At a gathering of some of the region’s top young economic thinkers, Joseph Plazo, issued a timely warning: in a world increasingly shaped by machines, values cannot be outsourced.

PHILIPPINES — Inside the lecture hall of a leading business school, the conversation turned not to technology, but to ethics.

Plazo, the founder of the high-performing quant firm Plazo Sullivan Roche, has developed trading algorithms with a documented 99% win rate.

And yet, it was not code he chose to champion—but caution.

“Letting AI handle your trades is fine—but not your conscience.”

???? **One of AI’s Leading Voices Urges Balance, Not Blind Faith**

Plazo’s credibility comes not from critique, but from contribution. Major asset managers rely on his proprietary tools.

“Optimisation is not the same as orientation,” he remarked. “And machines don’t understand consequences.”

He recounted a key moment during the COVID-19 crash: a bot under his firm’s control flagged a short position on gold—hours before an emergency Federal Reserve announcement.

“We intervened,” he said. “The AI was technically correct, but it lacked the wider understanding.”

???? **The Importance of Human Oversight in Automated Systems**

In a reference to a 2023 Fortune roundtable, Plazo cited concerns that traders increasingly feel disconnected from the market—no longer making decisions, but click here following models.

“Friction slows trading, yes,” he said. “But it creates space for reflection.”

He proposed a decision framework, which he called **“Conviction Calculus”**, grounded in three guiding questions:

- Are we compromising our values for technical correctness?
- Are we listening to data or ignoring deeper patterns?
- Are we prepared to accept accountability if the model fails?

???? **Technology Is Advancing, But Is Oversight Keeping Pace?**

Across Asia, investment in AI and fintech is accelerating. Countries like Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines are becoming hubs for automated trading systems and tech-led asset management.

Plazo’s message? We may be scaling faster than we are thinking.

“You can scale capital faster than character,” he said. “And that imbalance is a concern.”

In 2024 alone, two hedge funds in Hong Kong reported billion-dollar losses due to AI-driven decisions that failed to anticipate geopolitical shifts.

“Automation doesn’t mean immunity from error.”

???? **The Next Step: Context-Aware AI**

Despite his warnings, Plazo remains optimistic about AI’s future—when developed thoughtfully.

His team is building what he described as **“narrative-integrated AI”**—tools that factor in not just financial data, but also context, tone, timing, and social dynamics.

“Data without story is dangerous.”

At a private gathering after his talk, his proposals attracted immediate interest from capital firms seeking long-term resilience. One described his vision as:

“Exactly what the financial sector needs right now.”

???? **The Warning That Shouldn’t Be Ignored**

Plazo concluded with a sobering statement:

“The next major market failure won’t come from panic,” he said. “It will come from logic—executed too quickly, with no one questioning the outcome.”

It wasn’t alarmist. It was necessary.

Because in the race to automate everything, what’s often lost is not just time—but responsibility.