Over the past year, AI has become part of our everyday lives—helping us write, code, summarize documents, and more. But behind every impressive AI application is something we rarely stop to consider: infrastructure. The cloud, the computing power, and the data are the systems that allow AI to move from an interesting demo into something businesses can actually rely on. Nowhere is this challenge more relevant than in finance, one of the most demanding industries for technology.
As part of the Liquidity Arena AMA Series — a thought leadership series bringing together experts across AI, quantitative trading, and institutional market infrastructure — this second episode turns from the question of whether AI will trade to a more practical one: what actually powers an AI trader?
In this episode, we are joined by Lei Kong, Head of Web3 Solutions Architecture for Southeast Asia and Hong Kong at AWS, to examine the foundations that make AI work in the real world. Let's explore one of the most practical questions facing the industry: "What does it actually take to build AI that works in real markets?"
Why This Conversation Matters
AI capabilities are advancing at an unprecedented pace—but capability alone doesn't make an AI system reliable in production. The gap between an impressive demo and a system institutions can trust is largely a question of infrastructure, engineering, and operational discipline. As more teams build increasingly sophisticated AI-driven applications, several practical questions come to the forefront:
What does the technology stack behind a successful AI application actually look like?
Has cloud lowered the barrier enough for small teams to compete with large organizations?
What makes AI infrastructure for financial services uniquely challenging?
Why do so many AI projects succeed in demos but fail to scale in production?
When two teams have access to the same AI model, where does the real competitive advantage come from?
Featured Speaker
Lei Kong
Head of Web3 Solutions Architecture (Southeast Asia & Hong Kong), AWS
Lei focuses on Web3 and generative AI at Amazon Web Services, where he drives innovation in Web3 infrastructure and AI applications. He holds dual master's degrees from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and brings over 15 years of experience in cloud computing. Before AWS, he held roles at global technology companies including Cisco, Microsoft, and Google, and is a regular speaker at major industry conferences such as TOKEN2049.
Watch the full episode and join the conversation.
Where do you think AI infrastructure will look completely different five years from now? Share your thoughts below—we'd love to hear your perspective.
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