00:50.8
reinforcing expectations for a European Central Bank interest rate cut in June.
00:56.4
As for Wall Street, futures are inching higher as most mega-cap growth stocks advance in pre-market trading.
01:03.6
Investors will be keeping an eye out for more Fed speak with two officials set to speak today, a day after Fed Chief Jerome Powell.
01:14.4
Here are some stocks to watch out for.
01:16.5
We're monitoring shares of ASML as the largest supplier of equipment to chipmakers missed sales forecasts.
01:22.9
ASML shares tumbled 3%.
01:24.8
Also in focus, shares of ASML.
01:26.1
ASML shares tumbled 3%.
01:26.2
ASML shares tumbled 3%.
01:26.4
Shares of Adidas after it reported better than expected quarterly results and raised its 2024 guidance.
01:33.9
Shares of the German sportswear giant last traded higher by 8%.
01:38.4
We're also keeping a close watch on shares of luxury giant LVMH
01:42.5
after its first quarter sales figures matched analyst expectations.
01:47.0
Its stock price rose 5% in midday trading.
01:52.4
Inuan Asian Markets ended Wednesday trade on a mixed note
01:56.1
as investors assessed Fed Chief Jerome Powell's hawkish statement overnight.
02:00.9
Japan's CK225 slumped 1.3%, falling below the 38,000 level for the first time since February.
02:08.2
The Shanghai Composite, on the other hand, jumped 2% after China's securities regulator clarified concerns over delisting rules.
02:17.0
Here at home, Philippine shares finally snapped a nine-day losing streak on bargain hunting.
02:22.2
The main index now back above 64,000.
02:26.1
For the PSYI, our analysis suggests that the next support level lies around 64 to 62.
02:36.7
And its resistance level is marginally just above 65.
02:41.7
And then should it be broken, the next resistance level sits around 67.
02:48.1
Of course, this assessment is grounded in the index potential to enter the oversold territory,
02:53.1
which historically corresponds with a rebound.
02:56.1
It is expected to be around 64 or more.
03:00.3
As for the Philippine peso, it weakened against the dollar for a fifth day.
03:05.2
The local currency closed 57.18 to the greenback Wednesday.
03:09.3
That's a 17-month low.
03:11.7
The Philippine Central Bank attributes the peso's depreciation to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East
03:16.8
and the possible delay in interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
03:21.7
BSP Chief Eli Remolona adds,
03:23.7
the peso's weakening is not sharp enough.
03:26.1
to warrant a change in monetary policy.
03:29.6
He also does not see it affecting domestic inflation expectations,
03:33.3
but he says the Monetary Board may reconsider cutting interest rates this year.
03:40.5
The central scenario would be fourth quarter ease.
03:47.0
If things are worse,
03:56.1
then we think that it might be postponed to the first quarter of 2025.
04:00.9
For now, I think the impact on monetary policy is, I would say, not large.
04:12.9
It might be a factor depending on what happens between now and the next monetary policy meeting.
04:20.0
It's not a case of a weak peso, it's a case of a strong dollar.
04:26.1
It's not just the Philippine peso experiencing weakness.
04:30.0
Most Asian currencies have slumped against the strong dollar
04:32.9
on rising bets of higher for longer rates.
04:36.0
Financial authorities from Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia have said
04:39.6
they stand ready to intervene to control their currency's volatility.
04:45.8
The International Monetary Fund raises its economic outlook for the Philippines.
04:50.7
The IMF revised its Philippine growth forecast to 6.2%.
04:56.1
That's well within the Philippine government's target range of 6 to 7%.
05:02.0
The IMF cited carryover from a better-than-expected outturn in the tail end of 2023.
05:08.8
The IMF also upwardly revised its 2025 forecast for the country to 6.2%
05:14.8
as it anticipates domestic demand and investments to accelerate.
05:19.1
As for global growth, the IMF placed it at 3.2% this year.
05:24.4
That's slightly better than its previous growth.
05:26.1
The IMF's forecast as it sees the U.S. pushing world output through headwinds
05:30.5
from high inflation, weak demand in China and Europe, as well as geopolitical tensions.
05:35.8
But it warns a wider conflict between Israel and Iran could hurt growth.
05:43.9
We looked at a scenario where we would have more geopolitical tensions
05:49.8
that would result in elevated oil prices, energy prices, and shipping costs.
05:56.1
And what we find is that this would lead to higher price pressures in the global economy.
06:02.1
There would be higher inflation.
06:04.0
There would be lower output.
06:05.6
And roughly, the estimates we have for a sustained increase in oil prices by about 15%
06:12.7
would be an increase in inflation globally of about 0.7%.
