The digital economy is defined by a fundamental paradox: technology has democratised the creation and distribution of information, yet economic value and decision-making power remain highly concentrated. This concentration is controlled by a Super Oligarchy, i.e., a small group of platform owners and foundational model developers who capture the vast majority of the Sovereign Yield generated by global digital interactions.

Traditional frameworks for addressing this disparity, primarily rooted in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, have largely failed. They treat equity as a demographic optimisation problem rather than a structural requirement. Achieving genuine structural equity requires shifting the digital economy from an extractive model to one of true ownership. This transition must be engineered at the foundational level through agentic sovereignty, fractionalised intellectual property, and a democratised digital commons.

The limits of representation

For decades, the technology sector has relied on demographic representation to address inequity. This pipeline fallacy posits that a lack of equity is a supply-side issue, treating diversity as an algorithmically optimised hiring quota. This transactional approach ignores the systemic frictions that create a leaky pipeline, where marginalised talent is routinely pushed out of the sector by documented biases.

Furthermore, representation does not equate to ownership. Even highly diverse organisations encounter an invisible ceiling that structurally excludes contributors from the capital appreciation of digital platforms. Dominant business models appropriate communal information to build impenetrable data moats, operating as enclosures of the commons.

In this extractive system, software engineers and users act as highly paid tenants of the infrastructure they maintain. Meanwhile, platform founders and venture capitalists extract the Sovereign Yield. Demographic shifts in the workforce cannot dismantle an architecture fundamentally designed to extract value without distributing ownership.

Reclaiming economic agency

To dismantle the extractive model, economic agency must be returned to the individual. The evolution toward Agentic AI offers a pivotal opportunity to shift from passive participation to Agentic Sovereignty. Individuals must own personal AI agents that act as their legal proxies, representing their interests and operating portably across platforms.

This transition relies on policy as code. Frameworks like ArGen (Auto-Regulation of Generative AI) allow individuals to utilise an Open Policy Agent (OPA) layer to formally define and control how their personal data is accessed and monetised. Through this governance layer, a personal AI agent can negotiate micro-contracts, manage tasks, and license anonymised data for a fee via smart contracts. This transforms dynamic context from an extracted commodity into a licensed asset, capturing the Sovereign Yield and redistributing economic value directly to the user.

Also Read: Value creation: The US$3T private equity blind spot

Fractional ownership and the massive meritocracy

The digital economy currently operates on a binary ownership model: individuals either hold significant founder or venture capital equity, or they hold none at all. Architecting structural equity requires transitioning from this binary to a massive meritocracy built on fractional ownership.

This is achieved by tokenising Intellectual Property (IP). Utilising blockchain infrastructure and smart contracts, intangible assets like software code, training datasets, and AI model weights are converted into divisible, programmable digital tokens. Tokenisation automates real-time royalty distributions based on verifiable usage, removing administrative bottlenecks and bypassing expensive legal intermediaries.

Fractional ownership introduces liquid equity to the sector, replacing the traditional ten-year venture capital exit timeline with immediate, residual value capture. Protocols like tea.xyz demonstrate the viability of this model in open-source software, using a proof of contribution algorithm (teaRank) to automatically reward project maintainers with tokens. This mechanism allows developers to immediately capture the financial value they create as a platform scales, linking compensation directly to verifiable utility rather than corporate hierarchy.

Democratising the digital commons

Access to high-performance computing (HPC) and massive GPU clusters is a prerequisite for economic participation, yet this infrastructure is profoundly monopolised. Compute North countries host the vast majority of hardware; the United States alone controls 50 per cent of global secure internet servers, while high-income nations collectively account for 91 per cent. This concentration creates total compute deserts in low-income nations and ensures only the Super Oligarchy can afford the entry costs for foundational AI training.

To correct this divide, compute power and foundational digital assets must be treated as public utilities. Expanding digital commons initiatives ensures that essential computing infrastructure and open-source models are publicly accessible, effectively lowering the barrier to entry.

Furthermore, structural equity requires strict interoperability. Tech monopolies sustain their dominance through high switching costs and walled gardens. Economic precedents, such as Mobile Number Portability, demonstrate that mandated open APIs and frictionless data portability reduce switching costs to zero. This strips the Super-Oligarchy of its structural advantages and forces platforms to compete strictly on merit and service quality.

Also Read: It’s time to reshore: Why AI-augmented development changes the equation

Conclusion: Designing for resilience and ownership

The goal of designing structural equity is to build a system where economic marginalisation is technically impossible. This requires a definitive shift from inclusive hiring to inclusive business modelling.
Venture capitalists and policymakers must implement actionable reforms:

• Fund contributions, not just pedigrees: Capital must pivot to funding verifiable, on-chain contribution metrics (like teaRank) over institutional demographics. This establishes a massive meritocracy where value is recognised universally.
• Mandate public utility status for compute: Governments must treat major GPU clusters as essential facilities, ensuring mandatory access for researchers and startups at non-discriminatory rates.
• Embed governance in code: Frameworks must be utilised to ensure AI agents operate under the sovereign control of the individual, transforming compliance and equity into automated, auditable features.
  By hardcoding ownership, fractional equity, and agentic sovereignty directly into the architecture of the digital economy, the current landscape of enclosures will dissolve. The sovereignty of the code will replace extractive monopolies with a resilient economic system designed for genuine human flourishing.

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Semiconductors remain a cornerstone of the Philippines’s manufacturing export economy, generating approximately US$39 billion in export value in 2024 (roughly 60 per cent of the country’s merchandise exports), shows the Philippine Private Capital Report 2026 by Foxmont Capital Partners. This places the nation among the world’s top chip exporters with about a 3 per cent share of global shipments.

That scale is impressive: decades of specialisation in assembly, testing, and packaging (ATP) have turned the Philippines into a reliable manufacturing node for leading electronics and technology firms.

Also Read: The hidden tax on Philippine SMEs: Unreliable infrastructure

Yet, while the country is indispensable for volume-driven, labour-intensive segments of the global value chain, much of the higher-value design, wafer fabrication, and advanced packaging activity still occurs abroad. Closing that gap is both a major challenge and a major opportunity.

Foundations and current strengths

• Decades of ATP expertise: Philippine firms and the local workforce have deep institutional knowledge of final-stage semiconductor processes — soldering, die-attach, wire bonding, encapsulation, burn-in testing, and quality assurance. These competencies underpin the country’s export clout and make it an essential partner for multinational electronics manufacturers.
• Strategic clusters: Manufacturing hubs in Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas), and select areas in Metro Manila provide proximity to ports, industrial parks, and a pool of technical labour. Recent investments in Calamba City and Cavite underscore the continued attractiveness of these regions.
• Emerging higher-value activity: The announced Samsung US$1 billion plant in Calamba to produce automotive multilayer capacitors, Analog Devices’s US$200 million R&D campus in Cavite for prototyping industrial power device wafers, and a US$1.6 billion investment in automotive power IC manufacturing (targeting production by 2026) signal nascent movement up the value chain.

Key constraints limiting upgrade

Despite these strengths, several constraints keep the Philippines concentrated in lower-value parts of the chain:

• Regulatory complexity and permitting delays: Lengthy approvals for land, environmental compliance, and foreign investment can slow plant construction and discourage faster-maturing investments that require predictable timelines.
• Infrastructure gaps: Reliable, high-capacity power, wastewater treatment suitable for chemical processes, advanced logistics, and specialised testing facilities are uneven across industrial zones. Advanced semiconductor fabs and testing labs demand steady, high-quality utilities and environmental controls.
• Limited domestic supplier ecosystem: Domestic suppliers currently provide less than 10 per cent of components and equipment for semiconductor production, with most inputs imported from China, Japan, and South Korea. This dependence increases cost, lengthens lead times, and reduces local value capture.
• Talent and retention: While the Philippines graduates many engineers and technical personnel, retaining mid- to senior-level IC design engineers, process engineers, and R&D scientists is difficult due to international competition and higher wages abroad.
• Regional competition: China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia have aggressively expanded their semiconductor capabilities across ATP, with increasing focus on advanced packaging and design. Their larger domestic markets, stronger upstream supply chains, and targeted incentives increase competitive pressure.

