You don’t need “AI” in your product name. Soon it’ll be the default anyway. The real edge is integrating it across your business. But only where it has real value. Please don’t be driven by fear of missing out. We’re all still figuring things out.

AI’s impact on operations got real, fast. As tools matured, the world around us shifted, so we adapted. High-performing lean teams became cool again after a phase of seemingly endless venture capital, headcount inflation and talent wars.

Yes, there’s a lot of hype, and the full potential isn’t realised yet. I saw a similar cycle with data mining and especially blockchain, which I still practice and teach, focusing on cases where blockchain doesn’t make any sense.

That said, real benefits are already here (along with a lot of wasted money and computing power). I’m also very aware of the open questions: long-term maintainability, information security, IP (intellectual property) handling, risk tolerance for large enterprises vs startups and scale-ups, and ensuring that people don’t skip learning fundamental skills when using these tools.

One thing is clear: code is cheaper (at least when it comes to non-critical systems). The spotlight in software engineering moves to solution design, systems integration, security, quality assurance, and cost optimisation.

Humans focus on system design, architecture, security, QA (quality assurance), and cross-domain decisions. Our virtual colleagues handle drafts, cookiecutter templates (starter code), analysis, and routine checks.

Below are practical use cases for startups and scale-ups, from software engineering and product to beyond. I use for positive outcomes, for mixed results, and for negative outcomes.

Product

• Product specs (and tickets)

When your colleague drops a semi-structured idea in Slack, it’s now easy to turn it into a proper product specification with an LLM (large language model, an AI trained to understand and generate human-like text) and a few clarifying questions. Product owners no longer have to heroically translate someone’s shower thoughts into something tangible.

You can also request a business analysis, and your AI companion will outline tasks with rough estimates as a bonus. Some tools even auto-generate a basic demo. These days, it’s often faster to vibe-code (quickly hack something together) than to create clickable mocks.

• Rapid prototyping

Feature ideas, internal automations, presales demos, and so on. You can go from idea to demo in no time, regardless of the foundation model (base AI model, like OpenAI, Claude, Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek, Grok, Mistral, and others). As of now, that prototype is inherently insecure, but let’s save that chat for another time.

Also Read: The rise of agentic AI: What CFOs and Founders need to know

Software Engineering

• Coding co-pilots

Massive speed-up, if your team has strong fundamentals. As with any abstraction, juniors should still know where the efficiency comes from and what’s happening under the hood.

• Code reviews

Great as a complement, not a replacement for humans. We’re not yet at the AI maturity level where one AI can reliably review another.

AI excels at enforcing conventions, spotting duplicate logic, and automating routine validations within a single PR (pull request, a way to propose changes to shared code so others can review and approve them). Humans focus on system design, architectural trade-offs, legacy compatibility, and understanding components beyond a single code repository.

Any form of memory or reinforcement-learning-like feedback loop (training the system by trial and error) can boost review quality and filter noisy comments.

• Systems design

Systems design goes far beyond code. It’s about the entire architecture. No matter your context window (the amount of text an AI can “keep in mind” at once when responding), the number of integrations with external knowledge-base resources, or the model’s reasoning capabilities, humans still have to put the puzzle together and make the final call.

• Technical docs

LLMs can make technical documentation easier to understand and streamline third-party integrations by interpreting them in the context of your platform.

• Generating frontends

Vibe-coding internal frontend interfaces (like back-office admin tools) is a great use case for LLMs. Always keep an experienced human in the loop for scalability, solid API checks (making sure systems talk to each other correctly), and an information security review before anything goes live to customers.

Long-term maintainability is still TBD. We’ll learn as we go, and as our tools evolve.

• Scalability

As mentioned several times above, the long-term maintenance, stability, resilience, and security of solutions co-piloted by LLM-based agents remain open questions. We have anecdotal evidence suggesting that debugging and refactoring AI-generated code can be quite daunting, and that AI is not yet able to maintain the codebase itself with minimal human intervention. The seniority and domain expertise of the person guiding the AI matter greatly and are clearly reflected in code quality.

Will AI truly support reliable long-term maintenance and consistent quality, or will we eventually find ourselves discarding large portions once AI-generated code dominates? Time will tell.

Also Read: How can Malaysia leverage AI for growth and not see it as a threat?

Technology domains

• Ad-hoc data analysis (chat window)

Since multimodal (capable of handling both text and multimedia) chatbots can spin up, for example, a Python interpreter (Python is a widely used programming language) to perform simple calculations, you should definitely provide non-technical teammates with a self-service environment for getting data insights so that engineers can focus on more complex problems. This approach works especially well for spreadsheet-like data and simple data analysis or business intelligence tasks.

• AI + databases (APIs, middleware, and RAGs)

Given the costs of building and maintaining AI tools that connect to databases through APIs and middleware components (software that lets different systems talk to each other) within a Retrieval-Augmented Generation workflow (a method where AI first looks up facts in its knowledge sources before generating an answer), it’s still too early to know whether they will deliver a positive return on investment. But the vision is exciting. Non-technical users can get insights without having to ask the Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Data Engineering teams to tweak the pipelines or build custom dashboards.

Be mindful of hallucinations (confident but wrong answers). Use hardcoded SQL queries for the most common inquiries, post-query validation (double-checking results), well-tuned prompts, and safe fallbacks like “We don’t have that info in our database.”

• Data management

Give LLMs your schema (the structure of your database tables), API specs (a description of how your software component interacts with others), and historical requests and responses. You’ll save yourself a lot of time when enriching your data, generating mock data for quality assurance, turning unstructured data into structured data, and detecting and fixing data quality issues.

• QA (quality assurance) testing

AI is great for generating automated tests, including unit, regression, load, malformed-input, unhappy-path (failure-case), and basic security checks.

As of now, human QA testers do a better job at identifying edge cases, system integration issues (including end-to-end testing), UI/UX problems (such as compatibility and usability), and runtime errors (problems that occur while the program is running).

Looking ahead, a promising direction is to integrate LLMs into the CI/CD pipelines (automated build, test, and deployment processes) to catch runtime errors automatically.

