Marketers across Southeast Asia face a familiar but fast-evolving challenge: turning endless streams of customer data into meaningful, human connections. Consumers expect brands to know them, remember them, and anticipate their needs. Yet for many organisations, fragmented systems and siloed teams still stand in the way of truly personalised experiences.

Taking off from a Braze roundtable hosted by e27, we learned that the real barrier to transformation is not the lack of technology but the lack of integration between data, empathy, and creativity. AI is helping marketers move closer to real-time personalisation, but success depends on how well teams align around a single goal: making every customer interaction feel intentional and human.

The next phase of customer engagement

In Southeast Asia’s fast-growing digital markets, the shift from traditional campaign planning to real-time personalisation is accelerating. Companies that once relied on demographic segmentation are now experimenting with AI-driven audience modelling and contextual engagement, where every message, touchpoint, and offer adapts to user intent in the moment.

At the roundtable, leaders across fintech, e-commerce, and lifestyle sectors discussed how intelligent orchestration is reshaping the marketing function. The conversation revealed a shared understanding: AI is not about replacing marketers. It’s about amplifying their ability to listen, interpret, and respond faster than ever before.

Also read: How e27 helps brands build personalised customer experiences with Braze

Where human creativity meets machine intelligence

While technology can unify data and predict patterns, people still drive meaning. Across every discussion, a recurring theme emerged: the brands that succeed are those that combine machine efficiency with human empathy.

AI can personalise at scale, but it cannot craft emotional narratives. Data can reveal behaviour, but it cannot understand why people care. As one attendee shared, “AI can tell us what’s working, but humans decide why it matters.”

This balance between automation and authenticity is becoming the defining skill for modern marketers. It’s also an area ripe for ongoing dialogue and experimentation, something e27 continues to facilitate through events, roundtables, and cross-industry conversations.

Rethinking how marketing innovation happens

Roundtables like these show that real progress in marketing often starts with conversation. When corporates, startups, and solution providers sit together, the dialogue moves past technology and into what actually drives impact. This means strategy, culture, and creativity working in sync.

These discussions reveal how leaders across Southeast Asia are experimenting with new ideas. They share what works, what does not, and where the next opportunities might emerge. The exchange is candid, practical, and deeply regional.

What stands out is how ready Southeast Asia’s marketing ecosystem is to evolve. From AI-enabled personalisation to data ethics and creative automation, marketers are looking for ways to connect innovation with strategy and measurable outcomes.

Also read: Empowering brands to build a personalised customer journey with Braze

Where the conversation leads next

The conversations emerging across Southeast Asia point to a marketing landscape that is becoming more connected, curious, and human. The challenge now is to turn these insights into practice, to merge intelligence with empathy and technology with creativity.

As AI continues to reshape how brands understand and engage audiences, the most valuable outcomes will come from collaboration and shared learning. Marketing innovation in the region will advance through open dialogue, experimentation, and the willingness to see data not just as numbers but as stories about people.

The bottom line: AI is not replacing empathy; it is helping scale it. The next stage of customer engagement will belong to those who use technology to listen better, respond faster, and connect more meaningfully.

If your organisation wants to spark conversations like these or bring marketing leaders together around the next wave of innovation, let’s make it happen. You can reach the Innovate team here.

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The e27 Innovate team produced this article

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Digital PR is the practice of using online channels such as websites, blogs, social media, and online news outlets to manage a brand’s reputation, boost visibility, and build authority. Unlike traditional PR, which relies heavily on offline media like newspapers and TV, digital PR blends classic public relations principles with digital marketing strategies.

This approach involves creating and distributing valuable content, connecting with influencers and journalists, managing online reputation, and earning high-quality backlinks that improve a website’s search engine rankings.

Digital PR vs traditional PR

Digital PR: Focuses on building a brand’s presence online through content marketing, SEO-driven outreach, influencer collaborations, and placements on blogs and digital publications.

Traditional PR: Relies on offline coverage—such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television—to build awareness and shape reputation.

While traditional PR is still valuable, digital PR is essential in today’s online-first environment.

