Small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Southeast Asia are entering one of their toughest hiring cycles in recent years. LinkedIn’s latest research suggests the talent crunch is becoming structural rather than cyclical. Nearly three in four Singapore-based SMEs say it has become harder to find qualified talent compared to last year.

The challenge goes beyond a shortage of candidates. Businesses are facing a widening skills mismatch, intensified competition for in-demand capabilities, and a surge of AI-generated job applications that add noise to hiring pipelines and increase screening workloads.

Also Read: How SMEs can become learning organisations, without the corporate bureaucracy

At the same time, AI is reshaping what companies look for in talent: from technical expertise to broader AI literacy.

In the first part of this interview, Elsie Ng, Director of Talent Solutions for Singapore and Malaysia at LinkedIn, shares insights on how SMEs can adapt to the evolving talent landscape.

Edited excerpts:

Singapore’s SME talent challenges are increasingly seen as “structural”, per LinkedIn data showing 71 per cent of respondents reporting greater hiring difficulty than last year. Beyond global trends, what regional factors may be contributing to more persistent talent constraints for startups?

LinkedIn data shows 71 per cent of hirers in small businesses say it’s harder to find qualified talent, yet 58 per cent of professionals report actively job hunting. This tells us that the labour market is still moving, i.e. people are looking and businesses are hiring, but the alignment isn’t landing.

To understand why, we need to look at the broader context. We’re seeing the labour market rotate toward a new era of work. In Singapore, hiring has slowed to about 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, shaped largely by economic uncertainty and monetary policy shifts. But there are pockets of opportunities, driven by AI.

We’re entering what I’d call a “new collar” era of work, one where the workforce increasingly blends knowledge work, advanced technical skills, and distinctly human strengths. AI is at the centre of this shift.

In Singapore, AI engineering roles now make up 4.2 per cent of all job postings on LinkedIn, up 40 per cent year-on-year, while AI engineering talent represents just 1.5 per cent of our member base and is growing at only 10 per cent annually. Demand is outstripping supply by a significant margin.

But it’s not just about engineering. Demand for AI literacy skills has surged over 70 per cent year-on-year and is now spreading into traditionally non-technical roles like marketing. AI is becoming a baseline expectation across the organisation, not just within technical teams.

As AI literacy becomes table stakes, human capabilities are gaining even more prominence. In Singapore, soft skills like communication, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving are among the top 10 in-demand skills.

We also know that small businesses are growing and still hiring, albeit at a slower pace. SMEs grew 4.97 per cent in company numbers and 3.56 per cent in headcount year-on-year in October 2025, outpacing large enterprises.

And while hiring overall is down, large enterprises are driving the decline more sharply — down 42 per cent compared to 26 per cent for small businesses. The real challenge is that small businesses are hiring into a fundamentally different labour market.

Also Read: Talents remain an issue in AI proliferation, but here are 6 steps that businesses can do to tackle it

In this new era of work, skills matter more than titles, and many traditional hiring approaches haven’t kept pace with how quickly that’s changing.

For Singapore specifically, a few regional dynamics are adding to the structural challenge. Singapore’s position as a regional tech hub, combined with strong government support for AI adoption, creates significant momentum and opportunity, but also intensifies competition for in-demand skills.

Competition for in-demand skills tops SME pain points at 44 per cent. Which specific tech and AI roles/skills are SMEs in Singapore, struggling the most to fill?

The most acute gaps for small businesses lie in AI engineering and AI literacy skills.

Today, 7.7 per cent of employees in SMEs have AI engineering skills, compared to 20 per cent in large enterprises. Put simply, small businesses are operating at roughly one-third of the AI capacity of larger companies, which limits their ability to build, deploy, and scale AI solutions internally.

The gap is even wider for AI literacy, the foundational ability to understand and work effectively with AI tools. Over the past year, AI literacy in SMEs has grown five times slower than in larger enterprises. As AI spreads across industries and roles, this gap risks compounding over time, with real implications for competitiveness, productivity, and long-term resilience. If left unaddressed, the growing gap will widen existing inequalities in access to technology and opportunity.

But there’s a critical counterpoint: employees in small businesses are highly motivated to learn. Nearly half (49 per cent) are learning AI with employer-provided guidance or training. What’s more telling is the initiative they’re taking independently: 67 per cent are learning on their own time using free resources, and 53 per cent are paying for courses themselves.