• Internal technical support

Basic “Google it” or “Ask ChatGPT”-style guidance works even without perfect documentation. It’s a solid first line of support before a human steps in.

• External technical support

External support always requires a human in the loop and depends heavily on documentation quality (garbage in, garbage out). When reusing past answers, ensure any sensitive client-specific data is removed from training or tuning sets.

• Information security compliance

Auto-draft responses to vendor questionnaires based on your policies. Have humans review and tweak them instead of doing repetitive manual work. LLMs can also help consolidate and suggest improvements to your information security policies.

• Information security execution

LLMs and AI agents can digest logs and alerts, summarise insights, assist with incident reports, and translate natural language into configurations. However, don’t give them full access to live systems or allow autonomous actions in production. An internal LLM can easily become the weakest link in your stack, as it may be tricked into leaking data or performing unintended actions (current LLM safeguards are far behind those of any other components in your technical infrastructure).

Also Read: Is the future of AI decentralised? Cloud computing holds the key

Business domains

• Contract management

Map vendors, extract service-level agreements, detect risks, track renewals and deadlines, ensure compliance. As with any fact-checking, combine LLM outputs with classic entity recognition (identifying names, dates, and amounts, etc.) to cross-check factual correctness and maintain strong manual controls

• Educational content (incl. edutainment)

Use your virtual colleagues to create ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5) explanations of technology for non-technical audiences or finance topics for non-business audiences. Create fun and insightful quizzes to make your employee training documents more digestible.

I’m sure you already have more ideas. Educational use cases are where LLMs shine.

• Daily productivity

This is a no-brainer. Note-taking, email catch-ups, integrations with your messaging tools, document processing, initial desk research, troubleshooting, and more. You’re probably already using LLMs this way in both your personal and professional life.

• Digital twin (AI avatar of you)

It’s tempting, setup costs are falling and latency is improving. But your virtual AI clone still typically struggles with complex conversations and tasks (especially if you avoid giving it sensitive data, which limits its adaptability). It may also make people uncomfortable, particularly when you lend your digital twin your voice and face, as is the case with some of the more advanced tools.

• Content creation (and marketing)

Polish and expand drafts, beat writer’s block, turn notes into case studies, blogs, videos, podcasts, for both tech and non-tech audience.

Just make sure to put plenty of yourself and your original thoughts into it so humanity isn’t endlessly rehashing public internet content. Most people can still tell when something is entirely AI-generated, although this might change in the near future.

• B2B lead generation (and B2B sales)

B2B (business-to-business) sales remains an art. If you’re B2C (business-to-consumer) or have shorter sales cycles, your mileage may vary. We’ve seen some cringe and spammy behaviours, more unsolicited emails and LinkedIn pings.

In an ideal world, customers talk more than salespeople (virtual or human). Maybe one day chatbots will handle both sides until a human needs to step in. We’re not there yet.

Also Read: The digital lag: How traditional consulting is failing to grasp the agentic AI revolution

Tooling

These tools cover ~80 per cent of our use cases, and they’ll work just fine for you if you’re not sure where to start.

• CustomGPTs and the OpenAI API for RAGs
• Gemini or Copilot (depending on whether you’re integrated with Google’s or Microsoft’s ecosystem)
• GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code (AI companions for your software engineers)
• Hugging Face (great for experimenting with various models)
• Perplexity and ChatGPT apps (a daily productivity boost)

And here’s the extended list. Fingers crossed it doesn’t become outdated overnight.

Foundation models	Development	Deployment	Automation	Voice	Image, video	Apps
GPT, OpenAI	GitHub Copilot	Hugging Face	n8n	ElevenLabs	Midjourney	MS Copilot
Gemini, Google	Cursor	LangChain	Make	Murf AI	Google Veo 3	Perplexity
LLaMA, Meta	Replit	LlamaIndex	Zapier		Kling AI (kling.ai)
DeepSeek	Claude Code	Ollama	Crew AI		Runway
Claude, Anthropic		AWS	AutoGen
Grok, xAI		Google Cloud
Qwen, Alibaba		Microsoft Azure
Mistral

Outro

Personally, I’m extremely excited about this whole domain. I believe not only startups and scale-ups can benefit big-time from integrating AI into software engineering, product, and beyond. This skill is also necessary to future-proof companies and individuals.

At the same time, I’d like to leave you with the following thoughts.

• Maintainability is unproven: We can’t review code faster than AI generates it, and AI still needs human reviewers. Information security is at stake here. Having one AI review another without oversight is risky.
• AI is great for building internal tools: I can strongly recommend AI for back-office apps, provided your APIs have robust validation. Customer-facing features are harder because making them secure and reliable is tricky. (Opinions will vary on this, and AI is improving. My view is that, as of now, LLM-based tools are inherently insecure.)
• Humans matter more, not less: As systems get smarter and more automated, people become more essential for troubleshooting. But staying sharp is harder when you’re less involved, less hands-on. (Someone called this the paradox of automation.)
• Go step by step with agentic AI: You’ve probably read about it and you’re already excited about having it, but it’s yet another layer of abstraction on top of potentially shaky layers in your specific environment. Meet prerequisites first. First and foremost, your database layer and documentation need to be ready for AI. And only then ask yourself whether AI makes sense for the use case at hand. 

Also Read: From promise to payoff: AI’s test amid global trade tensions

Bottom line

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, when building products, stay focused on customer and business value, with requirements driving technology rather than chasing tech for tech’s sake.

Use AI, LLMs, and multi-modal agents first for rapid prototyping, and then as one option (at times complementary) among many. Once you know what you want, your engineers will choose the right tool for the job, possibly an off-the-shelf non-AI solution or a piece of code. That helps you achieve your goals in a secure, scalable, and cost-effective way, rather than treating your ChatGPT chat window or OpenAI API key as a catch-all solution.

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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The Philippines is at a critical juncture in its transition to cleaner transport. With climate goals pressing and global electrification trends accelerating, the country’s adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has gained momentum but still faces significant challenges. Dr Jose Bienvenido Manuel M. Biona, Executive Director of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP), shared his insights on EVs’ barriers, opportunities, and future in the Philippines.

