Red Asia Inc. Develops AI-driven Solutions to Empower Indonesian Businesses

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly impacting businesses, with SMEs, including those in Indonesia, adopting chatbots, virtual assistants, and personalized experiences to gain a competitive edge. 

Located in Jakarta, Red Asia Incorporated is a leading group of companies at the intersection of creative, marketing, and technology, excelling in digital marketing and technology in Indonesia. 

In October 2023, Red Asia Inc had unveiled ground-breaking AI-driven initiatives designed to empower businesses in Indonesia, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 

The ambitious project called Red AI (Ready to Evolve and Disrupt with AI), aims to bridge the gap between the business world and artificial intelligence technology.  

In an interview with Red Asia Inc Founder and Managing Partner, Damon Hakim, the Red AI project encapsulates the company's vision through three main components: Software as a Service (SaaS) products, enterprise services and solutions, and an accelerator fund for AI-centric startups in Indonesia.  

One of the flagship products of this initiative is AskDea, a versatile tool aimed at revolutionizing digital marketing for SMEs. 

Indonesia has over 65 million MSMEs which accounts for more than 90 percent of the business population in Indonesia.  

AskDea is an innovative web application designed to serve as a digital marketing assistant.  

It enables SMEs to harness AI technology for creating high-quality marketing content effortlessly.  

“We saw the opportunity to help SMEs gain access to AI. The reason why we built AskDea is because we believe that AI is currently accessible to a small portion of the actual market. Most SMEs who are doing e-commerce and social media commerce don’t have the luxury of enjoying AI as much as the large enterprises,” said Mr Hakim.  

With AskDea, the user can simply generate enhanced images of a product with optimized lighting, color correction, and suitable backgrounds within seconds.  

It also assists in creating social media captions, selecting effective hashtags, and generating compelling product descriptions and titles for e-commerce platforms. 

Since its soft launch a month ago, AskDea has already garnered nearly 1,000 users, despite minimal advertising.  

“We want to be the bridge that connects Indonesian businesses with AI,” said Mr Hakim. 

AskDea operates on a pay-per-use system instead of a monthly subscription, aiming not to burden SMEs, says Mr. Hakim.  

The cost of using AskDea is less than a meal at KFC in Indonesia.  

Mr Hakim said the goal is to keep AskDea affordable, ensuring the cost-benefit ratio makes sense. 

“The reason why we build it so cheap is for us to lower the entry barrier and then for us to make sure that they (SMEs) understand. At the end of the day, what matters the most to business owners s how easy it is to use it the technology and how does it help with either gaining more revenue or lowering costs. I can have the most sophisticated advanced AI in the world in a tool. But if it doesn't help me with gaining better revenue or lowering my cost, it doesn't matter,” he said.  

Red Asia Inc has invested significantly in ensuring that its tools are not only effective but also culturally and contextually relevant.  

Looking ahead, Red Asia envisions AI becoming an integral part of daily business operations. 

“The evolution or the growth of their business as an SME will depend entirely on the ability of its founder, especially for SMEs, to grow him or herself. Now for you to grow yourself, you need to be friendly with the technology that can help you accelerate your growth. Because the rate of competition given in today's AI development is not slowing down, it's accelerating by multiple folds. Hence, I would say adopt the latest technology that's relevant for you to grow your business and stay ahead of the competition,” said Mr Hakim.  

Red Asia Inc. is founded by a trio of visionaries, including Damon Hakim and partners Marco Widjojo and Richard Ho.