At a regional summit of Asia’s most promising technocrats and business students, Joseph Plazo—founder of the algorithmic trading firm Plazo Sullivan Roche—offered an unusual message: slow down.

MANILA — What he offered instead was something rarely heard in AI circles: resistance.

“Profit isn’t the only thing on the line. So is principle.”

???? **Joseph Plazo: A Technologist Sounding the Alarm**

Plazo is not new to this space. His firm’s AI systems have posted a 99% win rate across key timeframes and are in use by institutional clients across Europe and Asia.

Still, he asks: what happens when efficiency erases human context?

“Speed is seductive. But context is critical.”

He shared a case from the early days of the pandemic. One of his firm’s bots flagged a short on gold just before the U.S. Federal Reserve issued an emergency policy shift.

“We overrode it. It was a machine doing math, not reading history.”

???? **Machines Act Fast. But Leadership Sometimes Waits.**

AI’s appeal lies in its instant execution. But at what cost?

“Friction is not failure,” Plazo told the audience. “It is the space where judgment lives.”

Plazo introduced a framework he calls **“Conviction Calculus”**—three questions that must be asked before executing an AI recommendation:

- Are we outsourcing our ethics to an equation?
- Are we listening to voices that can’t be graphed?
- Can we stand by this choice if it goes wrong—publicly, transparently?

???? **As Fintech Booms, Where Are the Ethical Guardrails?**

Across Asia, nations are investing heavily in fintech and AI-driven innovation. From Singapore to South Korea, the push toward automation is framed as economic strategy.

But Plazo’s question cuts deeper: “AI is moving capital—but is it moving it in the right direction?”

He cited the 2024 collapse of two Hong Kong hedge funds.

“No one made a mistake. But no one questioned the machine either.”

???? **A New Path: Machines That Listen as Well as Compute**

Plazo is not anti-AI. He’s pro-responsibility.

His firm is developing what he calls **“narrative-integrated AI”**—models that factor in geopolitics, tone, and social context alongside market data.

“Machines that don’t just predict, but understand.”

At a private dinner after the event, multiple venture capital leaders discussed collaborations.

One investor called Plazo’s talk:

“A blueprint for ethical AI in an unequal world.”

???? **What Happens When No One Says ‘Stop’**

Plazo ended with a thought that may echo across boardrooms:

“We won’t be victims of chaos—but of unchecked confidence.”

Not a warning against AI—but website a demand for wisdom to go with it.

Because when machines take over the trades, conscience cannot be coded out.