The obstacles vary across different segments of the market. For public transport, financing remains the most pressing issue. “Adoption of electric vehicles in the public transport sector is mostly limited by access to financing,” Biona said in an email interview with e27.

Public transport is mainly private and operated by low-income and informal groups, making integrating electrification with broader sector reforms challenging.

Meanwhile, logistics, corporate fleets, and households face challenges due to limited charging infrastructure and a lack of familiarity with the technology. Despite tariff and excise tax exemptions, high upfront costs continue to deter consumers.

“It could be said that with the tariff and excise tax exemptions, it is already nearing cost parity with conventional vehicles except for e-motorcycles and e-trucks, which remain quite more expensive,” Biona noted.

Other hurdles include expensive electricity — the Philippines has the second-highest power rates in Asia — and the influx of second-hand imported trucks, which weakens the business case for new electric trucks. In addition, misinformation about EV safety, reliability, and climate impact hampers public confidence.

Also Read: SGX tightens climate reporting rules, expands green products as sustainable finance demand grows

Solutions on the horizon

Despite these challenges, opportunities are emerging to accelerate the sector’s growth. One key measure is battery leasing, which lowers operators’ upfront costs. “Battery leasing services should significantly reduce the upfront cost of vehicles, greatly pushing their market attractiveness,” explained Biona, who recently participated in the 3rd ASEAN Battery Technology Conference in Phuket, Thailand.

While such services exist in limited form today, scaling them could reshape adoption.

Green loans and climate finance initiatives also hold promise, particularly for public transport providers. The logistics and corporate sectors may benefit from mandates under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Law, which compels companies to cut energy use. Biona argued that including electrification mandates for trucks and commercial vehicles under this framework could further drive adoption.

Policy developments are also helping. New fuel economy labelling and potential standards could limit second-hand imports, paving the way for electrification. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy recently exempted power for EV charging stations from VAT when sourced through the green energy option programme, helping to offset high electricity prices.

Still, progress is not guaranteed. Biona warned that “the main threat to the electrification efforts is coming from some segments in the automotive industry which seek to slow down BEV and PHEV adoption.”

With strong lobbying power, these groups can influence government decisions and stall momentum.

Also Read: Soil, smoke, and solutions: Farming meets climate action

Additionally, many financing schemes depend on multilateral loans. While repayment may not be an issue, rising government debt has made officials cautious, potentially delaying access to much-needed capital.

Battery technology is advancing rapidly globally, but local innovation in the Philippines has focused on integrating the Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligence into battery packs and vehicles. According to Biona, this enables “innovative business models which were not possible previously” and may ease adoption in specific markets.

Legislatively, the country has made significant progress. “The first major milestone was the signing into law of the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act, which greatly boosted EV adoption in the past three years,” Biona said, adding that this created a framework for coordination among government agencies.

Further, the long-awaited Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy will be announced this year. It promises generous investment support, subsidies, and tax breaks — incentives that could attract battery and EV manufacturing to the Philippines.

The road ahead

The future of EVs in the Philippines hinges on aligning financing, infrastructure and policy while countering misinformation and industry pushback. The economic case for EVs is strengthening, particularly as incentives bring them closer to cost parity with petrol vehicles. Yet, high power costs and fragmented adoption remain barriers.

Also Read: Zijian Khor on climate, policy, and the power of geopolitical awareness

For Biona, the momentum is clear: EVs are not just a climate necessity but a chance to modernise public transport, improve logistics and spur local manufacturing. The path forward may be uneven, but with the right mix of policy, finance and innovation, the Philippines can charge ahead.

—

Image Credit: Hannah Sibayan on Unsplash

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Nine months into 2025, the cryptocurrency landscape has proven to be one of the most perilous on record, characterised by a worrying paradox: while the volume of attacks has plummeted, the financial damage caused by criminals and hackers has soared.

According to recent data, illicit activities in 2025 have already caused more economic damage than the totals recorded in 2023 or 2024.

Also Read: Crypto-security race: Sysdig believes real-time visibility is non-negotiable

CryptoPresales.com reports that the number of crypto scams and thefts halved in 2025, yet total losses climbed to US$2.34 billion. This unprecedented loss figure is 35 per cent higher than the total recorded in 2024.

The paradox of professionalised crime

The stark trend suggests that crypto scams are becoming fewer in number but significantly more sophisticated and larger in scale.

Despite improved blockchain tracking tools and tightened regulatory rules, crypto crime is climbing again, following a sharp drop in 2023 and a flat performance in 2024. In just nine months, the US$2.34 billion stolen marks a 35 per cent increase compared to the combined losses of 2023 and 2024, cementing 2025 as the third-worst year for this type of crime ever recorded. Only 2021 (US$2.73 billion) and 2022 (US$3.54 billion) saw more money drained from the crypto ecosystem.

This massive theft total was achieved in only half the number of scams. The data indicates that criminals are executing fewer but bigger and more professional hits, often specifically targeting decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols, centralised platforms, or major investor pools.

The US$1.46B catalyst: A single record heist

The sheer scale of 2025’s losses is primarily attributable to a few massive breaches, demonstrating the vulnerability of major financial hubs.

Since the start of the year, only 83 reported cases have occurred, 2.2 times less than the total figure for 2024 and the lowest recorded figure since 2020. However, a single, successful attack dramatically boosted the total to US$2.34 billion.

Nearly 60 per cent of the entire year-to-date value was stolen in just one major incident. In February, the Dubai-based centralised exchange Bybit was struck by an attack that stole a record-breaking US$1.46 billion from its Ethereum (ETH) cold wallets. This attack is now the largest crypto crime on record. It is rumoured to have been carried out by North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

For context, in 2024, criminals stole US$1.74 billion across 187 crypto heists. In 2023, while the total stolen amount was the same (US$1.74 billion), it was achieved across 283 heists—the highest number recorded to date.

Cumulative theft exceeds US$15B

With US$2.34 billion stolen year-to-date in 2025, cumulative crypto theft has reached staggering heights.