Concrete opportunities to increase domestic value capture

Build local input capacity for downstream components:

Also Read: Philippines’s quiet AI revolution is about work, not tech

• Focus on simpler downstream parts — moulds, housings, socket assemblies, and test fixtures — which can be produced domestically with relatively modest capital and would immediately increase local content.
• Promote supplier development programmes linking multinational manufacturers with local SMEs, combining technical assistance, quality certification, and co-investment.

Encourage specialisation in advanced packaging and testing:

• Advanced packaging (fan-out, 2.5D/3D interposers) is a logical step up from ATP. Incentives, matched R&D grants, and pilot lines could help local firms move into higher-value packaging niches that support AI, automotive, and power IC markets.

Strengthen talent pipelines and retention:

• Expand scholarships, apprenticeships, and industry-academia programmes focused on IC design, process engineering, and test engineering.
• Create “returnee” and senior-scientist programs that attract Filipino engineers working overseas through competitive compensation packages, tax incentives, and leadership roles in new local R&D centres.

Fix infrastructure bottlenecks with targeted investments: 

• Prioritise stable power grids and dedicated industrial water/wastewater treatment for semiconductor clusters.
• Establish shared cleanroom facilities, metrology labs, and failure-analysis centres accessible to startups and SMEs to lower entry costs for advanced production and R&D.

Improve the regulatory and investment climate:

• Streamline permitting with one-stop industrial facilitation centers and guaranteed decision timelines for high-impact semiconductor projects.
• Offer performance-linked incentives for investments that demonstrably move up the value chain (e.g., local R&D, local supplier sourcing, workforce training targets).

Leverage venture capital and startups for design and process innovation:

• Globally, VC is driving breakthroughs in IC design (energy-efficient AI inference chips, silicon photonics, optical I/O). The Philippines can foster VC-backed startups focused on design services, IP cores, verification tools, and advanced packaging services.
• Establish seed funds or public-private funds to de-risk early-stage semiconductor design ventures and startup pilots that can be piloted with local EMS and CEM partners.

Policy and ecosystem recommendations

Create a national semiconductor strategy that maps short-term wins (supplier development, workforce training) to long-term goals (advanced packaging, design hubs, partial wafer fabrication).

• Deploy “anchor investor” policies: use large investments (like Samsung and Analogue Devices) to catalyse supplier clusters by tying incentives to local procurement and joint training programmes.
• Promote cluster-based development: designate semiconductor corridors with prioritised utilities, logistics, and shared services to reduce costs and encourage knowledge spillovers.
• Encourage technology-transfer partnerships between universities and multinational firms, with IP-sharing frameworks that enable startups to commercialise joint research.

Why this matters for the Philippines

If effectively executed, moving up the semiconductor value chain could transform the Philippine manufacturing landscape beyond exports.

It would:

• Increase domestic value capture by shifting revenue and profits from foreign firms into local suppliers, designers, and higher-paid technical roles.
• Create high-quality, resilient jobs across engineering, manufacturing, and services, reducing reliance on lower-wage ATP roles alone.
• Strengthen industrial complexity and productivity, making the economy more robust to external shocks and more attractive to complementary industries (automotive electronics, renewable energy systems, medical devices).

Also Read: Philippines’s productivity problem starts in the classroom

The Philippines already plays a powerful role in global semiconductor production; the challenge is to convert that role into a ladder for sustained economic upgrading. With coordinated policy, investment in infrastructure and skills, and smart use of public and private capital, besides the momentum from recent investments, the country is well-placed to capture more of the semiconductor value chain and turn chips into a longer-term engine of growth and technological capability. A future where more Filipino-made components, designs, and packaging solutions travel on those same export routes is not just desirable; it’s within reach.

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The total crypto market capitalisation dropped 3.19 per cent to US$2.36T within a single 24-hour period. This decline reflects something deeper than typical volatility. We are witnessing a fundamental reassessment of how digital assets behave within the broader financial ecosystem. The data tells a compelling story that every serious investor needs to understand before making their next move.

The correlation coefficient with the S&P 500 reached 82 per cent over the last day, while the relationship with Gold hit an extraordinary 92 per cent. These numbers shatter the narrative that cryptocurrency operates as an independent asset class. Instead, we see digital assets trading as macro-sensitive instruments, fully exposed to interest-rate expectations and geopolitical risk. The Federal Reserve holds the keys to near-term direction, and its recent communications have done little to calm nervous investors.

Federal Reserve officials, including Vice Chair Michael Barr, issued stark warnings about the inflation fight facing new threats from instability in the Middle East. The prospect of an oil shock stemming from tensions in Iran could force policymakers to delay anticipated rate cuts throughout 2026. This rhetoric sparked a broad selloff across risk assets, with crypto bearing the brunt of the outflow. Market participants had priced in a more accommodative stance from the central bank, but the reality of persistent energy inflation has forced a painful recalibration. The May 6- 7 FOMC meeting now looms as the next critical event where we might gain clarity on the actual rate path forward.

The Ethereum ecosystem experienced particular pain during this downturn, falling 16.77 per cent as large holders chose to distribute their positions. One early supporter unstaked 7,302 ETH after 4 years of locking their tokens, converting approximately US$15.14M worth into liquid assets. This type of concentrated selling from long-term holders creates outsized moves when combined with sector-wide risk aversion. The market absorbed this supply poorly, suggesting that bid depth remains thin across major trading venues. I view this as a warning sign that we should closely monitor ETH exchange reserves and staking outflow trends. A continued rise in these metrics could signal further distribution from other long-term holders who see better opportunities elsewhere.

Also Read: Bitcoin holds US$71K as Ethereum surges 15%: What’s driving the US$2.44T crypto rally

Altcoin performance painted an even grimmer picture, with high-beta tokens underperforming as capital rotated into safety. Several AI tokens dropped over 14 per cent on heavy volume. This pattern indicates that investors are not merely taking profits but actively reducing exposure to speculative positions. The risk-off sentiment extends beyond crypto into global equity markets, where the Nasdaq Composite confirmed a correction by dropping more than 10 per cent from its recent all-time high. The S&P 500 fell 1.74 per cent to 6,477.16, closing below its 200-day moving average for the first time in nearly a year. The Dow Jones slid 469.38 points to settle at 45,960.11. These moves confirm that we face a synchronised global downturn rather than an isolated crypto event.

Energy markets remain the primary driver of this macro uncertainty. Brent crude trades around US$107 per barrel, up over 70 per cent year-to-date as markets price in the risk of oil reaching US$200 if the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz escalates. S&P Global lowered its 2026 growth forecasts while raising its inflation outlook due to prolonged energy disruptions. This stagflation scenario represents the worst possible environment for risk assets, combining weak economic growth with persistent price pressures. Hopes for a Fed rate cut in 2026 have largely evaporated as the energy shock heightens inflation risks. The US Dollar rose 0.4 per cent as traders sought safety amid the Middle East crisis, while Gold fell 3.4 per cent as investors adjusted to a new rate reality where inflation concerns outweigh fear-driven buying. Gold prices have retraced about 20 per cent from January peaks, showing that even traditional safe havens struggle when rate expectations shift dramatically.