06:18.6
Boosting growth and catching up with global competition.
06:24.3
Those are some of the topics.
06:26.1
We're expected to dominate the special summit between European Union leaders.
06:30.4
During the two-day meeting, which will begin Wednesday,
06:33.0
leaders will discuss how to make the bloc's economy more competitive
06:36.8
to avoid being left behind by the U.S. and China.
06:40.0
I think that says European markets are pretty fractured
06:43.1
and mostly along country lines, reducing the potential for increased growth.
06:50.2
To make progress in these areas, you really need member states prepared to make compromises,
06:54.9
including to give up.
06:56.1
Some of their own national sovereignty over these particular areas.
06:59.8
And that means not insisting on having your own kind of telecoms national champion
07:04.7
and being prepared to change your listing rules
07:08.5
so that they're more aligned with other countries.
07:12.6
And this is an area where politicians, you know, they like to talk the talk.
07:16.8
But in the end, we haven't seen a lot of walking the walk.
07:22.1
And we're taking a quick break.
07:23.6
Up next, Zoom Asia Pacific head, Ricky Coppola.
07:26.1
Poor joins us to talk about its latest offering to further boost workplace productivity.
08:01.1
Video conference app Zoom became a household name during the COVID-19 lockdown.
08:05.5
It was one of the fastest growing apps of the pandemic
08:07.9
with over 485 million downloads in 2020.
08:12.8
Now, Zoom is seeking to further boost productivity
08:16.1
and revolutionize teamwork with its AI-powered collaboration platform.
08:21.0
Ricky Coppola, the Asia Pacific head of Zoom,
08:23.1
joins us where else?
08:25.2
So, to tell us more about the Zoom workplace.
08:31.6
Thanks for having me on Business Outlook.
08:34.5
Glad to have you here on the show.
08:37.1
I want to get a big picture first.
08:39.3
Of course, we're talking about the use of Zoom and video conferencing apps,
08:44.5
which was big during the COVID pandemic.
08:47.3
But how is it now after restrictions have been lifted,
08:50.3
more people have been reporting back to their offices?
08:53.0
How's remote work?
08:54.5
How's video conferencing?
08:55.3
How's video conferencing apps use looking now in companies,
08:59.9
most especially in the Asia Pacific?
09:03.0
Yeah, thanks for that, Ron.
09:03.9
Look, you know, the world is very different now.
09:07.2
And without a doubt, the world has become very hybrid
09:10.4
in terms of the business setting.
09:12.5
If you look at any of the research,
09:14.2
there was one done fairly recently by online job seeking platform, SEEK.
09:20.2
And they reported that 46% plus of Filipinos want hybrid work.
09:25.5
And, you know, it's no secret that in most parts of Southeast Asia
09:29.2
and the metro cities, including Manila,
09:31.3
you know, traffic is a friction from getting from home to work.
09:35.5
So a lot of employers are realizing that work needs to be hybrid.
09:40.1
You want your employees to be productive.
09:42.7
And that's possibly going to be where they come into the office
09:45.5
a certain number of days, but work from home a certain number of days.
09:49.9
And that creates an opportunity for productivity.
09:53.4
But frankly, it also creates a...
09:55.2
a somewhat disconnectedness, a disengagement,
09:58.9
possibly a tearing of culture,
10:00.9
a feeling of perhaps a lack of belonging that employees can have.
10:05.0
And that's where we're focusing on.
10:07.7
That's what we're trying to solve for in the Zoom workplace platform.
10:11.8
We're really helping companies navigate the hybrid world
10:15.7
with very rich, innovative, collaborative tools and platforms
10:20.3
laced with AI, but also with products and tools that allow you...
10:25.2
companies and senior executives to create that sense of belonging,
10:30.2
that sense of culture amongst employees to want them to come back to the office.
10:35.5
Which is why we introduced Zoom Workplace, which is far more than video right now.
10:41.2
So, you know, we were a very loved video platform and we're still a very loved video platform.
10:47.2
But today, Zoom has morphed into a much bigger communications platform that includes email,
10:57.0
the ability to call each other on phone, video.
11:00.2
We've also announced Zoom Docs, which is really an AI-powered workspace
11:04.7
to allow employees to collaborate with each other.
11:07.7
So, you know, what we've seen from our own customer feedback is
11:13.5
they wanted to use that same ease of use and innovative feel of Zoom
11:20.1
beyond video in communicating with each other on chat, on...
11:25.2
email, on phone calls.
11:27.9
So, that's what Zoom Workplace is today and an end-to-end communications platform.