Statistics indicate that crypto criminals have accumulated an eye-watering US$15.1 billion across 1,102 reported heists. Furthermore, nearly 80 per cent of all these losses, amounting to approximately US$12.1 billion, have occurred within the last five years.

Also Read: Singapore hit by 6.4M cyberattacks in 2024 as AI supercharges threats

In a hypothetical scenario, if hackers had retained all the stolen cryptocurrencies and cashed them out at today’s prices, they would possess a fortune worth US$53.1 billion.

According to a Chainalysis report, projections indicate that stolen funds from services could eclipse US$4 billion by the year’s end if current trajectories persist.

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Singapore has solidified its position as a global artificial intelligence (AI) hub, according to new hiring data from Indeed. In August, the country recorded the world’s highest proportion of job postings referencing AI.

This unprecedented adoption rate sees roughly one in six local job postings, including direct references to machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI tools.

Also Read: How AI and automation are shaping the future of work

The rapid adoption reflects the island nation’s status as a premier tech hub within the Asia Pacific region, driven by the relative size of its technology sector.

Callam Pickering, Indeed’s APAC Senior Economist, stated: “We can see that the adoption of AI technologies continues to be rapid throughout Singapore, with one-in-six job postings mentioning these tools in August.”

He noted that usage is becoming more broad-based, with the share of AI postings exceeding 10 per cent in approximately half of all occupations during the month.

Sectoral deep dive: Where AI mentions dominate

The distribution of AI references highlights intense focus areas within the Singaporean economy. Roles in data & analytics led the adoption charge, featuring AI mentions in 57 per cent of postings. This was closely followed by roles in software development (39 per cent), scientific research (35 per cent), and industrial engineering (33 per cent).

However, this high adoption rate and signs of market normalisation exist in the underlying tech sector. While AI is increasingly featured, hiring for IT infrastructure, operations & support dropped by 17.6 per cent in the past three months, and postings for data and analytics decreased by 15.9 per cent during the same period. This suggests that while companies are integrating AI rapidly, the explosive post-pandemic tech hiring boom is correcting.

Resilience amid normalisation

Despite the slowdown in tech hiring, the overall decline in Singapore’s job market showed significant moderation in August. Job postings continued to fall, but the pace eased considerably, registering a drop of just 1.3 per cent. This decline was roughly one-third of the steeper 4.8 per cent drop observed in July, signalling a modest recovery in overall hiring activity.

While the volume of job postings is 16.2 per cent lower than the same time a year prior, the local job market demonstrates underlying resilience. Indeed data shows that the overall volume of opportunities remains 35 per cent above the pre-pandemic baseline established in February 2020. Furthermore, 92 per cent of all occupations still maintain posting levels above their respective pre-pandemic figures.

Pickering commented on the market dynamics, stating: “The post-pandemic job boom in Singapore was so large that even with three years of falling postings, job creation is strong enough to keep unemployment low. August’s figures show that while hiring demand is normalising, the overall volume of opportunities continues to reflect a healthy, resilient labour market.”

The essential services surge

While the tech sector adjusts, demand for certain essential services and care roles has increased sharply over the past three months.

Job postings in food preparation and service led this surge with a 10.7 per cent spike. Other non-tech sectors also recorded strong growth: legal roles rose by 8.8 per cent, personal care & home health increased by 8.1 per cent, and cleaning & sanitation saw a 6.6 per cent rise in postings.

Also Read: AI and automation in Southeast Asia: Which jobs are at risk and which will thrive?

Conversely, significant declines were reported in specific care and specialist fields, including childcare (a substantial 46.5 per cent drop), veterinary roles (down 27.7 per cent), and dental opportunities (falling by 24.9 per cent).

Concluding his outlook, Pickering warned that although job creation is currently strong enough to maintain a low unemployment rate, “if job postings don’t begin to stabilise soon then further declines could lead to softer labour market conditions going forward.”

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Optimism was loud in Manila, but the corridor chats revealed what founders, funds, and operators must fix next if momentum is going to translate into durable outcomes.

Manila was buzzing. Echelon Philippines 2025 felt like the ecosystem gathering for a status check — founders comparing scars, investors calibrating theses, operators trading what actually works. I’ve built across Southeast Asia for over a decade (including an early chapter in the Philippines), and this trip felt different: Less “pitch theatre”, more “show me the workflow”. That’s a good thing.

Below is the candid version of what I heard on and off stage — the good, the bad, the ugly — and the build: Practical moves teams can ship on Monday.

The good: Speed, hunger, and a wider circle of builders

• Operator energy over optics. Conversations tilted from “raising” to unit economics, funnel discipline, and hiring for the next 12 months. The strongest teams ran lean, instrumented funnels, and had crisp answers to: What breaks at 3×? What breaks at 10×?
• Cross-pollination is real. Manila isn’t building in a vacuum. Founders are cross-learning with Singapore, Jakarta, KL, and Ho Chi Minh City — borrowing playbooks, sharing mistakes, even co-selling. Markets differ; operational primitives rhyme.
• Enablers are levelling up. Incubators and founder networks were visible and useful. One example: Brainsparks, whose founder-first ethos (mentoring, coaching, pragmatic incubation) showed up in the quality of questions: “What’s the minimum process that unlocks the next milestone?” Not “How do I look investable?” That posture compounds.

Also Read: Exhibit smart, spend lean: Your Start Up Booth at Echelon 2026

The bad: Fragile backends and narrative debt

• “Automation later” thinking. Too many teams treat automation as a nice-to-have once growth arrives. Reality: If CRM hygiene and lifecycle messaging aren’t instrumented at the seed/angel stage, CAC balloons when you step on paid. You don’t need an enterprise stack — just one you will maintain.
• Narrative debt. Beautiful one-liners are undermined when product and pricing say otherwise. Rewrite promises in terms of current capabilities and a near-term roadmap. Credibility is an asset; don’t mortgage it.
• Talent is spread too thin. Multi-hyphenates are common, but diffusion kills excellence. Early teams need focus with force. If everyone is “part-time PMM + part-time growth + part-time product,” nobody owns the critical metric.