Also Read: Crypto falls 1.29% to US$2.34T as geopolitical fear triggers risk-asset selloff

Bitcoin liquidations surged 103 per cent to US$97.43M over 24 hours, indicating that leveraged long positions are being liquidated. This deleveraging event amplifies downward pressure, creating a feedback loop through forced selling. The total market cap now tests the 50 per cent Fibonacci retracement level at US$2.41T, with major support at the yearly low of US$2.17T. A hold above US$2.27T, which represents the recent swing low, could set up a consolidation phase where the market digests these macro shocks. A break below that level may trigger a deeper correction toward the yearly lows. Bitcoin must defend the US$64K to US$65K zone to prevent further technical damage. I watch the US spot Bitcoin ETF flow data closely for signs of institutional demand returning, as these products now represent a critical source of marginal buying pressure.

The near-term market outlook hinges on two factors that remain outside crypto’s control. First, geopolitical tensions must cool to reduce the oil shock premium currently embedded in inflation expectations. Second, Federal Reserve rhetoric needs to soften to restore confidence in the timeline for rate cuts. Without improvement on these fronts, we face continued pressure across all risk assets. The question every investor must answer involves whether Bitcoin support at US$64K will hold as the macro storm passes, or if a retest of lower levels becomes inevitable. 

This downturn represents a macro-driven deleveraging event amplified by large Ethereum selling and altcoin weakness. The path forward likely depends on whether geopolitical tensions cool and the Fed rhetoric softens. I have seen multiple cycles where the market found bottoms only after macro uncertainty resolved. The current environment demands patience and disciplined risk management rather than attempts to catch falling knives. Investors should prepare for continued volatility while monitoring the key levels and catalysts outlined above. 

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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.

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Southeast Asia’s digital economy has grown at breakneck speed, but its cybersecurity posture is struggling to keep pace. The rise of supply chain cyberattacks is not surprising; it is the natural consequence of a region that has prioritised rapid digital integration over systemic resilience.

What stands out is not just the scale of the threat, but how structurally embedded the vulnerabilities are. Businesses are no longer isolated entities; they are deeply interconnected ecosystems of vendors, cloud providers, contractors, and platforms. Each new integration expands capability—and risk. Yet governance has not evolved accordingly. Too many organisations still treat cybersecurity as a technical issue, rather than a cross-functional responsibility spanning procurement, legal, and operations.

The talent shortage only compounds the problem. Even in more mature markets like Singapore, security teams are overwhelmed, forced to prioritise immediate threats over long-term vendor risk management. In less mature ecosystems, the gap is even more pronounced, leaving entire supply chains exposed.

Perhaps most concerning is the inconsistency in basic safeguards. Weak adoption of foundational measures like two-factor authentication signals a deeper issue: cybersecurity discipline remains uneven across the region.

Ultimately, Southeast Asia faces a critical inflection point. Digital growth without trust is fragile. If the region is to sustain its momentum, it must shift from reactive fixes to proactive, ecosystem-wide security thinking—before the next breach forces the lesson.

Regional

Startale raises US$63M to rebuild Asian finance on blockchain: The Singapore-based blockchain startup secured US$50M from SBI Group and US$13M from Sony Innovation Fund, targeting tokenised securities trading and stablecoin infrastructure via its Strium Layer 1 platform and yen-pegged JPYSC stablecoin.

Tazapay raises US$36M to scale cross-border payment rails: Circle Ventures led the Series B extension for the Singapore-based firm, with CMT Digital and Coinbase Ventures joining as new backers. The funds will support regulatory approvals across the UAE, EU, and Hong Kong, alongside automated payment product development.

APAC mobile gaming shifts to retention as sessions climb: Adjust’s Gaming App Insights Report 2026 shows APAC’s paid-to-organic ratio rose 45%, while strategy game sessions surged 57% globally. Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam all posted session growth as studios pivot from install volumes to long-term player value.

SEA finance app installs fall 17% as marketers chase retention: AppsFlyer’s 2025 APAC finance report shows user acquisition spend dropped 27% region-wide, while remarketing spend in Southeast Asia surged 193%. Indonesia led Android in-app revenue at 39% of the APAC total; fraud rates fell to 22% from 41%.

Singapore’s JTC expands LaunchPad to 19 cities worldwide: The government agency opened a new co-working space at One-North and signed MOUs with NUS Enterprise and INSEAD, extending its startup network to Paris, San Francisco, Shenzhen, and Jakarta while adding CapitaLand, CDL, and SoftBank Robotics as partners.

X enforces Indonesia’s 16-year age rule for social media: Elon Musk’s platform has begun complying with Indonesia’s PP No. 17/2025 child protection law, which restricts social media access to users aged 16 and above. Non-compliant accounts face staged deactivation, while the government urges other platforms to follow suit.

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Interviews & Features

Amity’s US$100M raise signals SEA’s AI coming of age: Thailand’s Amity closed Southeast Asia’s largest generative AI funding round, led by EDBI and Asia Partners, bringing total funding to ~US$160M. The firm targets a 2027 IPO, with revenue exceeding US$100M and 75% of EBITDA from European operations.

Philippines’s hidden SME tax: Unreliable infrastructure: Power outages, water pressure gaps, and patchy internet force Philippine SMEs into costly self-insurance strategies — backup generators, multiple ISPs, water storage — draining cash that could otherwise fund productivity investments, with implications for the entire ASEAN region.

From layoff to fractional CMO: Reinventing work in Singapore’s tech scene: A former SVP at a Singapore bank who was retrenched after 20 years founded Mad About Marketing Consulting, a fractional marketing firm, arguing that Gen Z and millennials are rejecting linear careers in favour of flexibility, purpose, and multi-employer models that keep them from the chopping block.

SEA data centre boom risks a PR crisis without public trust: With US$6.3B invested in the sector in 2024, industry leaders at the SIJORI dialogue acknowledged that energy, land, and water strains are fuelling public scepticism — turning community engagement from an afterthought into a business-critical strategy for operators and governments alike.

Beyond the booth: Integrated event marketing for tech brands: A Singapore PR consultancy details how it helped a global data centre firm turn a two-day Asia exhibition into a multi-market campaign— combining pre-event narrative building, tier-1 media briefings, LinkedIn content series, and post-event amplification to reach over 10 million across Singapore, India, Malaysia, and Australia.

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International

US court blocks Trump administration’s Anthropic ban: A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction halting the Pentagon’s designation of Anthropic as a supply chain threat, after the AI company sought assurances its technology would not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons — a dispute the judge said could constitute First Amendment retaliation.

Anthropic eyes IPO as early as October at US$60B+ valuation: The Claude maker is in early talks with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley about lead roles for a potential listing. The firm was valued at US$38B in February after closing a US$30B funding round; plans remain subject to change.

Chinese EV brands double European market share in a year: BYD, Leapmotor, and peers lifted their combined EU and UK passenger car share to 8% in February, up from 4.2% a year earlier, taking 16% of hybrid registrations and 14% of fully electric registrations as Chery assembles in Spain and BYD ramps up its Hungary plant.

Zeekr enters South Korea with its 7X mid-size SUV: The Geely-owned EV brand is in the final stage of local certification for its facelifted 7X, which will offer CATL-supplied LFP and NCM battery options. The car will skip LiDAR due to regulatory limits but include Level 2 autonomous features; sales will run through a dealer network.

India’s AI spend in financial services set to double in 2026: A QED Investors report finds banks, insurers, and fintechs accelerating AI deployment for fraud detection, verification, and customer service. The VC firm plans to invest US$250M–US$300M in India across its next two fund cycles, targeting startups in fraud risk, compliance, and voice AI.

