates.
Which makes his unease all the more compelling.
“Optimisation is a tool, not a compass.”
He referenced an early pandemic incident: an AI under his firm flagged a short trade on gold—right before central bank intervention reversed market expectations.
“We stopped it. It crunched numbers, not nuance.”
???? **The Case for Slowness in a Market That Won’t Wait**
Plazo warned against the growing cultural obsession with speed—particularly in finance.
“Delay isn’t inefficiency—it’s responsibility.”
He introduced a three-question model he calls **Conviction Calculus**—a checklist not for technical performance, but for ethical clarity:
- Is this trade aligned with the values of the firm—or just its ambition?
- Is this merely a technical position—or a real-world one?
- Are we hiding behind the algorithm?
???? **Asia’s AI Boom—and the Accountability Gap**
Across Asia, AI and fintech are racing ahead—with minimal restraint.
Plazo asked a harder question: “We’re expanding capacity, not responsibility.”
AI models executed flawlessly—right into catastrophe.
“We’ve built machines that read more never blink. But who teaches them when to look away?”
???? **AI That Understands Stories, Not Just Signals**
Plazo isn’t calling for a retreat from technology.
He is instead building what he terms **“narrative-integrated AI”**—systems that assess not just numbers, but context, tone, and geopolitical undercurrents.
“A good algorithm predicts price. A better one understands pattern. The best? Purpose.”
The idea drew immediate attention.
One called the model:
“A desperately needed alternative to automation without conscience.”
???? **Final Line: The Crash That Won’t Be Loud**
Plazo closed with a sentence that now circles boardrooms like a quiet echo:
“It won’t come from fear. It will come from code—unquestioned, unchallenged.”
Not a prophecy of doom—but a call for discernment.
Because systems move money. But only people carry the weight of consequences.