The ugly: AI theatre, data spaghetti, and founder burnout

• AI theatre. “Agents” on top of leaky workflows are expensive theatre. The question isn’t “Do you use AI?” — it’s “Can a new teammate repeat your process tomorrow with the same quality?” If humans can’t, AI won’t. Codify first; automate second.
• Data spaghetti. Disconnected landing pages, orphaned forms, zombie lists, and a retargeting bill that makes everyone nervous. Pick one funnel spine, one CRM of record, and a primary messaging channel. Everything else is an integration, not a parallel universe.
• Burnout disguised as hustle. The grind is romanticised until a key decision gets made at 3am and costs a quarter. Teams that last are boringly consistent: Weekly metrics, written decisions, recovery in the calendar. Burnout isn’t a badge; it’s a bug.

Also Read: Echelon Singapore 2025: 10 powerful sessions now available to stream

So, what now? A practical build for PH founders (and frankly, anyone)

• Codify before you “AI”. Write the workflow — lead capture → qualification → demo → close → onboarding → success for each stage: Input, definition of done, owner, and SLA. Add AI once the process is explicit.
• One spine, many ribs. Choose one system as your spine (CRM/marketing automation). Every page, form, and message connects to it. Add ribs — analytics, billing, support – deliberately.
• Tight loops over long plans. Replace quarterly big ideas with two-week operating loops: Ship a test (offer/pricing page/webinar/outbound list), then instrument, review, keep what compounds, kill what doesn’t.
• Guardrail the story. Positioning = promise × proof. Keep both current. If the product doesn’t yet do X, don’t imply it. If you have proof, surface it above the fold: Retention, cohort revenue, case studies, or what failed and how you fixed it.
• Community as distribution. Treat the community as pre-and post-sales infrastructure where you educate, qualify, and retain. Partner with credible locals (e.g., Brainsparks or vertical guilds) and show up with useful specificity — teach the spreadsheet, not the slogan.

What Echelon got right (and where to go further)

• Right: The agenda leaned into operator-level talks. Panels moved beyond “AI will change everything” to “Here’s what we automated; here’s what stays manual; here’s the ROI.” That honesty drives real progress.
• Room to grow: An explicit Failure Track — short, surgical post-mortems from teams who tried, measured, and pivoted — would accelerate regional learning and normalise documented failure.

A personal note on the Philippines

A decade ago, I was the scrappy founder in Manila, shipping experiments and learning the hard way. Coming back as a speaker is surreal, but the emotion underneath is simple: This market is capable of world-class outcomes when ambition meets boring excellence.

The next chapter won’t be written by the loudest booth or flashiest deck; it’ll belong to teams who can answer, calmly and repeatedly: “What did we ship this week that moved the metric?”

That’s the work. And it’s enough.

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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Filipino serial entrepreneur Jason Torres, backed by a consortium of industry tech and startup veterans, has launched BetterGov.ph, a volunteer-led civic technology initiative to confront the significant transparency and efficiency challenges within Philippine governance.

The platform, which went live on 19 September alongside collaborators Christian Blanquera, Christopher Star, and four other partners, is positioned not merely as a project builder but as a crucial consolidator for the rapidly growing Southeast Asian civic tech movement.

Also Read: AI is not slowing demand for software developers in the Philippines

The initiative’s primary goal is to leverage open-source methods and grassroots engagement to make government services more transparent, efficient, and accessible to citizens.

BetterGov seeks to support, promote, and empower other builders who have launched “wonderful and impressive tech ideas”.

The frustration driving civic tech

The conceptualisation of BetterGov emerged from deep professional frustration regarding the state of fundamental digital infrastructure. Torres– who has built multiple companies, including Mashup Garage, Slerp, and Producloud–disclosed that the initiative began as a “silly idea” around June 2025, sparked by exasperation when browsing core government websites, such as gov.ph, which he estimated may have been last updated a decade ago and remains “full of dead links”.

A major datapoint underpinning the urgency of the initiative is the issue of accessibility for the Filipino diaspora. Torres noted that based on his own experience, almost 75 per cent of Philippine government websites are not accessible overseas.

This perceived digital neglect has spurred the founder, who identifies as a professional capable of making “a better version of these websites,” to commit personally to investing time, resources, and money into the movement. The initial vision has quickly evolved into playing a “bigger role,” offering a powerful outlet for “creative projects with an impact”.

Operationalising support: Infrastructure and mentorship

BetterGov is committed to providing essential operational support typically difficult to secure for volunteer-led efforts to ensure that nascent civic tech projects can scale effectively.

The resources offered to support partner initiatives and builders include:

• Infrastructure, servers, AI credits, tools, and more.
• Data and API endpoints.
• Help identifying suitable resource persons and finding a dedicated tech team.
• Organising focused tech hackathons.
• Mentorship from industry veterans.
• Access to physical office space.

The team has expressed openness to integrating more ideas and seeking out collaborators who are “smarter than us”.

A relentless, open-source commitment

Torres has adopted a posture of relentless building, stating he will continue developing “without anyone’s permission.” His output is strictly focused on “Open source, public, high-quality sites.”

Also Read: Lenovo powers Southeast Asia’s digital growth at Echelon Philippines 2025

While acknowledging the deep-seated anger surrounding public service failures, the initiative is framed as a constructive path forward, asserting: “We can contribute in our own ways no matter how little it is. We can do amazing things together, grassroots style, open source.”

The overarching commitment driving BetterGov.ph is the belief that “We Filipinos deserve better”. Collaboration is actively encouraged, and a dedicated Discord channel has been established to facilitate joint efforts.

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As Singapore accelerates towards a low-carbon future, the electric vehicle (EV) industry is emerging as both an opportunity and a challenge. Dr Chiam Sing Yang, Deputy Executive Director and Technical Director at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), and a key figure in the Singapore Battery Consortium (SBC), believes the country is still in the early stages of adoption, but poised for transformation.

“Large-scale adoption of battery products, whether in energy storage systems (ESS) or EV, is still at its early stages,” says Dr Chiam in an email interview with e27.