Naver and Spotify deepen partnership in South Korea: The two firms met at CEO level to review and expand collaboration, including bundling Spotify into Naver Plus Membership and enabling in-car audio via Naver’s navigation service. Gen Z membership signups rose 17% after the partnership launched; joint exploration of search, marketing, and content is planned.

UK sanctions Cambodia’s largest scam compound and crypto marketplace: Britain froze assets linked to Legend Innovation and Xinbi, including a £9M London penthouse, after labelling the former the operator of the “#8 Park” compound — estimated to hold up to 20,000 trafficked workers — and the latter a Chinese-language crypto platform used by fraud networks.

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Cybersecurity

Supply chain cyberattacks are becoming SEA’s new normal: A Kaspersky survey of 1,714 IT decision-makers found one in three organisations was hit by a supply chain attack in the past year. In SEA, talent shortages range from 34% in Singapore to 57% in Vietnam, while two-factor authentication adoption in Singapore sits at just 28%.

Philippines’s cybersecurity gap widens as digital economy grows: With only 28 active cybersecurity startups and thin funding activity, the Philippines faces a structural mismatch — rapid digitisation across fintech, e-commerce, and government services is expanding attack surfaces faster than organisations can build defences, driving demand for managed security services and AI-led detection.

Agent-to-agent trust is the next unsolved identity challenge: As AI agents begin interacting autonomously across organisational boundaries, authentication alone is no longer sufficient — systems must verify delegation chains, approved scopes, and action provenance. Without cascade containment models and bounded autonomy, multi-agent systems risk propagating flawed inferences across interconnected platforms.

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Semiconductor

Can the Philippines climb the semiconductor value chain?: Generating ~US$39B in chip exports — 60% of merchandise exports — the Philippines dominates ATP manufacturing, but higher-value design, wafer fabrication, and advanced packaging remain largely foreign-held, with investments from Samsung (US$1B), Analog Devices (US$200M), and a US$1.6B automotive IC project signalling nascent movement up the value chain.

SMIC accused of supplying chipmaking tools to Iran’s military: Two senior Trump administration officials told Reuters that China’s largest chipmaker has been sending equipment to Iran for about a year, potentially including technical training. Whether the tools are of US origin — which could breach existing sanctions — remains unconfirmed; SMIC did not respond to comment requests.

Middle East conflict triggers helium shortage in tech supply chains: Chipmakers reliant on Qatar — which supplies roughly a third of global helium output — are facing rising prices and transport delaysas the regional conflict tightens supply. Semiconductor firms have few short-term options beyond slowing output or pivoting to US sources, according to supply chain consultants.

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AI

Philippines’s quiet AI revolution is about work, not tech: According to Foxmont Capital Partners, nearly 70% of AI-enabled productivity gains in the Philippines’s service sector come from people and process redesign rather than technology alone — with the IT-BPM sector highlighted as a case study in the gap between AI experimentation and genuine operational transformation.

AI-driven enterprise deals gain momentum amid trade uncertainty: Despite geopolitical headwinds, 85% of Asia-Pacific CEOs surveyed by EY-Parthenon predict AI will be decisive for industry leadership in 2025, while 61% view M&A as a transformation accelerant — with Southeast Asia flagged as a pocket of resilience for joint ventures and minority stake investments.

Why the AI revolution depends on reinventing energy infrastructure: The Radical Fund argues that data centre power demand — projected to more than double by 2030 — is becoming AI’s binding constraint. Malaysia alone has committed US$23B in data centre investments, yet the regional grid remains fossil-heavy, making liquid cooling, on-site renewables, and SMRs strategic rather than optional.

Deep learning’s enterprise promise is harder to deliver than it looks: Despite hype, deploying deep learning at enterprise scale demands clean data, interpretable models, legacy system integration, and cross-team governance — challenges compounded by model drift and talent gaps. Without robust MLOps pipelines and explainability frameworks, even well-designed models deteriorate quickly.

Governing generative AI: Why risk management can’t be an afterthought: With 35% of Singapore organisations turning to intelligent automation and 90% of global firms having adopted AI to some degree, businesses must build governance frameworks covering IP, privacy, bias, and data security before deploying Gen AI — or risk reputational, legal, and operational exposure.

Singapore bets on AI chatbots to create jobs, not destroy them: Contrary to displacement fears, AI adoption across Singapore businesses is creating new roles — AI specialists, prompt engineers, and automation managers — while chatbots free workers from routine tasks. Schools and universities are embedding AI literacy into curricula, positioning the city-state to remain competitive.

AI influencers are quietly reshaping the marketing industry: From Meta’s 15 AI persona roster to FAME’s multilingual virtual talents, AI influencers are commanding brand partnerships and outperforming human counterparts on 24/7 availability and real-time trend adaptation. With the global AI market projected to reach US$309.6B by 2028, talent agencies are accelerating the pivot.

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Thought Leadership

Designing structural equity in the digital economy: DEI initiatives have failed to dismantle the extractive model underpinning Big Tech’s value capture, argues this piece. Genuine structural equity requires agentic sovereignty — personal AI agents operating as legal proxies, tokenised IP for fractional ownership, and mandated open APIs to break platform monopolies and redistribute economic value to contributors.

The alliance economy: What founders must know to survive fragmentation: The global shift from open markets to issue-based strategic alliances means market access is now conditional on regulatory alignment, capital origin, and infrastructure control. Southeast Asia, India, and parts of the Middle East are positioning as cross-system connectors — the most valuable geography for companies that can navigate multiple regulatory environments simultaneously.

Philippines’s productivity problem starts in the classroom: Foxmont Capital Partners’ Philippine Private Capital Report 2026 frames the country’s education challenge as a three-part “skills trifecta” — foundational learning, mid-level workforce expansion, and rapid reskilling. Failing on any leg risks turning demographic advantage into an economic liability amid intensifying regional competition.

Blockchain gaming in SEA: Not hype, not dead — just growing up: After the Axie Infinity crash wiped out play-to-earn guilds across the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, SEA’s Web3 gaming ecosystem has quietly recalibrated — shifting from extractive token mechanics to hybrid play-and-own models, skill-based mobile PvP, and community-first localisation strategies that prioritise retention over rapid acquisition.

Cognitive bias in AI hiring: The explainability gap no one is closing: Algorithmic hiring tools inherit historical biases from training data, and because many decision-making models remain black boxes, marginalised applicants face compounded disadvantage. The EU AI Act classifies recruitment AI as high-risk, but employer awareness of explainability requirements remains dangerously low across most markets.

Forecourt retail’s future lies beyond the fuel pump: As EV adoption extends customer dwell time from 3 minutes to 20-plus, petrol station operators like Sinopec’s Easy Joy are partnering with AI-driven retail platforms to build “People-Vehicle-Life” ecosystems — monetising wait time through predictive offers, last-mile fulfilment, and multi-mission convenience formats.

Wet waste’s profit potential: The hydrothermal technology case: With over 80% of the world’s wet waste incinerated or landfilled, Singapore-based Altent Renewables is developing a hydrothermal process that converts food waste, bio-sludge, and oil sludge into syngas and minerals — with the potential to cut wet waste disposal costs by more than 70%.

Binance’s market maker crackdown: What traders need to watch: Binance’s new rules mandate disclosure of market maker identities, ban profit-sharing arrangements, and prohibit opaque token lending — a structural shift toward transparency that may widen spreads for tokens reliant on artificial liquidity, while enforcement credibility hinges on whether blacklisted firms are publicly named.

The 90% blind spot: Why tech events exclude women founders: Despite female-founded businesses more than doubling in Singapore over 15 years, early-stage funding for women-led SEA startups collapsed from US$871.8M in 2022 to US$198M in 2024 — with no late-stage deals recorded in Singapore in 2024 — as general tech events remain 90% male and networking loops perpetuate closed referral circles.

