Secure your pass

Connect | APAC // DCD>Debate: Data and AI regulations - Catalysts for growth or barriers to innovation?

  • —
  • Investment & Markets
  • Open Session

Speakers

Jonathan Gonzalez

Tech Policy & AI Governance Specialist, Access Partnership

Jonathan Gonza

Jonathan Gonzalez

Tech Policy & AI Governance Specialist, Access Partnership

Jonathan has over 17 years’ experience working with policymakers and government organisations in Europe and Asia. He works closely with international organisations (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, APEC, and ASEAN Secretariats) and leading technology companies (AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce) to develop research on a wide range of policy issues, including the digital transformation of governments and the impact of AI governance in Asia’s digital economies.

Jonathan has most notably developed the ASEAN Responsible AI Roadmap (2025–2030), a framework that provides ASEAN member states a set of actionable steps to accelerate and advance responsible AI based on their unique needs, priorities, and capabilities.

He also led the development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Digitalisation Action Plan (2025–2027), which outlines actionable steps to enhance digital infrastructure, promote cross-border interoperability, and foster digital innovation across GMS economies.

He has also developed the Asia-Pacific AI Readiness Index for Salesforce, designing a quantitative methodology to assess consumer, business, and government readiness to harness and leverage AI. He has also spearheaded two major research reports on the state of AI regulation and enablement in the APEC and Asia-Pacific regions: one for the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and one for the International Institute of Communications (IIC).

View full profile and related articles

Herson Suindah

President Director and CEO, SM+ Holdings

Herson

Herson Suindah

President Director and CEO, SM+ Holdings

Herson Suindah is the President Director and CEO of SM+ Holdings (“SM+”), a digital infrastructure and services investment platform backed by Sinar Mas, one of Indonesia’s largest business groups.

SM+ owns and operates one of the broadest networks of Edge and Metro data centers across 24 cities in Indonesia. It operates a technology solutions business through LG Sinar Mas, a joint venture between SM+ and LG CNS, South Korea’s leading IT services company. Prior to SM+, he was a real estate investor with a Singapore-based real estate private equity fund that invested in residential projects in Indonesia.

Before moving to Asia, Herson was an investment banker in New York covering the real estate, industrial and private equity sectors.

He received an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrials & Manufacturing Engineering from Oregon State University.

View full profile and related articles

Stricter data localisation laws, evolving AI governance frameworks, and cross-border data restrictions are reshaping the APAC data center market. These regulations aim to enhance data sovereignty and ethical AI but pose significant operational and compliance challenges for enterprises and data center operators alike.

This debate delves into how operators can navigate the region’s complex and fragmented regulatory landscape - examining how businesses must rethink where and how they host workloads, and how infrastructure and services need to adapt to meet evolving client needs. Will these regulations drive growth, or do they risk limiting scalability and competitiveness? How will they reshape the region’s data center landscape, and what strategies should enterprises and operators adopt to stay ahead?

Held under Chatham House Rule, DCD>Debates are open discussions led by a panel of experts, on the biggest issues to face the industry.