While Singapore has ambitious goals, barriers remain. For consumers, practical concerns such as upfront cost, uncertain resale value, and limited charging infrastructure weigh heavily on purchasing decisions. Businesses, meanwhile, struggle with the return on investment for heavier vehicles, where EV economics have yet to reach a tipping point.

Beyond transport, energy storage presents its own difficulties. “For ESS in Singapore, revenue models beyond compliance will then support deployment, especially with electricity imports,” Dr Chiam explains.

He emphasises that cleaner and more cost-effective energy is not just about addressing climate change but is “a cornerstone for economic activities” and critical for Singapore’s growth. Safety, however, is another factor that could derail momentum.

“Incidents, when amplified, can slow progress,” he warns.

Also Read: BetterGov.ph: A bold civic tech push to fix Philippine governance

Seeking solutions across the value chain

When asked about solutions, Dr Chiam–who recently spoke at the 3rd ASEAN Battery Technology Conference in Thailand–points to improvements in both technology and governance. Product innovation must focus on safety, cost, and digital integration, while better inspection regimes for battery health and third-party validation can strengthen trust in the market.

He also highlights the need for systems that monetise second-hand batteries, ensuring circularity and sustainability. Yet these solutions are not the responsibility of one actor alone.

“Resources vary, and the tricky aspect is that it may involve multiple value chain players,” he notes. Collaboration across industries, regulators, and researchers is essential if EVs in Singapore are to scale effectively.

Looking ahead, Dr Chiam is optimistic about the potential of emerging technologies. “From the materials side, we are excited about new tech in next-gen batteries, including dry processes, solid-state batteries, and non-lithium-ion batteries,” he says.

On the digital front, integrating predictive data analytics could transform how batteries are monitored and maintained. He also sees promise in a “battery passport” — a digital record enabling transparency and resource sustainability.

Government action has played a central role in shaping the EV ecosystem. Singapore’s 2030 ban on new internal combustion car sales and the ongoing rollout of EV charging infrastructure provide clear intent signals.

“In adoption, Singapore has approached from the policy angle,” Dr Chiam notes, noting that industry policies attracting high-tech players apply across sectors, including EV and energy storage. For ESS, incentives such as demand response and interruptible load schemes have also helped build momentum.

Also Read: Survive the chop, ride the wave: Why Q4 could deliver a surge in tech and digital assets

Safety and cost: twin threats

Despite this progress, Dr Chiam is cautious about what could threaten the EV industry’s trajectory. Safety improvements often require significant investment, which can make it cost-prohibitive. Worse, safety is too frequently approached only as a compliance issue, rather than as a core part of long-term innovation and consumer confidence. This gap could slow adoption unless addressed.

Looking to the near future, Dr Chiam predicts 2026 could be the year alternative chemistries begin to break through. “This is the year I think we will see sodium-ion batteries start to take some market share,” he forecasts.

If realised, this shift could make EVs in Singapore more affordable and accessible, easing reliance on lithium and addressing some of the cost barriers consumers face today.

The pathway to widespread EV adoption in Singapore is neither straightforward nor guaranteed. It requires alignment across technology, policy, business models, and public trust. However, with continued innovation and collaboration, the city-state may yet become a leader in the clean transport revolution.

—

Image Credit: Dr Chiam Sing Yang

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Growing a business should be exciting. Yet for many founders, the day-to-day reality involves navigating admin, compliance, and back-office tasks that can slow down momentum.

The Founder Growth Playbook was created to address this challenge. Drawing on the experiences of more than 1,800 founders in Singapore and Hong Kong, it explores how entrepreneurs are turning these necessary tasks into opportunities for smarter growth. Download it here.

Insights from 1,800 founders

Based on the real experiences of founders in Singapore and Hong Kong, the playbook reveals patterns that separate those who feel constantly buried in admin from those who are able to focus on what matters most: growth.

It uncovers four key lessons founders wish they had known earlier. These are lessons that help turn everyday challenges into opportunities to scale smarter.

Also read: Osome bolsters leadership with new COO and VP of Marketing

A founder’s toolkit for clarity

The playbook doesn’t just share stories and insights. It also includes a practical toolkit designed to help you:

• Spot blind spots in your current setup.
• Ask the right questions when choosing partners.
• Map your tools and see where growth opportunities are hiding.

Inside, you’ll even find one simple question most founders forget to ask when evaluating a service provider and why that one question can save you months of wasted effort.

Built for founders, free to download

Whether you’re at incorporation stage or already scaling fast, the Founder Growth Playbook will give you fresh perspective on how to build smarter, not harder.

Get your copy today and discover the four lessons yourself.

The post Automate early, grow faster: Lessons from 1,800 founders appeared first on e27.

In a fireside chat at Echelon Singapore 2025, Nikhilesh Goel, co-founder of Validus, reflected on the fintech’s decade-long journey in Southeast Asia’s SME lending space. Since its inception, Validus has facilitated more than US$5 billion in SME loans, backed by US$60 million in equity and nearly US$500 million in debt funding. Goel attributed their survival and growth to prioritising common sense over market hype, emphasising persistence and a quiet, determined approach.

The company faced significant hurdles, particularly in the post-COVID environment when capital flows tightened, forcing them to rationalise manpower and restructure operations. A pivotal moment came when Validus sold its Singapore business to the Grab–SingTel digital bank joint venture in a cash deal, ensuring continuity without any job losses. This move highlighted their pragmatic approach to sustainability while safeguarding their team.

Throughout the discussion, Goel underscored the importance of people-centric practices, both in how Validus serves its SME customers and in how it treats its employees. He also urged startups to adopt smarter, more resilient business models, especially in volatile markets, to withstand shocks and secure long-term growth. His insights offered a candid perspective on endurance, adaptability, and leadership in fintech.

The post Echelon Singapore 2025 – Built through the storm: How Validus navigated headwinds and emerged stronger appeared first on e27.

At first glance, MoneyHero’s Q2 2025 numbers suggest a turnaround, but the headline “profitability” rests on shaky ground.