11:33.7
That's one area we've focused on.
11:36.0
And the other one we focused on is on customer experience,
11:39.0
where we've come up with a rich set of products to help companies
11:43.7
really reimagine how to engage customers in today's hybrid world.
11:51.9
Let's talk more about the new things,
11:54.7
the bells and whistles that you're introducing later.
11:57.9
But I wanted to know, is this the same in the Asia-Pacific region
12:03.2
as with the rest of the world?
12:04.8
Or are there some things that you're seeing here in this region
12:08.4
that is not seen elsewhere?
12:11.9
Look, I think overall, it's the same mostly across the globe,
12:16.9
where work has become hybrid.
12:20.6
People are working only a few days from the office and a few days from...
12:25.4
That seems to be a trend across most parts of the globe.
12:29.3
And that real need and demand for innovative ways to communicate and collaborate
12:35.7
seems to be a global trend.
12:40.2
you know, what's different about this, you know, vibrant region that we call Asia-Pacific?
12:45.2
I mean, firstly, we have a very young, talented, educated workforce
12:50.7
who are used to using very innovative products,
12:53.9
products in their consumer and personal lives.
12:56.3
Second, as I said earlier, the friction of travel distances,
13:00.3
the friction of travel is a lot more.
13:03.6
you potentially spend a lot more time getting from home to office and back.
13:08.8
That's wasted time that could be spent being more productive.
13:12.8
I think these are a couple of things that are potentially increasing
13:17.1
the demand for very innovative, collaborative consumer,
13:23.9
friendly products in this region.
13:27.0
And that's kind of where Zoom is really well known for, right?
13:29.8
We're well known to provide very easy-to-use products that just work.
13:34.4
And that's what we're bringing to this region across a full platform beyond video.
13:39.4
Ricky, how about the challenges you're facing in the Asia-Pacific?
13:43.7
Maybe we can talk about regulations, infrastructure,
13:47.5
I believe is a big problem here in the Philippines.
13:50.2
How are those being mitigated?
13:53.4
How are those being mitigated?
13:53.8
How are those being mitigated?
13:53.9
Or how are those being met by your company?
13:58.0
So let's take them separately.
13:59.5
You know, in terms of infrastructure,
14:01.6
I assume you're talking about technical infrastructure.
14:04.4
If I take you back to the time when everyone was virtual,
14:08.3
Zoom just worked.
14:10.1
And that's because we have a very optimized platform for video.
14:14.1
So we, you know, Zoom just works,
14:16.3
whether it's in a Tier 1 city with, you know,
14:18.7
incredible broadband connectivity or a Tier 3 city with less,
14:23.8
you know, powerful connectivity, you know, Zoom just works.
14:28.2
And as, you know, when you're optimized for video,
14:31.2
it's very easy to bring that into, you know, chat and email and other forms of communication.
14:36.3
So, you know, we don't see that, frankly, as a challenge.
14:40.1
In terms of regulation, you know, we spend a lot of time working with,
14:43.8
on meeting the regulatory requirements of different countries,
14:49.9
different industries within countries, and we actually come up with very,
14:53.8
very interesting products that allow us to meet that.
14:56.8
You know, one of the examples is a product we call Zoom Node,
14:59.4
which is really our ability to bring Zoom inside the data center of a customer,
15:04.2
which allows them to use the latency of Zoom inside their data center.
15:08.2
So we really are looking at the requirements of this region
15:12.7
and working very hard to ensure that we meet those requirements,
15:17.1
but never lose that design philosophy of,
15:21.4
it's really innovative.
15:23.7
easy to use, and it's very cool.
15:28.0
I was just wondering about,
15:29.6
I don't know, tier 1, tier 2, tier 3,
15:32.1
maybe there are cities in the Philippines
15:33.8
that don't even reach those tiers.
15:35.9
Here in the Philippines, I'm not sure if you know,
15:38.2
some of the schools
15:39.4
actually use some other platform
15:41.6
because of the data needed.
15:43.5
And I think that's another one of the
15:45.5
challenges in this region. But having
15:48.8
when it comes to this new
15:51.4
workplace, I think
15:53.6
I was so excited to see that
15:55.7
you could actually have
15:57.2
a virtual EA, executive
15:59.4
assistant, do all of the
16:01.0
things that you wanted.
16:03.9
Yes, I'd like that.
16:05.3
Somebody to make the agenda,
16:07.3
somebody to summarize everything,
16:11.3
and do all of those things.
16:12.7
That actually helps with helping people
16:15.3
connect with each other?
16:19.4
you're absolutely right.