When it comes to how they prefer to learn, the pattern is clear: employees want practical, hands-on experience. The top three preferences are learning through real-life projects and assignments (35 per cent), using AI tools to practice real scenarios (34 per cent), and virtual training and tutorials (34 per cent). The demand for upskilling is there. The challenge for SMEs is creating the structure and opportunity to channel that motivation effectively.

35 per cent of SMEs cite a sheer lack of qualified applicants. What factors tend to draw candidate attention toward larger employers, and how does LinkedIn help SMEs and startups in Singapore and Malaysia improve visibility and reach candidates with the right skills?

Many candidates are drawn to larger employers because of structured learning opportunities, especially as AI reshapes roles and expectations. In an era of rapidly evolving skills, access to upskilling has become a key deciding factor.

The data is clear: professionals want support from management when navigating AI. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of employees at small businesses in Singapore believe access to lifelong learning resources would boost their confidence in adapting to AI changes, and 66 per cent are actively looking for helpful content (resources, tools, and courses) to learn AI better. More than half (55 per cent) want leadership support to navigate AI-related changes at work. And critically, 65 per cent believe they can successfully reskill in AI regardless of age, with the right support.

Also Read: How startups can overcome the AI talent death

This is where small businesses can compete. While they may not have the scale of large enterprises, small businesses can offer something equally valuable: direct access to hands-on learning, clearer pathways to applying new skills, and leadership that’s closer to the work.

AI-generated applications now plague 40 per cent of SME hiring pipelines, bloating workloads. How is this “noise” disproportionately hammering resource-strapped startups versus larger firms, and what’s the real cost in time and missed hires?

In Singapore, 40 per cent of recruiters say they feel pressure to hire faster, while the same proportion say uncovering hidden-gem candidates is a top priority. For small businesses with limited hiring resources, higher application volumes quickly turn into longer screening hours and slower decisions. Reducing noise and surfacing a genuine fit early can make the difference between moving forward with confidence and missing out on the right hire.

AI-powered tools like Hiring Pro are designed to bring more clarity to that process. Rather than relying heavily on keyword matches or credentials alone, it evaluates candidates against the actual skills and criteria a business sets, using real-time data to surface stronger-fit shortlists.

For small teams, having that kind of support, almost like a hiring partner that’s embedded in the workflow, helps shift time away from manual filtering and toward meaningful conversations with the right people.

With AI adoption exploding, why should SMEs bet on “talent resilience” through tools when upskilling their existing teams might be cheaper and faster than chasing unicorns in a tight market?

It’s not either-or; upskilling and talent resilience need to work in tandem.

Upskilling is essential. In fact, small business employees are already showing strong initiative — learning AI through on-the-job guidance and training, while also investing their own time and money to stay relevant.

What we’re seeing, however, is a widening gap between how quickly AI capabilities are advancing and how slowly organisational systems and workflows are adapting and evolving around them. In that environment, training alone doesn’t always translate to real impact.

About 43 per cent of small business employees say they feel overwhelmed integrating AI into their work, and more than half (53 per cent) feel they’re not using it to its fullest capability. That tells us the challenge isn’t just access to courses; it’s how AI needs to be embedded into day-to-day roles.

Talent resilience means redesigning how capability is built and deployed at the organisational level:

• Embedding AI into everyday workflows, not treating it as a side project
• Segmenting capability — deciding what to buy, what to build, and what to raise literacy on
• Rotating employees through AI-enabled projects to build judgment and domain expertise over time

Upskilling keeps people relevant. Talent resilience ensures the business itself can continuously adapt. Businesses that combine both will move from experimentation to real enterprise productivity gains.

The post Singapore SMEs must prepare for the ‘new collar’ workforce: LinkedIn’s Elsie Ng appeared first on e27.

The crypto market’s recent 0.67 per cent decline to a total capitalisation of US$2.29 trillion reflects more than routine volatility. It signals a decisive macro-driven repricing, with digital assets now moving in lockstep with traditional risk indicators. Over the past week, Bitcoin and the broader crypto complex have maintained a 64 per cent correlation with the S&P 500, a clear signal that rates-sensitive capital is treating crypto as part of the same risk bucket as equities. This is not a crypto-specific story. It is a story about liquidity, inflation expectations, and how geopolitical shocks transmit through every corner of the global financial system.