The Singapore-based financial aggregator posted a slim net income of US$0.2 million–driven almost entirely by deep cost cuts and a favourable foreign exchange swing, rather than genuine revenue growth. (The group employed a similar playbook in Q4 2024; more on that here.)

The topline paints a sobering picture: revenue slid 13 per cent YoY to US$18 million, with sharp contractions in the Philippines (–42 per cent) and Taiwan (–47 per cent). In Malaysia, revenue dried up completely. In fact, Q1 the group’s overall revenue had already fallen to US$14.3 million from the same period last year.

After cutting about 80 jobs in 2024 to “streamline operations”, the company is now heavily reliant on Hong Kong and Singapore, which together contribute over 86 per cent of revenue—exposing the cracks in its regional diversification strategy.

Customer activity is also waning. Applications fell 14 per cent, approvals dropped 18 per cent, and while membership grew 33 per cent to 8.6 million, engagement is clearly eroding.

To its credit, MoneyHero is pivoting to higher-margin verticals like insurance and wealth (now 27 per cent of revenue). Still, without reigniting real growth in Southeast Asia, its Q2 “profitability” risks being remembered as a fleeting accounting win rather than a durable turnaround.

REGIONAL

MoneyHero swings to profit, but only on cost cuts and FX gains
Total operating costs and expenses (excluding net foreign exchange differences) plummeted by 37 per cent YoY to US$20.6M | This dramatic reduction was broad-based, including strategic technology cost reductions, simplified operations, and a “comprehensive restructuring” of employee benefit expenses | Employee benefit expenses specifically dropped from US$6.712 million in Q2 2024 to US$3.700 million in Q2 2025.

Southeast Asia digital bank Yup raises US$32M
Investors are Moore Strategic Ventures and Spice Expeditions | The new funding brings Yup’s total equity raised to over US$100M since its founding in 2021 | The company will use the funds to expand its customer base and enhance its digital banking offerings for underbanked and underserved segments in the region.

Alodokter closes investment led by SEA-focused angel investors
AngelCentral is the lead investor | Alodokter offers telemedicine consultations, doctor appointment bookings, health content, and e-pharmacy | The company previously secured a US$5.2M in early 2024 and has over 20M monthly active users.

Grab, WeRide to launch first autonomous shuttle service in SG
Ai.R, Grab’s first autonomous vehicle service for consumers in Singapore, will operate the new AV shuttle service in Punggol, the only service chosen to run on two designated routes, starting with an initial fleet of 11 vehicles.

Nvsion secures fresh capital to drive AI-led semiconductor inspections
The investor is Cambrian Fund | Nvsion’s solutions enhance precision, improve quality, and increase efficiency in outsourced semiconductor assembly and test and electronics manufacturing services segments.

SG IoT provider iSense gets investment from Chinese company Dnake
The investment will see iSense shift its manufacturing to DNAKE’s facilities and collaborate on new IoT solutions in healthcare, access control, security, and urban monitoring | iSense provides smart city technology for projects in Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia.

SeaX Ventures joins Brineworks in race to decarbonise aviation and shipping
The firm’s DAC technology promises to unlock ultra-low-cost carbon feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuels and e-methanol, powered entirely by renewable energy, while co-producing significant amounts of hydrogen | Carbon feedstocks are raw carbon-based inputs that serve as the building blocks for making fuels, chemicals, or materials.

Bliink launches business travel platform to empower Indonesia’s MSMEs
Bliink’s new offering is tailored to reduce inefficiencies in a segment that forms Indonesia’s economic backbone yet remains largely underserved by traditional corporate travel solutions | The company partnered strategically with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics to support MSME digitalisation.

BetterGov.ph: A bold civic tech push to fix Philippine governance
Launched by Filipino serial entrepreneur Jason Torres, backed by a consortium of industry tech and startup veterans, BetterGov.ph is a volunteer-led civic technology initiative to confront the significant transparency and efficiency challenges within Philippine governance.

REPORTS, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES

From labs to boardrooms: QAI Ventures bets on Singapore’s quantum future
Singapore has built one of the world’s most coordinated national quantum strategies, backed by long-term funding and public-private partnerships | As a financial and logistics hub, it provides immediate boardroom-level use cases in areas like fraud detection, risk modelling, and secure supply chains.

Facing EV hurdles, Indonesia looks to nickel and battery supply chains for answers
Indonesia’s new administration has placed industrial downstreaming at the centre of its energy and economic strategy | Under its “Asta Cita” or eight-vision framework, the fifth vision is dedicated to expanding value-added industries | Nickel, which Indonesia holds the world’s largest reserves of, is at the heart of this plan.

INTERNATIONAL

SoftBank, Meta, others to build Japan-Singapore submarine cable
The submarine cable system called Candle will connect Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore | The project, with NEC as the system supplier, will span about 8,000 km and is scheduled to start operations in 2028.

Trump says Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch might invest in TikTok deal
While Trump did not specify whether he was talking about personal or company investments, following his comments, Deadline reported that Fox Corp — owner of Fox News, run by CEO Lachlan Murdoch, and long led by chairman emeritus Rupert — is in fact in talks to join the investor group backing TikTok’s US spinoff from owner ByteDance.

UK bank NatWest to invest in Indian startups
The UK-based bank is targeting companies in payment solutions, agentic AI, and control frameworks, with planned investments ranging from US$250K to US$2M per deal | NatWest recently opened an expanded global capability centre in Bengaluru, adding to its existing locations in Gurugram and Chennai, where it employs about 17,000 people.

Indian VC firm 888 launches US$19.8M fund for AI, deeptech startups
The fund will target investments of US$240K to US$482K per startup over the next three years, with a focus on companies aiming for global markets | 888 VC also introduced GRO8, a platform for cross-border investment and mentorship, which will offer services such as capital access, mentorship, and market connections.

Cryptocurrencies drop as US$1.5B in bullish bets liquidated
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, dropped up to 9 per cent to US$4,075 as nearly US$500M in leveraged bullish bets were wiped out, according to Coinglass data | Bitcoin also fell almost 3 per cent to US$111,998 during the same period |More than 407,000 traders had positions liquidated within 24 hours.