16:20.3
As you mentioned, we introduced a Zoom AI companion
16:24.7
AI tool that allows
16:26.9
each one of us to have a personal
16:29.5
digital assistant.
16:30.7
It could be something as easy and simple
16:33.3
as a meeting summary, where you may
16:35.5
have attended the meeting and you may
16:37.3
want to be reminded of what was discussed
16:39.3
rather than taking notes.
16:41.5
Or frankly, you may have actually missed
16:44.7
you don't want to have that FOMO of what happened,
16:47.4
did I get any tasks?
16:49.1
You get rich meeting summaries where
16:51.3
you can see what was discussed, who discussed
16:53.3
what, were you given
16:55.8
any tasks? That's one great
16:57.6
use of AI. But then it goes
17:00.6
If you're chatting with your colleagues in the
17:03.4
workplace, sometimes you wake up
17:05.5
in the morning and you get
17:07.2
27 chat messages and this
17:09.4
summarizes it for you and tells you
17:11.1
what the gist of the conversation is.
17:14.4
That's quite valuable
17:15.6
or it will help you compose
17:17.1
the chat message in terms of response.
17:19.5
Those are things that are actually very
17:21.5
much time-saving.
17:23.3
But it goes beyond that into
17:25.4
meeting equity, meeting
17:27.5
equality. In many
17:29.5
cases, we have meetings where
17:31.2
multiple languages need to be spoken.
17:33.8
So we've built in some rich translation
17:35.8
capabilities in 36 plus
17:37.5
languages, including
17:39.0
Tagalog, including Chinese, so that
17:41.5
if you're having a meeting with
17:43.4
somebody else who's speaking a different language,
17:45.9
the interpretation is doing it
17:47.5
for you so you don't necessarily
17:49.2
lose that richness of the
17:51.4
conversation. So we're
17:53.3
doing a lot of things around
17:55.3
that and I'm really excited about
17:57.0
Zoom AI Companion.
17:59.3
One of the things that we are
18:01.3
doing differently with AI Companion
18:03.1
than many companies is we're actually
18:05.4
offering Zoom AI Companion
18:09.7
paid license of Zoom.
18:11.5
What that means is
18:12.5
we've taken the cost friction out
18:15.3
of it. So if you're a big company or even
18:17.2
a small company, you don't really
18:19.5
have to decide who gets AI,
18:21.9
who doesn't get AI,
18:23.3
who are the haves, who are the have-nots.
18:25.3
That's a tough decision that no one wants to make.
18:27.7
We've taken that decision out and made
18:29.4
it very easy for everyone to have
18:33.0
AI. You really save
18:35.6
time from all the mundane tasks.
18:38.5
Ricky, you mentioned
18:39.5
a while ago that you
18:41.1
listen to your customers.
18:43.3
I'm wondering what
18:45.2
recent things have they
18:47.4
aside from AI, of course, what recent
18:49.4
things have they been asking for?
18:51.7
What do they need and what do
18:53.9
maybe in collaborative
18:56.9
products, not just for video conferencing?
19:01.3
came loud and clear from our customers
19:03.2
was that this whole
19:05.4
area of customer experience
19:09.3
transformed. What their customers
19:11.4
were looking for was
19:15.7
different experience than what
19:17.4
was there in the past. They wanted
19:19.4
to be able to connect across multiple
19:21.2
channels, including video,
19:23.3
they wanted to be able to switch from one
19:25.3
channel to another channel. Let's start
19:27.4
talking to someone, an agent on the
19:29.3
phone, I want to switch to a video call
19:31.4
to show them what I'm seeing.
19:35.3
wanted the ability to
19:37.4
they wanted a lot of empathy.
19:39.6
So there was a need
19:41.4
for AI to be brought into
19:43.3
this in such a way that the agent had
19:45.3
all the information across all the channels
19:47.3
about what were the different communications
19:49.5
happening with the customer. So
19:51.2
not only could you resolve things fast,
19:53.3
but then you could also
19:55.3
provide rich insights to that person.
19:57.6
And that was one area around
19:59.5
customer experience
20:01.6
that we got directly from our customers.
20:03.6
They wanted that ease of use
20:06.3
to help their agents and
20:09.3
customer experience. And that's why
20:11.3
we introduced Zoom Contact Center
20:13.5
as an omni-channel
20:17.3
really brings AI richly into it
20:19.5
to help the agents with
20:21.3
helping customers faster,
20:23.3
better, and helping the team leaders
20:25.6
make strategic decisions. And
20:27.2
that's an example of one product that we
20:29.4
built from the ground up. Really
20:31.3
with that ease of use and innovation
20:33.7
that Zoom is known for. And the
20:35.5
fact that these things just work.