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Singapore-based Tazapay has pulled in a US$36 million Series B round, with Circle Ventures leading the extension and Coinbase Ventures and CMT Digital joining the cap table.

The investor line-up matters: it signals that investors are no longer just funding fintechs that move money faster, but those building the regulated plumbing for a world where stablecoins, local bank rails, and AI-driven workflows increasingly collide.

Also Read: Tazapay bags US$16.9M for Middle East, Europe expansion

Tazapay is, in simple English, a company that helps businesses send, receive and settle money across borders without having to piece together a messy web of banks, local payment providers, and compliance checks country by country. Its pitch is straightforward: if a marketplace, SaaS company, or fintech wants to collect payments in one market and pay out in another, Tazapay wants to be the infrastructure layer handling that behind the scenes.

That may sound dry. It is not. Cross-border payments in emerging Asia remain painfully fragmented, expensive, and slow, especially beyond major corridors. The promise from players like Tazapay is that they can replace chunks of the old correspondent banking stack with faster rails, tighter integrations and better local coverage.

The company said the new funding will be used to expand licensing, accelerate go-to-market efforts across Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Americas, and build what it calls “agentic payment infrastructure”. Strip away the buzzword, and the idea is more interesting than it first appears.

Agentic AI in payments means software agents that do more than just chat. They can, in theory, verify an invoice, choose the cheapest compliant payment route, handle foreign exchange, trigger a payout, reconcile the transaction in the back office and flag anomalies — all with minimal human intervention. For that to work at scale, payment infrastructure cannot just process transactions; it needs rules engines, audit trails, identity checks, sanctions screening and fail-safe controls.

In other words, AI does not remove the need for payment infrastructure; it makes the infrastructure far more important.

That is where Tazapay is trying to position itself: not merely as a cross-border payments API, but as the regulated layer on which autonomous payment flows can safely run.

Circle Ventures’s Vice President Brian Schultz put the thesis plainly: “Stablecoin adoption in cross-border commerce depends on regulated, operationally reliable infrastructure.” He added that Tazapay’s licensing footprint and local market integrations address a core enterprise requirement: stablecoin-to-fiat settlement.

That last point is doing a lot of work. Plenty of startups can move digital assets. Far fewer can convert them into usable local currency, in a regulated fashion, at the last mile. In Southeast Asia and other emerging markets, that gap remains one of the hardest parts of the stack.

Tazapay said it has doubled revenue for three consecutive years and now serves more than 1,000 enterprises and fintechs across 30 countries, with licences and registrations in Singapore, Canada, Australia and the US. Applications are underway in the UAE, the EU and Hong Kong.

The wider ASEAN opportunity is large, even if the “payment infrastructure market” is not neatly broken out in most analyst reports. The best proxy is digital payments more broadly, which already runs into the hundreds of billions of US dollars annually across Southeast Asia. Industry forecasts have consistently pointed to the region moving towards more than US$1 trillion in digital payment value by the end of the decade, driven by e-commerce, B2B trade, wallet adoption and real-time domestic payment schemes now being linked across borders.

That opportunity has attracted serious competition. Among the more prominent players in and around ASEAN are Nium, Thunes, Xendit, 2C2P, Airwallex, and dLocal, alongside card networks such as Visa and Mastercard and regional giants like Ant Group through Alipay+. Each attacks a slightly different layer — collections, payouts, merchant acquiring, treasury, remittance or wallet interoperability — but the direction of travel is the same: own more of the infrastructure, not just the app on top.

Also Read: Tazapay snags US$3.2M to expand cross-border SMB commerce platform in Southeast Asia

For Tazapay, the challenge now is execution. Funding rounds are easier to announce than licences are to secure, and cross-border payments is littered with companies that discovered too late that local market complexity does not disappear just because the API documentation looks clean.

Still, the timing is notable. As ASEAN pushes for deeper payment connectivity and enterprises look for alternatives to legacy banking rails, the winners are likely to be the companies that can combine compliance, local reach and automation. Tazapay is betting that the next leap in payments will not come from prettier checkout buttons, but from intelligent systems moving money in the background — quickly, cheaply and without breaking the rules.

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Not everything needs to be automated. Not every process is better because it’s faster. We have to be brave enough to ask: is this what good work looks like? And, is this what we want progress to feel like?

That kind of reflection is not a soft skill. It’s a leadership skill. And it’s what will set resilient organisations apart in the next decade.

Our wisdom about technology has never come solely from Silicon Valley. It has emerged from kampungs and callejones, from night markets and gaming cafés, from shared family phones and gig economy hacks. We already know how to remix, adapt, question, and make things our own.

So as AI reshapes what work looks like, maybe our goal isn’t to pick a side—to work with or without it—but to hold space for complexity. To recognise that we may need to do both, or neither, depending on the situation.

A region in flux, and not just digitally

We’re used to navigating multiple truths at once. A GoJek rider in Jakarta might stream TikToks between gigs, using the same phone to track his mother’s blood pressure remotely via an AI-powered app. A sari-sari store owner in Cebu might use a chatbot to reorder stock, while still tracking sales manually in a notebook. In Phnom Penh, factory workers are now operating alongside semi-automated conveyor belts, even as their wages remain flat.

Also Read: Are you a human resource?

This is a region that moves fluidly between high-tech and low-tech, tradition and reinvention. So why would our response to AI be any different?

To ask “should we train for jobs AI can’t do?” or “should we learn to work alongside it?” implies a clear line between human and machine. But in practice, that line is often blurred.

Human jobs? Or human judgment?

There are jobs AI can’t do—at least not well. Emotional care work, creative direction, conflict mediation. A machine can write a poem, but can it feel the pulse of a nation in protest? It can generate a sympathy message, but can it sit beside a grieving mother and know when to stay silent?

These are deeply human tasks. But let’s not idealise them.

Not every job left behind by AI will be meaningful or well-paying. A lot of what remains will still be hard, under-appreciated labor. In many cases, the more “human” the work, the less valued it tends to be—especially in lower-income parts of our region. Are we ready to address that?

At the same time, learning to “work with AI” isn’t as simple as handing out prompt engineering guides. Real collaboration requires something deeper: judgment.

Can a teacher tell when an AI-generated test has biases built in? Can a logistics manager see when the optimisation algorithm is shortchanging rural routes because it doesn’t see their worth? Can a startup founder ask: who trained this model, and in whose language? These are skills of interpretation, of contextual reading—of power, not just productivity.

The most important skill might be asking better questions

Up-skilling shouldn’t just mean learning Python or how to use Midjourney. It should mean asking: “What’s at stake in how this AI tool is used?”

Also Read: The perfect storm: Jobs plunge, tariffs hit, and crypto volatility soars

For people leaders, HR professionals, policymakers, and educators in Southeast Asia, this means rethinking how we talk about readiness. It’s about seeing systems: to understand where power lies in algorithmic decisions, to recognise how AI might amplify inequality if left unchecked, to bring lived experience into technology design.

What we need is not just skills to work with AI or outside of it. We need a mindset that is:

• Curious about how AI works,
• Skeptical about where it fails,
• Empowered to push back when it doesn’t serve people,
• And imaginative about how to build better tools that reflect our values and cultures.

This is not an easy thing to teach. But it may be the most essential thing to learn.

Because the future of work won’t be written only in code. It will be written in culture. And culture, thankfully, is something Southeast Asia knows how to build.

—

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As generative AI continues its rapid integration into the business landscape, leaders face a fundamental question: Does effective AI implementation mean we’ll need fewer human workers? The answer isn’t as straightforward as many might expect.

While certain routine tasks will undoubtedly be automated, the relationship between AI and human work is proving to be more complementary than competitive, particularly at the executive level.