The primary catalyst for this selloff stems from a sharp spike in oil prices and a surging US dollar. Escalating Middle East tensions, including direct US–Iran conflict, pushed Brent crude above US$113.7 per barrel, its highest level since 2022. West Texas Intermediate followed, surging as much as 22 per cent to over US$111 a barrel at the open. Simultaneously, the US Dollar Index gained 0.6 per cent as investors fled to safety. This dual shock creates a powerful headwind for risk assets. Higher energy costs feed inflation expectations just as labour market data shows unexpected weakness, with 92,000 jobs lost in February. A stronger dollar tightens global liquidity conditions, making dollar-denominated assets more expensive for international holders and pressuring valuations across the board. Crypto, with its high beta and sensitivity to liquidity flows, feels this pressure acutely.

Bitcoin itself fell 2.03 per cent, contributing over half of the total decline in market cap. This move was not random. Large holders, often called whales, distributed coins they had recently accumulated, adding supply to an already nervous market. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows, compounding the selling pressure. The Fear and Greed Index reading of 18, labeled Extreme Fear, confirms that sentiment has turned decisively negative. When sentiment reaches these extremes, technical levels gain outsized importance. Bitcoin now tests the US$66,000 to US$66,500 support zone. A sustained break below this range opens the path toward US$63,700. Bitcoin dominance holding above 58 per cent suggests capital is not rotating aggressively into altcoins, which typically underperform in risk-off environments. This concentration of weakness in Bitcoin, the market’s anchor, drags the entire ecosystem lower.

Also Read: While S&P 500 struggles, crypto’s low correlation to gold and stocks attracts institutional attention

The crypto selloff did not occur in isolation. Global markets moved in tandem, confirming the macro nature of the move. US equity futures plunged at the open, with Dow futures dropping over 800 points, roughly 1.8 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 futures sliding 1.9 per cent. Asian markets reflected similar stress, with the Nikkei 225 tumbling 6 per cent toward the 52,000 level, hitting an eight-week low amid Japan’s high dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Even gold, traditionally a safe haven, fell 1.4 per cent to US$5,099 an ounce in early spot trading, suggesting that liquidity needs are forcing investors to sell what they can, not just what they want to. This broad-based risk-off move underscores that crypto is no longer an island. It trades as part of a global macro tape, where oil, the dollar, and equity volatility set the tone.

Behind these price moves lie concrete geopolitical and economic fundamentals. Escalating hostilities involving Iran have effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for 20 per cent of global oil consumption. This disruption threatens to rekindle inflation fears just as central banks weigh their next moves. The market now prices in a 97 per cent chance that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady at its March 18 meeting, with any potential cuts pushed back toward late 2026. This shift in expectations matters profoundly for crypto, which thrives in environments of easy money and declining real yields.

Adding to the uncertainty, corporate developments, such as BlackRock limiting withdrawals from its US$26 billion private credit fund, sparked contagion fears, causing its shares to tumble seven per cent. While Broadcom’s 4.8 per cent jump on bullish AI chip forecasts offered a rare bright spot, it was not enough to offset the broader risk aversion. Meanwhile, China’s decision to set its 2026 GDP growth target at 4.5 per cent to five per cent, the lowest in decades, signals ongoing deflationary pressures and trade tensions that further complicate the global outlook.

Also Read: Wallets, not smart contracts, were crypto’s biggest risk in 2025

Looking ahead, the near-term path for crypto hinges on two factors: oil price stability and the Federal Reserve’s tone on March 18. If energy markets calm and the Fed maintains a dovish stance despite inflationary pressures, crypto could find a floor near current levels. A sustained move above US$113 per barrel for oil would keep inflation expectations elevated, likely delaying rate cuts and maintaining pressure on risk assets.

Technically, Bitcoin’s ability to hold above US$66,000 remains the key level to watch. A decisive break below would likely trigger algorithmic selling and force leveraged positions to unwind, accelerating the move toward US$63,700. Traders should also monitor ETF flow data for signs of institutional accumulation or distribution, as these flows have become a reliable proxy for smart money sentiment in the current market structure.

This moment tests a core question for the crypto ecosystem: does it retain its narrative as an uncorrelated alternative asset, or has it matured into a risk-on instrument that trades with tech stocks and macro liquidity? Tell me about it. 