20:37.4
But to reimagine how
20:39.3
our customers help
20:45.4
their products. So it's one of the things
20:47.6
there's a number of features
20:49.0
that we are adding. We added about 700
20:51.5
features in less than
20:53.3
a couple of months in Zoom Contact Center
20:55.5
based on that feedback.
20:56.9
That actually speaks to us. We've used
20:59.3
Zoom during COVID, right? To air
21:01.2
our shows. And a multi
21:05.2
stream would have
21:07.4
been nice during COVID.
21:09.3
But what's next after this?
21:11.3
I know you already have some plans.
21:13.8
There are other developments.
21:15.7
The developments in the AI world
21:19.5
Can you give us a sneak peek
21:21.3
into what's next after AI?
21:23.3
Absolutely, Salvia.
21:25.2
There's a few things I want to speak about.
21:27.5
I think I said this earlier.
21:29.2
That while this hybrid world
21:31.2
is very productive,
21:33.0
there's also a level of disconnectedness
21:35.6
from the company, sometimes from
21:37.2
people when they're working from home.
21:38.9
And we wanted to solve that problem.
21:40.9
Really helping companies and
21:43.0
senior executives really
21:45.0
create that sense of culture, that sense of
21:47.1
belonging for employees.
21:48.7
Which is why we acquired a company
21:50.8
called Work People.
21:53.3
Customers in the Philippines also.
21:55.7
And that's a platform we acquired
21:57.5
that really is around creating
21:59.3
employee experience.
22:01.4
Helping companies communicate,
22:03.7
broadcast their messages,
22:05.4
their strategies.
22:07.0
But in a very rich, immersive
22:09.6
world with a very
22:11.2
social fabric, video,
22:13.1
micro-size, which frankly
22:15.1
younger populations
22:17.4
love. Especially in the
22:19.4
Philippines where it's a very
22:27.0
And they love the look and feel
22:29.1
of consumer products. And we are bringing that
22:31.1
same cool look and feel
22:32.7
so that companies can connect
22:35.3
with their employees on this platform
22:36.9
called Work People. That's one
22:38.6
we're investing on to create that
22:41.0
sense of belonging
22:42.0
within the organization.
22:45.5
The other area that we're
22:47.1
doing is a lot with AI. We're doing a lot
22:49.3
with AI so that we
22:51.0
constantly provide the ability,
22:57.5
really save time on
22:59.3
tasks. Be it in the
23:01.2
contact center or in the workplace.
23:03.6
We are sharing a lot
23:05.3
of this. One such example is
23:07.2
something that we've announced called Zoom Docs,
23:09.7
which is a different concept
23:11.4
from what people think about in terms
23:13.3
of document management.
23:15.3
It's really an AI-powered
23:16.9
workspace that allows
23:19.2
many people to collaborate in
23:21.0
planning, activities, project,
23:23.3
tasks, bring in external content,
23:26.9
collaborate in a way that has never been
23:29.4
thought of before. Looking forward
23:31.4
to sharing more about this with you.
23:33.8
Very exciting. Just one final
23:35.3
quick question from me. Stock price
23:37.4
of Zoom has not gone up
23:39.3
to the levels of 500
23:41.0
US dollars and up during COVID.
23:43.4
You expect this new AI
23:45.3
revolution within Zoom
23:47.5
to bring the stock price back up again?
23:51.3
Our focus is not really
23:53.3
on the stock price as such.
23:55.0
Our focus is in bringing innovation
23:57.3
to our customers in
23:59.0
areas that they are looking for.
24:01.4
Which is why we released a full
24:02.9
platform, as I said, around email
24:08.8
video, the employee engagement
24:11.2
piece, coming into the customer success
24:13.0
area. And we've seen some great
24:15.0
adoption. Zoom phone itself
24:17.0
has surpassed 7 million users.
24:19.3
And that's been an incredible
24:20.6
momentum. We have customers in Philippines
24:27.2
that use Zoom phone. We have customers
24:31.1
the payment solutions company that use
24:33.0
Web Vivo. We have, so
24:34.9
many of our customers are now adopting
24:37.0
a newer product and that will create the
24:39.0
growth that we are looking for. Fantastic.
24:40.9
We'll have to leave it at that. Thank you so much, Ricky.
24:43.2
Thanks. Thank you for your time,
24:45.3
Salve. Thank you for your time, Ron.
24:47.7
That's your business outlook.
24:49.0
I'm Ron Crow. And I'm Salve Duplito.
24:51.0
The world tonight comes your way at the
24:52.8
top of the next hour. Keep it here