For Chief Marketing Officers and Chief Executive Officers, this technological revolution isn’t simply about adaptation; it’s about transformation. The skills that made these leaders successful in the past may not be sufficient for navigating the AI-augmented future. This article explores how the executive skillset must evolve to thrive in this new landscape.

The shifting work paradigm

Before diving into specific leadership skills, it’s important to understand the broader context of how AI is reshaping work. Several key dynamics are emerging:

• Complementary roles are expanding: As AI takes over routine tasks, humans are increasingly focused on oversight, customisation, ethical considerations, and managing complex edge cases.
• Productivity gains are creating new opportunities: Organisations effectively implementing AI often become more productive and expand operations, potentially creating new positions even as they automate others.
• New value categories are emerging: Much like previous technological revolutions, AI is creating entirely new industries and job categories that weren’t previously imaginable.
• Human capabilities remain essential: Areas requiring emotional intelligence, ethical judgment, creative thinking, and interpersonal skills continue to need human workers, though increasingly augmented by AI.
• Adoption varies significantly: AI implementation differs across sectors, regions, and organisational types, creating a mixed landscape rather than uniform reduction in workforce needs.

In this environment, the question isn’t whether we need fewer workers overall, but rather how the composition of work is changing—and what that means for those in leadership positions.

Also Read: Unlocking your creativity and productivity with AI content tools

 The evolving CMO: From campaign manager to AI-human orchestra conductor

The Chief Marketing Officer’s role is perhaps experiencing the most immediate disruption from generative AI. As marketing becomes increasingly data-driven and content creation becomes AI-assisted, CMOs must develop several critical skills:

• AI literacy and strategic integration

Today’s CMOs need more than a surface-level understanding of AI. They must comprehend how various AI technologies can be strategically deployed across the marketing stack—from content generation and customer segmentation to predictive analytics and campaign optimisation. The most effective CMOs can distinguish between genuine AI capabilities and vendor hype, making informed decisions about which technologies truly serve their brand’s objectives.

• Data governance expertise

As AI systems depend on vast amounts of data, CMOs must become stewards of responsible data practices. This means developing frameworks for ethical data collection, usage, and management that balance marketing effectiveness with consumer privacy and regulatory compliance. CMOs who excel in this area understand that data quality directly impacts AI performance, making governance not just an ethical consideration but a business imperative.

• Human-AI collaboration design

Perhaps the most nuanced skill for modern CMOs is designing workflows where human creativity and AI capabilities complement rather than compete with each other. This requires identifying which aspects of marketing benefit from human intuition, emotional intelligence, and creative spark, versus which elements can be enhanced or accelerated through AI assistance.

• Agile experimentation mindset

As AI tools evolve at breakneck speed, CMOs must foster a culture of continuous experimentation while maintaining brand safety. This means implementing frameworks for quickly testing new AI applications, measuring results, and scaling successful implementations—all while ensuring alignment with brand values and guardrails.

• Personalisation ethics

AI enables unprecedented personalisation capabilities, but with this power comes significant responsibility. Forward-thinking CMOs are developing ethical frameworks for balancing hyper-personalisation with privacy concerns, avoiding algorithmic bias, and ensuring that personalisation enhances rather than manipulates the customer experience.

• Adaptive content strategy

With AI-generated content becoming increasingly sophisticated, CMOs need to develop new approaches to content strategy. This includes creating clear guidelines for maintaining brand voice across AI-assisted content, establishing quality control processes, and building frameworks that allow for both scale and authenticity.

Also Read: Myths vs reality: Remote and hybrid managers report high productivity and trust

The transformed CEO: From decision-maker to AI transformation architect

While CEOs have always needed to navigate technological change, the scale and pace of AI transformation requires an evolved skillset:

• AI transformation leadership

Rather than viewing AI as a series of isolated projects, successful CEOs approach it as an organisation-wide transformation. This requires developing a comprehensive vision for how AI will reshape the business model, customer experience, and operational processes—then orchestrating the cultural and structural changes needed to realise that vision. I.e. CEOs need to own the narrative and drive that vision forward, with AI as a subset of their digital strategy.

• Talent reconfiguration

As AI reshapes job functions across the organisation, CEOs must become adept at reconfiguring their talent strategy. This includes identifying which roles may be automated, which new positions need to be created, and most importantly, how to reskill and redeploy existing talent to create maximum value in an AI-augmented environment.

• Algorithmic accountability

As organisations increasingly rely on algorithmic and agentic AI decision-making, CEOs must establish governance structures that ensure responsible AI deployment. This means creating frameworks for algorithmic transparency, regular auditing for bias or unintended consequences, and clear policies for when human judgment should override algorithmic recommendations.

• Strategic disruption analysis

The most forward-thinking CEOs are constantly analysing how AI might disrupt their industry’s value chain and competitive dynamics. This requires looking beyond immediate efficiency gains to identify potential new business models, unexpected competitors, and fundamental shifts in customer expectations that AI might enable.

• Ethical AI decision frameworks

CEOs must establish clear principles for when and how to apply AI versus human judgment. This includes developing organisational values around AI usage that address ethical considerations like transparency, fairness, privacy, and the appropriate balance of automation and human touch in customer-facing processes.

• Complexity management

Perhaps most fundamentally, CEOs must become adept at navigating the profound complexity that AI introduces. This includes managing the ambiguity of a business landscape where AI simultaneously creates and solves challenges, where competitive advantages can shift rapidly, and where the human implications of technological decisions are increasingly significant.

 Finding the balance: Human leadership in an AI world

For both CMOs and CEOs, perhaps the most crucial skill is finding the right balance between embracing AI’s extraordinary capabilities while preserving the human elements that differentiate their organisations. The most successful leaders will be those who can:

• Leverage AI to handle routine tasks while freeing humans to focus on higher-value creative and strategic work
• Use technology to scale personalisation while maintaining authentic human connection with customers and employees
• Enhance decision-making with data and algorithms while applying human wisdom to questions of purpose, ethics, and meaning
• Drive efficiency through automation while investing in human capabilities that AI cannot replicate

In the final analysis, the future of work isn’t about choosing between AI and human workers—it’s about creating organisations where both can contribute their unique strengths.

For CMOs and CEOs, success in this new era won’t be defined by how effectively they replace humans with AI, but by how skilfully they integrate these powerful technologies while elevating the distinctly human contributions that will ultimately drive sustainable competitive advantage.

“The leaders who thrive won’t just be those who understand AI—they’ll be those who understand humanity in an age of intelligent machines.”

—

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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I came across this TED talk a while back called What Makes Us Human in the Age of AI by Brian Lowry,  and there was this one line that really stuck with me.

The speaker said that as technology gets more predictable, our spontaneity, gut instincts, and emotional depth become what truly distinguish us. I can’t shake that thought as it keeps coming back, especially when I think about the people I work with now.

The real MVPs of the workplace

The teammates who really make a difference are the ones who can roll with uncertainty, pick up on subtle cues when something feels wrong, and read the room during tense team discussions. They ask questions that completely flip our perspective and stay cool when everything’s falling apart.

The inner stability they exude and quiet influence become the human traits I find myself turning to. AI has definitely sped things up for us, handling drafts, keeping us organised, crunching numbers, and even helping us brainstorm. Yet the person who actually changes the game brings something entirely different to the table.

One question that changed everything

There’s this moment from a hiring process last year that really drove this home for me. We had this one candidate who asked something near the end of our chat that caught me off guard: “What does success actually feel like for this team once we’ve reached our goals?”

The question showed me they were thinking in layers; they’re actually wondering and considering people, timing, ripple effects, and relationships. That question has stayed with me. We hired them, and it turned out that kind of layered thinking and emotional intelligence was exactly what we needed, even though I have stepped down from that company and she left not long after, we keep in touch to make sure we’re both still human.

