Stephanie Sy

As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation into everyday business operations, the challenge is turning technical capability into solutions that work in local contexts. Stephanie Sy founded Thinking Machines Data Science in 2015 after studying at Stanford University and working as a product analyst at Google, building a consultancy that helps organisations across Southeast Asia use data and machine learning to solve complex problems.

Her work has extended beyond commercial applications. Collaborations with UNICEF and the World Bank have applied satellite imagery and geospatial analysis to issues including rural poverty, climate vulnerability and air pollution, demonstrating how data science can inform responses to challenges that are difficult to measure on the ground.

More recently, Thinking Machines has expanded its enterprise AI work as companies look to integrate generative AI into their operations. Its projects include a bilingual Taglish assistant for Bank of the Philippine Islands and automated workflows for manufacturing businesses. In 2025, the firm became OpenAI’s first official services partner in Asia-Pacific, followed by Advanced Partner status in 2026. Sy has also championed AI education, training more than 10,000 professionals. As organisations reassess how work is designed around AI, her focus on implementation, local relevance and workforce readiness addresses the gap between adopting new technology and putting it to meaningful use.