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

Join us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to stay connected.

The post Crypto’s wake-up call: How a stronger dollar and US$113 oil are crushing risk assets appeared first on e27.

Kampanat “Jom” Vimolnoht strode off the Singapore FinTech Festival stage in late 2024 with the kind of polish that sells trust: tailored blazer, crisp black T‑shirt, urbane charm.

To an audience of founders and investors, he was a familiar archetype: a crypto‑savvy venture capitalist with a UK Master’s in Investment Analysis, a history of venture capital roles and government advisory work, and a new post at KXVC, the corporate VC arm of Thailand’s leading Kasikornbank that had announced a US$100 million Web3 and AI fund the year before.

Also Read: Thailand’s corporate capital era: How big business became the startup banker

Only it was a mirage. Over the following year, a string of investors across Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and California discovered that the allocations, contracts, and deals Jom sold them were, in many cases, fabricated. The tale — reconstructed from interviews, bank transfers, blockchain traces, and KXVC’s own public warning — is both ordinary and devastating: ordinary because it follows familiar fraud mechanics; devastating because it exploited social capital — the halo effect of reputation — to drain life savings and corrode trust in a nascent investment ecosystem.

How the con unfolded

In private crypto markets, allocations to pre‑launch token sales are valuable and opaque. These deals typically circulate in invite‑only channels (Telegram, WhatsApp, and private investor lists) and access is concentrated among founders, funds, and a few insider intermediaries.

Vimolnoht played the insider role convincingly. He supplied professional‑looking decks, allocation agreements, and payment instructions, and invited friends and colleagues into deals in projects he claimed to be connected with: Monad, Babylon, Linera, and others.

Victims presented a consistent pattern: small initial transfers, followed by larger sums as trust deepened. One Bangkok executive, “Mark”, said he invested “in total more than a million dollars”. Another victim from the US, “Steven”, who paid in USDC, believes he lost about US$130,000, his life savings in crypto. Scamurai’s reporting identified about two dozen alleged victims so far, with individual losses ranging from roughly US$20,000 to over US$1,000,000. A blockchain wallet linked to some of the flows shows about US$1.71 million moving through it between July and October 2025.

When vesting milestones approached, and tokens were supposed to unlock, the excuses began: administrative delays, counterparty issues, even that Vimolnoht himself had been scammed.

Also Read: Inside the dark economy of crypto scams: 2024’s most lucrative fraud tactics

Communications then stopped. Project founders contacted directly by investors denied any affiliation or said they had only spoken informally with him. KXVC posted a terse advisory: it never raises external funds and has “never authorised any individual to act on behalf of KXVC” to solicit investor transfers to personal accounts. The firm has confirmed Vimolnoht left the company in March 2025.

A regional phenomenon

Thailand’s scams are not unique. What makes this episode instructive is how it exposes systemic vulnerabilities present across Southeast Asia: close‑knit networks, the prestige economy of panels and advisory roles, and a high appetite for outsized returns combined with uneven due diligence.

“It does not feel like being deceived. It feels like being trusted with an opportunity,” observed Dr Pun‑Arj Chairatana, former executive director at Thailand’s National Innovation Agency, warning that such schemes are often structured around curated deal‑flow circles and private chat groups that carry an air of exclusivity.

Prominent local voices corroborate the wider pattern. Yod Chinsupakul, CEO of local e-commerce company LINE Wongnai, noted the region’s “halo effect” for charismatic figures and urged a culture of whistleblowing to surface wrongdoing.

He also pointed to several other suspected malfeasances in Thailand’s tech sector: an e‑commerce enabler that collapsed amid alleged CEO fraud and tragic consequences for employees; a loyalty‑points startup accused of unlimited minting that reportedly cost a strategic partner “hundreds of millions of baht” (roughly US$5-15 million); and payment companies that allegedly engaged with illicit betting websites and opaque loans with potential conflicts of interest.

Chinsupakul stressed that while the proportion of bad actors has fallen since the industry’s early, “fluffy” years, the remaining wrongdoing is severe and often hidden.