Also Read: My mission: Creating space for diverse voices in leadership

Empathy > efficiency

This person just had this natural way of moving through our team with genuine empathy. They stayed steady when the pressure was on. When our tools crashed or we had to pivot plans, they were the one making sure everyone felt grounded through their presence. When we’d hit creative walls, they’d pause, ask something thoughtful, and gently guide us in a new direction. It shifted our whole dynamic in ways no project management tool ever could.

I’ve started noticing these moments more now. When someone creates space for the quiet person in the meeting. When they sense a teammate is struggling and check in because they genuinely care. When they instinctively know whether to push ahead or take a step back. These qualities are hard to capture on a job posting, yet I find myself looking for them constantly.

The long game

The technology will keep changing and improving. What I’m focused on now is building that ability to be a steady presence in all the chaos. I want to work with people who understand their own emotions and can support others while still moving things forward.

I want teammates who recognise what actually matters beyond just what’s urgent. In a world that’s always rushing, it’s easy to miss the long-term value of things like trust, subtlety, and genuine care. These are exactly what make work meaningful and keep teams healthy and creative.

So, what makes us human?

What I’m prioritising these days centres on thinking with integrity and interacting thoughtfully. I’m drawn to that kind of emotional intelligence that doesn’t need to be the loudest voice to create the most impact. So much of our future work will involve partnering with technology. The real challenge lies in preserving what makes working with actual humans so valuable.

So here’s what I’ve been wondering and I’m curious about your take:

How do you think about what makes us human, and what keeps you and your team genuinely human in this AI-driven world?

—

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 post-pandemic era didn’t kill office culture. In fact, it rewrote what was once known as the “standard working culture”.The world is now introduced to a “remote-first” office culture.

Especially in Southeast Asia (SEA), where cost and growth pressures converge, a remote-first culture is a deliberate growth strategy.

But what does “remote-first” truly mean now, and what can businesses learn from SEA’s nimblest startups?

How SEA startups embraced remote culture as a strategy

SEA office culture has been a legacy of traditions where punctuality and presence often outweighed output.

But remote-first flipped the script.

Driven by the pandemic and accelerated by digital infrastructure, SEA startups are rewriting the rules – embracing remote-first not just as a necessity, but as a strategic model for agility, access, and retention.

From Manila to Ho Chi Minh City, the shift isn’t just about where people work – it’s about how and why they work.

COVID-19 sparked remote – Strategy made it stick

The pandemic created a sudden need for business continuity, forcing companies like Grab, Gojek, and Carousell to adopt remote operations virtually overnight.

But this shift wasn’t just a crisis response – SEA startups quickly embraced remote-first as a long-term model to boost flexibility and reduce operational risk.

In 2020, 74 per cent of CFOs globally reported plans to permanently move at least five per cent of their workforce to remote roles – a clear sign that remote work had evolved from emergency measure to strategic choice.

At the same time, governments in countries like Malaysia and Singapore began formally supporting flexible work arrangements (FWAs), signalling that remote-first was not a short-term fix, but a structural shift in how work gets done.

Why “remote-first”?

Now, let’s take a look at what’s bad from the old “office culture”

In major urban hubs like Singapore and Jakarta, high commercial rents made maintaining physical offices a financial strain. Beyond real estate, businesses faced growing overheads – from utilities to employee commuting costs.

By shifting to remote-first, startups reported saving 15–30 per cent in operational expenses – freeing up budget for what really matters: product, hiring, and growth.

But the costs weren’t just financial.

Also Read: People-first teams: How SEA startups embrace remote-first culture in the AI era

A Gallup study in 2020 revealed that 76 per cent of employees experience burnout, with 28 per cent feeling burned out “very often” or “always”. Worse, 42 per cent of employees exposed to frequent office politics are actively disengaged from their work.

The result?

Burnout drives up sick days by 63 per cent and makes employees 2.6× more likely to quit.

And comes the solution – controversial at first, but it still works wonders: Remote-first working culture.

SEA startups think bigger than borders

SEA startups are no longer limited by geography – they’re hiring across 50 per cent of the region’s population.

Nomad List 2023 shows Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia leading global rankings for remote work appeal. SEA isn’t just exporting tech talent – it’s becoming a magnet for it.

Remote-first hiring unlocked regional scale.

Without needing a physical office, startups gained access to high-quality talent trained in global stacks and fluent in async culture – especially from Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These resilient teams are intentionally built to be smarter, leaner, and more human-centred.

Redesigning work culture – How SEA startups embrace changes

SEA startups didn’t try to “replicate” the office – they reimagined how teams connect, collaborate, and build trust. Instead of relying on Zoom fatigue and physical proximity, they built digital-first rituals that scale.

A Singapore-based fintech replaced Zoom calls with a simple 3-question Slack check-in: What did I do yesterday? What’s today’s focus? Any blockers? This lightweight ritual freed up valuable focus time and increased employees output.

Also Read: Can AI make clean energy pay off? CynLing Software thinks so.

Remote culture in SEA startups works because it’s intentional – it’s backed by tools (Slack, Notion, ClickUp), async updates, and outcome-based management. This alignment builds morale and makes collaboration feel effortless, not forced.

Doing “remote-first” the right way in 2025

Remote-first is A mindset

• It’s async, autonomy, and outcome

Remote-first isn’t just a work-from-home perk. It’s a new operating system for how modern teams work.

SEA startups aren’t just adopting remote tools – they’re building async-first systems that cut delays, reduce meetings, and speed up execution.

Tools like Notion, ClickUp, Miro, and Google Workspace aren’t used just for task management. They’re used to eliminate bottlenecks, boost clarity, and enable small teams to move globally at speed.

Because remote-first isn’t about flexibility. It’s about autonomy and outcomes.

• Timezone isn’t a blocker – It’s a blueprint

Remote-first SEA teams don’t see time zones as obstacles. They design around them. That’s the mindset shift.

Instead of relying on live meetings, they build systems for clarity and autonomy: Everything from roadmaps, feedback, deadlines – is documented to create alignment without needing live meetings.

For example, distributed teams across Singapore and Indonesia use async updates, auto-synced task lists, and shared OKR dashboards to stay aligned.

• From screen-watching to trust-building

Traditional office cultures reward presence – who’s online, who’s at their desk.

Remote-first flips that mindset. It rewards accountability over activity.

Today’s managers don’t track “active” statuses – they set clear, measurable goals, trusting team members to deliver results on their own terms. Leaders are shifting from managing hours to managing outcomes. Instead of micromanagement, they’re using KPIs and OKRs to guide performance.

But remote-first only works if trust is designed into the system.

That’s why SEA startups invest early in outcome-driven structures – not as a quick fix, but as a strategy for scale. Everything from tools to rituals to documentation is built around one goal: empowering people to own their work – without waiting for permission or presence.

Designing culture without a physical office

• Work culture is architected

Remote-first culture doesn’t happen by accident. High-performing SEA startups build it with tools, rituals, and habits that foster connection and clarity.

Companies like Carousell and Gojek didn’t wait for “organic culture” to emerge. They designed it – with structured onboarding, celebration rituals, and consistent feedback systems.

• In distributed teams, rituals replace physical presence. Weekly “wins” on Slack, async shoutouts, quarterly reflection calls, and remote buddy systems all strengthen team unity – even across time zones.

As SEA startups grow more diverse, especially with the rise of digital nomads, cultural intentionality becomes non-negotiable. Designing inclusive norms is no longer just an HR initiative – it’s a foundational part of remote-first scale.

• Clarity + communication = culture

Remote teams must communicate with intent. Culture is how we align, not just how we vibe.

