Why brands should build a universe of AI characters
What a secret Asian character unlock in Fanta's Halloween universe could look like, and why a universe of AI characters scales where one-off ads don't.
About the author
Kenneth Phua
Founder, Konverta.ai. Former Global Head of Digital Strategy and Innovation, Coca-Cola. Fractional CXO, Replicast AI.
Kenneth Phua, Founder
Former Global Head of Digital Strategy and Innovation, Coca-Cola
Fractional CXO, Replicast AI
Kenneth on LinkedIn15+years in global and regional transformation roles
US$900Min value generated a year
US$20M+in investments managed
01 Biography
About Kenneth
Kenneth Phua founded Konverta.ai. He is a Singapore-based digital, data and AI leader with 15+ years of experience, including senior global roles at Coca-Cola, where he was the Global Head of Digital Strategy and Innovation. He has advised C-suite leaders across FMCG, retail, property, hospitality, and luxury sectors, and now applies the same playbook to Singaporean and Asian corporates and SMEs through Konverta.ai.
He has spent 15+ years in global and regional transformation roles, generating around US$900M in value a year and managing investments of US$20M+. He is also Fractional CXO for Replicast AI.
02 Articles
Writing on Insights
Scaling AI for local markets: Singlish and Hokkien
AI voices read Singlish like English. How we redesigned the workflow so a Hokkien and Singlish comedy kept its local nuance and still scaled.
Generative AI deployment at scale
A static F1 weekend card, turned into motion in 15 minutes. Why the bigger win in generative AI is everyday use at scale, not one-off campaigns.
From bare floor plan to photoreal render in an hour
New product: 24x faster, and democratizing interior design. With CAsarté Interior, we built an AI design engine that goes from a bare 2D floor plan to photoreal renders in about an hour.
Launching Creative Studio: AI content without the prompts
Well… who said you need to learn prompts to be an AI content creator? Creative Studio turns scaled AI content creation into a single guided workflow.
From AI pilots to enterprise-wide deployment: four lessons from my AIMX Singapore panel
I joined AIMX Singapore as a panellist to discuss why so many enterprises stall between AI pilots and real, organisation-wide deployment. Here's what I argued on stage, and why.
Building Sam: what we're learning from experimenting with an AI virtual influencer
Virtual influencers used to need a studio, 3D artists and real money. We wanted to know whether that's still true, so we built one. Here's what the experiment is teaching us about when AI talent can work for brands.
Can AI synthetic shopping tell you which shelf a shopper picks?
Can AI (synthetic shopping) tell you which shelf a shopper actually picks from? Short answer: not on its own, and here's why.
On the Leader Generation podcast: why digital and AI pilots fail to scale
I joined Tessa Burg on Mod Op's Leader Generation podcast to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today: turning successful pilots into scalable business outcomes.
AI digital twins will be table stakes for organizations
Do we need to own likeness? What about authenticity? Do I have to spend a lot? Short answer: Digital Twins will be table stakes for organizations.
If you haven't gotten digital right, you're probably not getting AI right either
Enterprises are repeating their digital transformation mistakes with AI. Three patterns to recognize and fix before the next migration project.
Validating the realities of Vibe Coding
Vibe coding can ship a calculator. But the moment you're building anything real, you hit a cliff. Three lessons from trying to build a WhatsApp voice agent that thinks it's me.
03 Speaking
Panels and podcasts
From AI pilots to enterprise-wide deployment: four lessons from my AIMX Singapore panel
I joined AIMX Singapore as a panellist to discuss why so many enterprises stall between AI pilots and real, organisation-wide deployment. Here's what I argued on stage, and why.
On the Leader Generation podcast: why digital and AI pilots fail to scale
I joined Tessa Burg on Mod Op's Leader Generation podcast to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today: turning successful pilots into scalable business outcomes.