The contagion effect

Dr Pun‑Arj cautions that the damage extends beyond direct victims. Reputation (the currency of fundraisings and syndications) erodes swiftly. He points to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in 2023, not as an analogue in causation but as a lesson in contagion: a single failure can chill capital across markets. For small funds and emerging managers in Thailand and across Southeast Asia, the reputational fallout from prominent scams risks hamstringing legitimate teams still building track records.

This reputational contagion has practical consequences. Limited Partners revisit commitments; fundraising conversations stall; partnerships are re‑evaluated. Restoring confidence is not a matter of statements, Dr Pun‑Arj said, but of “consistency of conduct over time: transparent reporting, governance that is substantive rather than performative, and sound judgement exercised even when no one is watching.”

Enforcement, verification and the limits of charisma

Scammers exploit a familiar mix: technical plausibility (token deals, private allocations), social proof (panel appearances, advisory roles), and operational friction (the difficulty of verifying vesting schedules and off‑chain processes). That combination renders even seasoned professionals vulnerable.

What can change the calculus? Firms like KXVC have already issued public warnings; victims have filed police reports; journalists and whistleblowers are amplifying patterns. But systemic improvements are needed: clearer industry standards on syndication and disclosure, better investor education, escrow‑style mechanisms for pre‑sale allocations, and more robust checks on people representing institutional brands.

Also Read: From pig butchering to work-from-home scams, crypto crime has become more professional and global

Recent precedents in the region underline the point. In 2023-2024, Southeast Asia saw several high‑profile investment failures where founders or executives were accused of misappropriating funds or falsifying metrics, cases that left partner companies and retail investors nursing heavy losses and reputational wounds. These episodes reinforce Dr Pun‑Arj’s argument that governing conduct matters as much as technical sophistication.

Quotes that matter

KXVC’s warning is blunt and instructive: “Beware of imposters… KXVC has never raised funds from external sources and has not authorised any individual to act on its behalf in such manner.” It is a reminder that institutional identity can be weaponised in private markets.

Mark, one of the victims, captured the personal betrayal succinctly: “He worked at multiple VCs. He spoke on panels in Thailand, the US and Europe. It’s hard to understand.”

Opinion

Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem has matured rapidly, but maturity requires not only capital and talent but also institutional hygiene. The Vimolnoht affair is a wake‑up call: charisma should never substitute for verification. Investors (institutional and retail alike) must demand paperwork that can be independently verified, insist on escrow or custodied arrangements for allocations, and treat personal introductions as the start, not the conclusion, of due diligence.

Regulators and industry bodies should tighten identity‑and‑representation norms for funds and require clearer disclosures on fundraising and allocation processes. Equally, platforms that facilitate private market deals must build safer rails: standardised contracts, provenance tracking for allocations and stronger remedies for victims.

Also Read: With new US$100M fund, KXVC aims to help global AI, deeptech, Web3 founders win APAC market

In short, the cure for confidence eroded by bad actors is not fewer deals, but smarter markets. Southeast Asia’s innovation boom can survive and thrive if stakeholders harden the institutional scaffolding that supports its convivial networking culture. Charm sells; proof secures. The region needs both, and, crucially, the latter must trump the former.

The post How a crypto ‘insider’ in Thailand sold deals that never existed appeared first on e27.

In Malaysia, the government’s push for e-invoicing arrived with a timetable that reads like a procurement schedule. The Inland Revenue Board set a phased rollout starting 1 August 2024 for companies above RM100 million (US$21 million) in annual turnover or revenue, with later waves expanding coverage. By December 2025, after pushback from smaller firms, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the exemption threshold would be raised to RM1 million (US$210,000) from RM500,000 (US$105,000) beginning in 2026.

For Southeast Asia’s startups, that kind of regulatory drumbeat has become a growth engine for a class of products that rarely make the headlines: payroll, compliance, invoicing, procurement, expense controls, and the glue code that connects messy SME operations to increasingly digital state systems.

This is the quiet boom in enterprise back office. It is not powered by hype cycles, but by the daily mechanics of small business, where a missed invoice number can trigger a tax problem, and a payroll mistake can cost an employee’s trust.

Why is this working now

Southeast Asia’s economies are built on small firms, and they are structurally fragmented. MSMEs account for an average of 98.7 per cent of all businesses in Southeast Asia and contribute to 64.6 per cent of total employment, according to a 2024 regional snapshot.