UAE targets 10K entrepreneurs with ‘Startup Capital’ initiative
The campaign is managed by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, with participation from over 50 public and private sector entities, including business incubators and academic institutions | Key initiatives include launching StartupEmirates.ae, training 10K Emiratis through the Entrepreneurship Programme, and licensing 500 Emiratis to manage residential construction projects.

European ride-hailing firm Bolt launches in Taiwan
Bolt is partnering with local Taiwanese fleets to provide its service in Taipei, joining a market that has had limited platform options for ride-hailing | The Tallinn-based company operates in over 600 cities across 50+ countries, offering ride-hailing, scooter, e-bike, and car rentals.

SEMICONDUCTOR

MediaTek launches new AI chip to rival Qualcomm
The Taiwanese semiconductor firm said the processor, Dimensity 9500, was built using a 3-nanometer process by TSMC | It will enable features like enhanced call and meeting summaries, improved AI model performance, and higher-quality 4K photos.

Samsung shares rise 5.3 per cent on Nvidia chip approval reports
The shares rose 5.3 per cent to their highest level since August 2024 after reports that the company’s 12-layer HBM3E memory chips passed Nvidia’s qualification tests | Samsung, based in South Korea, produces memory chips used in AI and other computing applications.

Taiwan sees GDP boost from TSMC, AI demand
Taiwan is expected to surpass South Korea in GDP per capita in 2025, driven by the growth of TSMC and rising demand for AI applications, according to Taiwan’s National Development Council | TSMC, a Taiwan-based contract chipmaker, increased its global foundry market share to 70.2 per cent in Q2 2025, according to TrendForce, while Samsung held 7.3 per cent.

AI

LLM prompting, fine-tuning, RAG, or AI agents: Which AI is better for marketing?
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to AI in marketing | Small businesses might start with LLM prompting or dip into AI agents to get an edge, while larger enterprises can leverage RAG for its real-time insights and fine-tuning for brand consistency | Ultimately, AI isn’t here to replace human marketers; it’s here to amplify creativity and strategic decision-making.

Agentic AI in action: How Southeast Asia’s startups are turning constraints into strengths
Agentic AI is not about creating machines that replace humans | It is about giving small, ambitious teams the leverage to do what was previously impossible | And that is why Southeast Asia matters | Here, innovation is often born not from abundance but from constraint | The region’s complexity—its languages, its fragmented regulations, its entrepreneurial hunger—makes it one of the most important testbeds for this next frontier of AI.

The AI revolution’s dark side: Mass unemployment, rage, and the collapse of stability
AI threatens the core economic identity of white-collar workers, stripping away not just income but also their sense of purpose and social superiority | The sense of betrayal felt by these workers — falling down the economic and social ladder with no way back — will generate rage on a scale rarely seen.

What happens when AI transforms social networks into civic square?
The transition from network to community governance is not speculative; Already, decentralised platforms are experimenting with models that move beyond corporate stewardship | MeWe, a privacy focused alternative social media network, rejects surveillance driven capital in favour of community and user-centric control.

Why the future of AI on mobile may not be in the cloud
We are entering a phase where the intelligence is not just in the cloud, not just in the model, but in the choreography between device, data, and environment | AI that truly feels human won’t be achieved through brute compute or bigger models | It will come from systems designed to operate at the speed of thought.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Why I built an app to make blood donation less scary
Technology should serve as an enabler, not a gatekeeper | By designing tools that are intuitive, affordable and scalable, we can influence public attitudes towards blood donation and tackle one of the region’s most urgent yet solvable healthcare challenges.

Funding for good: A new era
The challenge—and opportunity—for investors is to make funding for good the norm rather than the exception | By backing startups that deliver measurable social impact, capital can flow toward ventures that strengthen communities, preserve the planet, and still generate strong financial returns.

Most CTOs obsess over tech, I obsess over trust — here’s why
In the world of AI and ML, trust is crucial | These technologies can be transformative, but they’re also often seen as a “black box” mysterious and sometimes even intimidating | To use AI/ML effectively, businesses must trust that the algorithms are working as expected, that the data is secure, and that the models are making decisions in an ethical way.

How this founder went from being a tutor to a modern day mompreneur
Female entrepreneurs need a solid community to help them get through the difficult times in their business journey | After all, shattering the glass ceiling is hardly a one (wo)man job | When it comes to stepping outside gender norms, the entrepreneurial world can be brutal.

Cybersecurity in the AI age: How startups can stay ahead
The emergence of new tactics such as Jailbreak-as-a-Service highlights the democratisation of cyber threats, underscoring the need for startups to stay ahead of the curve | Recent technological developments mean that hostilities can now come from anywhere, which makes threat detection increasingly complex, particularly as we look ahead to the future.

How this startup is bringing efficiency to the process of exchanging business cards
Shake is a contact data exchange and management app platform which truly digitises the business card and makes for seamless data distribution and collection | More importantly, the platform addresses a variety of needs and problems which businesses and business people likely didn’t even realise they have.

How is open-source collaboration empowering Asia’s fastest growing markets?
Open-source collaboration can be a gateway to innovation | It provides a platform where individuals and organisations collaborate to create, develop, and improve software freely shared among users | For example, consider popular platforms like Linux or WordPress; they’ve allowed endless customisation opportunities on a global scale.

Decoding startup financing: Why pre-money SAFEs are founders’ best bet
In a pre-money SAFE, the valuation cap is determined before the investor’s contribution | This approach anchors the investor’s ownership stake to the valuation of the company at the time of their investment | As a founder, this can work in your favour, as you are less susceptible to dilution caused by subsequent investments at higher valuations.

Why Japanese startups are interested in the Southeast Asian market
South East Asia has a growing middle class of consumers with increasingly high purchasing power driving up demand in multiple sectors | This provides a great opportunity for Japanese startups to establish a foothold in the region and tap into the potential of the markets by plugging their services into multiple industries.

The post Ecosystem Roundup: MoneyHero profit on cuts & FX | Trump: Murdochs eye TikTok | Yup Bank raises US$32M appeared first on e27.