Why digital PR is important

• Boosts online presence: Digital PR increases visibility through media features, influencer campaigns, and shareable content. By being featured on top sites, your brand attracts targeted visitors and amplifies awareness.
• Builds trust and credibility: Positive coverage in respected outlets establishes credibility. This trust translates into stronger brand authority and customer confidence.
• Drives modern marketing: Digital PR complements SEO and social media strategies by generating backlinks, managing reputation, and engaging with audiences where they spend time—online.

Also Read: The real story behind AI project implementation: Why it’s not (just) about technology

What do digital PR specialists do?

• Media Relations: Building relationships with journalists and bloggers and securing coverage through valuable, newsworthy content.
• Newsjacking: Leveraging trending news and events to insert a brand’s message into the conversation. Newsjacking examples show how this tactic can drive visibility.
• Content marketing: Creating not just press releases but also videos, social posts, and articles that spark conversation and provide value.
• SEO and link building: Securing editorial backlinks from authoritative publications to improve rankings and domain authority.

Steps to becoming a digital PR specialist

• Understand digital PR: Learn how it differs from traditional PR and its role in boosting visibility online.
• Build core skills: Writing, SEO knowledge, and digital communication are must-haves.
• Get educated: Consider formal PR/marketing degrees or online certification.
• Choose your PR specialty: Focus on industries such as tech, politics, fashion, or business depending on your goals.
• Build your network: Connect with journalists and bloggers on LinkedIn, join platforms like HARO, and follow industry outlets like PRWeek and Spin Sucks.

How to develop an effective digital PR strategy

• Create a media list and pitch: Develop a tailored list of journalists and influencers. Craft engaging pitches that stand out see this guide on how to pitch journalists.
• Identify your audience: Use tools like BuzzSumo or SEMrush to analyse audience behaviour, interests, and preferred platforms.
• Leverage social media: Platforms like Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Instagram, and Reddit are crucial for amplification and engagement.
• Use newsjacking strategically: Tap into trending topics to make your brand part of larger conversations. 
• Measure Results Track backlinks, referral traffic, social engagement, and rankings to evaluate campaign success.

Conclusion

Digital PR is the art of building and managing a brand’s reputation online through media outreach, influencer collaborations, content marketing, and SEO-driven strategies.

By understanding your audience, setting clear goals, crafting compelling content, and leveraging the right channels, you can build brand visibility, credibility, and long-term growth.

In today’s digital-first world, a well-executed digital PR strategy is no longer optional it’s a necessity for sustainable success.

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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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Startups move quickly. They’re focused on building products, gaining users, and staying ahead. But in that rush, it’s easy to skip over things like protecting sensitive data. Whether you’re building a software tool, running an online store, or handling payments, you’re likely storing information that needs to stay secure — customer data, business records, financial info, even internal documents.

If that data gets leaked or stolen, the damage can be serious. It can hurt your reputation, break customer trust, and lead to legal or financial trouble. In some cases, it can shut the company down before it even gets going. The good news is, keeping your documents safe doesn’t need to be expensive or complicated. With a few simple tools and habits, like encryption and better access control, you can protect what matters and set your startup up for long-term success.

Common risks: The biggest threats to sensitive documents

Startups face a unique combination of digital threats. But understanding where vulnerabilities lie is the first step toward mitigating them.

• Phishing and social engineering: Employees are often tricked into revealing passwords or access credentials through seemingly legitimate emails or messages. Startups, where formal cybersecurity training is lacking, are particularly at risk.
• Unsecured file sharing: Using free file-sharing tools or unprotected email attachments to exchange sensitive documents opens the door to unauthorised access.
• Poor access management: Allowing all employees to access all documents increases the risk of both accidental data leaks and malicious insider threats.
• Lost or stolen devices: With remote working on the rise, the risk of losing laptops or phones containing confidential files has also grown.
• Lack of encryption: If documents aren’t encrypted, they’re vulnerable in transit and at rest.
• Inadequate backups: Without regular backups, startups risk losing valuable documents permanently due to ransomware or system failures.

Startups need to be proactive. The earlier you address these issues, the less expensive and disruptive they will be to fix.