That fragmentation is exactly why enterprise software adoption has historically been uneven. Many SMEs run on WhatsApp, Excel, paper receipts, and informal workarounds. They do not have dedicated finance teams. They do not have procurement departments. They often outsource compliance to external accountants who are juggling dozens of clients.

Yet the same fragmentation creates a large addressable market when the state digitises tax and reporting. Once a government mandates electronic invoices or tightens VAT clearance, optional software starts to look like basic infrastructure.

The buyer psychology shifts. Invoicing and compliance tools were long sold as efficiency. Increasingly, they are sold as risk reduction, and sometimes simply as the easiest way to keep operating.

Invoicing as policy, software as response

E-invoicing has become one of the most direct policy levers shaping SME software across the region, and it rarely moves in a straight line.

Malaysia’s MyInvois rollout is the most visible current example because it combines a phase-based timetable with political adjustment when compliance costs hit smaller firms. For software vendors, these rollouts create a predictable pattern: a rush of integration work at the top end, followed by a long tail of smaller businesses looking for low-cost tools, simple onboarding, and accountant-friendly workflows.

Indonesia is moving on a larger scale. The Directorate General of Taxes has been shifting VAT administration toward a more centralised platform known as Coretax, including changes to how tax invoice numbers are generated and managed as the system transitions. Advisory and compliance vendors describe Coretax going live in January 2025, with VAT reporting and invoice clearance increasingly centred in the new system.

Also Read: Building for fragmentation: How ASEAN SaaS leaders architect optionality into a paradox

Vietnam has already been through an earlier version of this transformation. It mandated e-invoicing nationwide from July 2022, backed by decrees and implementing circulars that pushed businesses onto electronic invoices.

Thailand’s approach is different. Its e-Tax Invoice and e-Receipt system exists and is promoted by the Revenue Department, but adoption remains largely voluntary, with incentives and programmes used to encourage usage rather than a blanket mandate.

For startups building invoicing and accounting tools, this diversity matters. A product that works in one country can fail in the next because the regulatory interface is different: API requirements, invoice schemas, digital signature rules, retention rules, and the practical realities of how small firms issue receipts.

That is one reason winners tend to be local, or deeply localised. It is also why many invoicing startups quietly become compliance companies. Their defensibility is not the UI. It is the regulatory plumbing and the support operation behind it.

Payroll and HR: The other unavoidable system

Payroll looks simple until it meets reality. Minimum wage variations, statutory contributions, tax filing requirements, overtime rules, contractor classification, and multi-entity groups turn “pay people” into a recurring compliance cycle.

In Southeast Asia, the payroll opportunity is amplified by informality and high SME churn. Many firms are formalising for the first time, and they want tooling that makes compliance feel manageable: templates, auto-calculation, reminders, and filings that do not require specialist knowledge.

The best payroll products in the region tend to win less through feature breadth than through trust. They need to be accurate, locally current, and supported by people who can answer questions in plain language. For investors, that can be attractive because revenue is recurring and the product is sticky, even if sales cycles are slower than consumer apps.

Procurement and spend: where leakage hides

If invoicing is about revenue and payroll is about people, procurement is where costs quietly escape, particularly in sectors with messy supply chains like construction, food services, and light manufacturing.

Singapore-based Doxa has built around that logic, positioning itself as a procure-to-pay platform for contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, combining workflow digitisation with payment and financing hooks. Its proposition is a useful guide to why back-office software can still be ambitious in Southeast Asia: procurement software can become a gateway to working capital, because visibility into purchase orders and invoices reduces underwriting uncertainty.

This is also where the next set of enterprise startups may differentiate. SMEs often do not have the discipline or headcount to enforce procurement controls. Software that embeds controls, approvals, supplier vetting, three-way matching, and budget policies can produce savings that feel immediate, which makes pricing easier.

Globally, investors have started paying closer attention to procurement automation, even calling it an unsexy problem worth funding. Southeast Asia’s version may be less about large-enterprise vendor sprawl and more about bringing order to informal supplier networks.

Also Read: SaaS isn’t always the answer: The case for physical innovation in developing economies

Distribution: accountants, banks, and the WhatsApp layer

The most important feature of this enterprise wave is not the category. It is distribution.

Many SME software companies in Southeast Asia do not sell directly to owners first. They sell through accountants, bookkeepers, payroll bureaus, and increasingly through banks and fintechs that want SME deposits and lending relationships.

