Beijing: NetDragon Websoft Holdings Ltd, a leading Chinese education and gaming provider, is looking to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to grow its presence overseas and transform the global education sector, says Simon Leung, the company’s vice-chairman.

“We will definitely invest in AI, as the technology will change the entire education sector, despite short-term pressure to profit,” said Leung, a telecommunications veteran and former CEO of Microsoft Corp Greater China.

NetDragon was founded in 1999, and became a leading online gaming provider. However, it has since transformed over the past decade into a diversified business with a focus on education.

The company has expanded its businesses into over 190 countries and regions across the world, including Russia, Egypt, Nigeria and Malaysia.

The company has developed and launched a string of integrated educational devices, including smart boards and panels as well as feedback and evaluation systems, with many of its products and services being sold to public schools and governments at home and abroad.

The Fuzhou, Fujian province-based company has been actively promoting its AI products and solutions in emerging markets, such as Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Ghana, after winning a deal this year in Egypt for 94,000 Promethean interactive displays to be used in local schools.

The Promethean interactive display, the company’s most popular product overseas, is an interactive, touch-sensitive whiteboard that allows students to engage with the displayed content through different tools and software.

Leung said the product has significant market share in nine countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia. The United States is its largest market. The company’s financial report showed that its shipments hit 253,000 units last year, up 37.5% year-on-year.

But the development of hardware is limited and the company has been transforming to be a well-rounded provider of digital education solutions, Leung said, adding that is why AI is very important to the company.

His logic is forward-looking: AI can be embedded into its hardware to help teachers prepare and teach lessons, which is equivalent to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, where Net-Dragon can charge subscription fees.

“The emergence of the current AI model and generative AI offers greater room for imagination, which may redefine SaaS and accelerate the transformation of SaaS from tool-based and business-oriented to an enabler,” he said. — China Daily/ANN