How you write is how you lead. Tone in messages, clarity in feedback, and responsiveness all signal what your company truly values.

Traditionally, SEA companies leaned on hierarchical, top-down communication. But remote work shifted that – flattening structures and pushing for clearer, more direct exchanges.

To build trust without a physical office, shared agreements beat shared tools. Set async norms (like reply windows, meeting etiquette), team agreements, and follow-up expectations then document them.

When communication is intentional, alignment follows. SEA startups that implemented transparent weekly updates saw 20–30 per cent increases in team satisfaction. Sharing OKRs, product roadmaps, and customer feedback publicly helped boost engagement and keep everyone rowing in the same direction.

The payoff?

Companies that invested in visibility and flexibility reported 25 per cent higher productivity and retention – proof that culture lives in communication.

How to start building remote culture now?

Remote culture doesn’t happen by accident – it’s designed with intention and consistency. Here’s how forward-thinking teams are making it real:

• Pilot async standups: Replace daily calls with Slack check-ins using prompts like “What did I do yesterday? What’s today’s focus? Any blockers?”
• Test no-meeting mornings: Kensington Grey introduced Thoughtful Thursdays to give teams focus time and reduce meeting fatigue.
• Invest in digital-first onboarding: Create structured, warm welcomes with video intros, Notion welcome kits, and “buddy” pairings for new hires.
• Redirect office budget into connection: Instead of long-term leases, startups could use tools like Flexday or allocate funds for micro-retreats and team travel to build in-person trust – without sacrificing flexibility.
• Create team agreements, not assumptions: Establish working style norms to reduce misalignment across time zones.
• Build micro-communities: Encourage cross-functional bonding through local meetups, client visits, or casual virtual rituals like “wins of the week.”

Why it works? Culture in remote teams isn’t passive – it’s built through rituals, visibility, and shared intention. Even without walls, trust can scale.

Remote-first is how the best teams scale today

SEA startups didn’t “go remote” because they wanted to. They did it because they had to.

Now, global founders and business owners are taking notes.

The lesson? Remote-first is not the end of company culture – it’s a new blueprint for scale, speed, and sustainability.

—

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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In an ever-changing business world, relevance and adaptability are critical for entrepreneurs. Starting and growing a business today is about more than generating profit; it’s about creating meaningful impact, fostering resilience, and positioning for long-term success. The broader societal shift towards a purpose-driven approach is a growing trend I have observed amongst entrepreneurs and startups: a dedication to purpose, strategic thinking, and continuous adaptation.

Purpose, responsibility, and impact

Purpose-driven businesses have a unique advantage. Businesses with a clear purpose that transcends mere profit-making tend to attract the right people to their teams and inspire them. They also tend to build a loyal customer following and secure a higher level of stakeholder support because of their impact on their industry and on society.

Defining your core values early on guides your decisions and builds a solid culture that tells people what your business stands for. It is not just a buzzword; it’s the social glue that pulls people together in their attitudes and beliefs and creates a unique culture of behaviour that endures,  even when the going gets tough. This is perhaps one of the most important factors that create your branding that stands out against the competition.

Modern consumers and investors, especially millennials, are increasingly demanding responsible business practices. Sustainability and corporate responsibility are now business imperatives rather than optional extras. Entrepreneurs must consider how their operations align with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.

Companies that prioritise sustainability not only future-proof their operations but also build trust and long-term loyalty. In today’s world, authenticity and responsible practices can differentiate your brand and make a significant impact. As they say, you should aim to “do good to do well.”

Now that we know “what” entrepreneurial businesses and startups should be like to thrive today, we shall explore “how” they must be managed for initial and long-term success in a rapidly evolving business landscape.

Drawing from years of working with and observing businesses, I’ve distilled three key principles to guide entrepreneurs and startups.

Launch fast, learn faster

One of the biggest challenges for startups is knowing when to launch. While the desire for a perfect product or service is understandable, waiting too long can be costly. Instead, I advise entrepreneurs to start with a minimally viable product (MVP) and get it into the hands of users as soon as possible. The objective is to collect feedback quickly and learn what truly resonates with your target audience. Early, real-world insights are far more valuable than assumptions made in isolation.

Consider preselling your concept to gauge demand and secure initial funding. By engaging early adopters willing to invest in your idea before it’s fully developed, you validate your business concept and generate revenue to support further growth. This approach minimises risk and accelerates your learning curve, allowing you to make meaningful improvements and adapt in real-time. Being agile and responsive can give you a significant edge in a competitive market.

Also Read: Rise of the machines: 20 robotics startups shaping Southeast Asia’s future

Master one thing before expanding

As your business grows, it’s easy to feel tempted to diversify and chase multiple opportunities. However, spreading resources too thin can dilute your brand and hinder your progress. Instead, focus on one niche and being the best in it before even thinking of expanding. Becoming the go-to specialist in your particular niche will set you apart from those who try to “do everything” and build a loyal customer base. When you excel in one area, you establish authority, gain credibility, and make your brand memorable in the eyes of your audience.

Narrow specialisation is a powerful differentiator. A business known for doing one thing exceptionally well often attracts more dedicated customers and develops a more substantial reputation. Once you’ve dominated your niche, you can consider expanding into other areas—but not at the expense of diluting your branding in your niche area. This approach might be a bit tricky at first, but it will provide a solid foundation for sustainable growth, ensuring that your resources are used effectively and your brand remains strong.

However, even as you explore new opportunities, never lose sight of the core strength that brought you success. Growth should be strategic and well-paced, allowing you to adapt and maintain quality as you scale. Mastering your niche first creates a resilient platform from which your business can thrive.

Stay strategic amid success

Success, while exciting, can be a double-edged sword. When businesses begin to thrive, it’s easy to become overly focused on daily operations and short-term gains – because that’s where the money rolls in. But to stay in the game and achieve long-term success, thinking more strategically is paramount. Regularly assess your business model, evaluate your offerings, and ensure they remain relevant to your market. Managing your business strategically in this way prevents stagnation and keeps your business agile in a constantly evolving environment.

Also Read: How startups should pivot towards being customer-centric

Being strategic isn’t just about reacting to trends; it’s about being proactive – anticipating shifts and putting yourself in a position to exploit the opportunities, and mitigate the threats, that they present. Ask yourself regularly: ‘Are we aligned with the market’s future direction?’ Keeping an eye on the world you operate in and how it is evolving will ensure that your proactive response is always timely, setting yourself up for sustained success. Businesses that remain reactive only will not stand the test of time.

The market is volatile and uncertain. Navigating it successfully and staying ahead requires a willingness to innovate and think long-term. Businesses that can effectively balance operations, innovation, and growth are usually the ones that not only survive but lead their industries. Ensure your company’s vision and strategy for the future are aligned and that they make sense in the context of the future market and business landscape. And don’t be afraid to pivot when necessary to maintain momentum.

Final reflections: Building a resilient, purpose-driven business

Entrepreneurship is a journey of constant learning and adaptation. Success is rarely linear, but staying grounded in purpose can guide you through the highs and lows. Launching fast, mastering your niche, and maintaining a strategic mindset are principles that can help you navigate the complexities of running a modern business. Purpose and impact should be at your venture’s core, driving every decision and inspiring those around you.

As we look towards 2025 and beyond, the entrepreneurial landscape will continue to evolve, but the fundamentals remain the same. Focus on what you can control: your commitment to adaptability, strategic thinking, and sustainable practices. By doing so, your business won’t just aim for financial success but will leave a lasting, meaningful mark on the world.

Lead with intention, stay agile, and never lose sight of the positive change you want to create. This approach will transform your startup from a short-lived venture into a resilient, impactful enterprise.

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