Regulatory change strengthens these channels. When Malaysia tightens invoice rules or Indonesia shifts VAT systems, accountants become the front line of implementation, and the software that fits into their workflow spreads faster.

In practice, the best products accept a simple reality: SMEs will still use WhatsApp and spreadsheets. Winning tools integrate rather than replace. They pull data in, generate compliant outputs, and leave owners feeling like they did not have to become accountants to stay compliant.

What to watch next

This boom will not produce as many consumer-facing household names, but it is building durable businesses.

Two fault lines will shape outcomes:

• Regulatory interfaces keep moving. Vendors that invest early in integrations, documentation, and rapid updates will outlast those that treat compliance as a one-time build.
• SME willingness to pay is real but limited. Products that bundle value, such as invoicing plus financing, or payroll plus compliance reporting, tend to justify pricing better than standalone tools.

The pitch is simple. Southeast Asia’s SMEs are being pulled into a more digital relationship with the state and the formal financial system. The startups that make that transition less painful are building the region’s next layer of enterprise infrastructure, one invoice and one payroll run at a time.

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

Join us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to stay connected.

The post Why payroll, invoicing, and procurement are SEA’s hottest startups appeared first on e27.

We have spent a full decade trying to kill friction.

Guided by growth gurus and endless A/B tests, we built the seamless experience. We wanted one-click checkouts and onboarding so simple a toddler could do it. We assumed that if a tool disappeared into the background, we won. The data at the point of sale usually backed us up.

But this obsession is a trap. By making everything effortless, we created a user base that is soft and uncommitted. We solved for the quick transaction, but killed the long-term value of the relationship.

The most expensive mistake a founder can make today is making their product too easy to use.

The problem with easy value

The current obsession with cognitive ease is a disaster for brand loyalty. When a user feels zero resistance, they invest zero mental energy. That leads to two major failures:

• The value disappears: The human brain is wired to think that if something is easy, it isn’t worth much. Behavioural science is clear on this: if you don’t have to work for a result, you don’t value the result. When onboarding is instant, the user achieves their goal without earning it. They get the benefit, but they don’t respect the tool. When the bill comes due, leaving is just as effortless as joining. There is no memory of a struggle or a win to keep them around.
• You aren’t building memories: Loyalty requires memory, and memory requires action. We remember the things that challenged us. By letting a user slide through your product like they are on a greased chute, you prevent them from forming a real connection to the work. They are staying because of convenience, not conviction. This is the hidden cost of perfect UX: your churn looks great in month one, but it falls off a cliff by month six because the customer has no deep reason to stay.

Using speed bumps to keep customers

Smart Founders should stop trying to erase friction and start using “Intentional Friction.” I call this the Speed Bump Theory. It isn’t about making a bad product. It is about identifying the specific moments where a little bit of work creates a lot of commitment.

Also Read: Elevating your e-commerce strategies with livestreaming and hero products

Try placing these speed bumps at four specific stages:

• Hard onboarding: Don’t let them glide in. Force them to spend five minutes configuring a vital piece of the system. Maybe they have to map out a complex business process or upload a messy historical dataset. This creates an immediate sunk cost. Because they put in the work up front, they are psychologically anchored to the platform. They can’t leave easily because they already did the heavy lifting.
• The mastery gap: Your best feature should not be obvious. It should require a tutorial or a brief training session. This shifts the focus from time to value to time to mastery. When a user finally learns how to use a complex tool, that feeling of achievement is linked to your brand. They aren’t just using an app anymore; they have become experts in a specialised skill.
• Honest pricing: Stop hiding your price in a friendly little table. Force the user to actually look at the cost and justify it. If your product is actually worth the money, making them think about the price reinforces its worth. If the decision is too easy, they will never see the product as a serious investment.
• The exit warning: When someone tries to cancel, don’t just let them click a button. Remind them exactly what they are walking away from: their data, the skills they learned, and the momentum they built. This isn’t about being annoying. It is a final reminder of the value they are about to lose.

The race for “zero friction” is a race to the bottom. True winners are the Founders who realise that a strategic speed bump isn’t a barrier to entry. It is a barrier to leaving.

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

Join us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to stay connected.

The post The speed bump theory: How strategic friction creates loyal customers appeared first on e27.