Also Read: Laws, capitalism, creators and AI

Best practices: Simple steps to secure digital files

Fortunately, you don’t need a large IT team to protect your documents. There are some basic yet highly effective steps any startup can implement, including:

• Use encryption by default:
  • At rest: Store all sensitive files in encrypted drives or cloud services that offer end-to-end encryption.
  • In transit: Use encrypted communication methods (like HTTPS or secure email services) when sharing files.
• Set up access controls:
  • Only grant access to documents on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.
  • Use role-based permissions to manage access within your team.
  • Revoke access immediately when someone leaves the company or changes roles.
• Adopt secure document-sharing tools:
  • Avoid using unsecured methods like standard email attachments.
  • Use services that offer password protection of documents, expiration dates, and tracking for shared files
• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA):
  • Require MFA for any service that stores or accesses sensitive data as it is one of the easiest ways to prevent unauthorised access.
• Create a data classification policy:
  • Identify which types of documents are considered sensitive.
  • Train employees to handle each category appropriately, using secure methods for storage and sharing.
• Regular security training:
  • Educate employees on how to spot phishing attempts and practice good password hygiene.
  • Make cybersecurity awareness part of your onboarding and ongoing employee development.
• Backup important documents:
  • Use automatic, encrypted cloud backups.
  • Regularly test recovery procedures to ensure you can quickly restore files in case of an emergency.

Also Read: Decisions made in the dark: Why founders can’t afford flawed financial data

Compliance made simple: How to stay on the right side of data protection laws

Startups that handle personal or financial information are often subject to regulations like GDPR (in the EU), CCPA (in California), or HIPAA (for health data in the US). Non-compliance can lead to heavy penalties but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Here’s how to stay compliant without getting bogged down in bureaucracy:

• Know what regulations apply:
  • Identify where your customers are based and what types of data you collect.
  • Use compliance checklists tailored to the relevant laws.
• Maintain transparent data practices:
  • Have a clear, accessible privacy policy.
  • Explain what data you collect, how it’s used, and who it’s shared with.
• Obtain and log consent:
  • For data subject to regulation, you must get explicit consent before collecting or processing it.
  • Maintain records of when and how consent was given.
• Appoint a data protection lead (even informally):
  • This doesn’t have to be a full-time role, but there should be someone responsible for overseeing compliance.
• Enable data portability and deletion:
  • Make it easy for users to request access to their data or ask for it to be deleted.
  • Set up simple internal processes to fulfil such requests quickly.
• Use compliant vendors:
  • Choose cloud services and data processors that are transparent about their compliance measures.
  • Ensure you have proper agreements in place with third parties.

By embedding compliance into your operations early, you avoid costly retrofitting later on and show your users that you take their privacy seriously, helping to build trust from the outset.

Also Read: Anthropic data shows businesses use AI to automate, not collaborate

Conclusion: Why investing in document security is a smart move for long-term growth

For startups, data privacy is no longer optional, it’s a business imperative. Securing your sensitive documents protects your intellectual property, builds customer trust, and ensures compliance with laws that could otherwise cost you significantly.

The good news is that taking these steps doesn’t require a massive budget or advanced technical skills. Encryption, secure sharing, access controls, and basic training can go a long way. In fact, a strong data privacy foundation can become a competitive advantage as you grow, especially in industries where trust and security are key.

By making data privacy a priority, you are safeguarding what you have already built. But more than that, you’re creating the conditions for growth, resilience, and credibility in a digital world where trust is paramount.

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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 Gen-Z traveller is rewriting the rules of online travel booking. Having grown up in a world of mobile-first convenience and economic uncertainty, this generation demands not only good prices but also freedom in choice, payment, and flexibility.

As their preferences dominate online flight sales, online travel agencies (OTAs) are experiencing a resurgence driven by innovation, adaptability, and trust.

For many Gen Zs, their earliest travel memories were disrupted by pandemic cancellations and refund nightmares. That period of uncertainty shaped their expectations: flexibility is now non-negotiable. Alex Yardley, CEO of FlyFairly, explains, “Some of Gen Z’s first travel experiences took place during COVID, and the lack of flexibility with some tickets was pretty shocking for them at the time. Offering flexible tickets has really resonated with that user base.”

Yardley points to research showing that Millennials and Gen Z engage with twice as many brands as older generations. “They want the ability to fly with any airline and pay however they like,” he adds. “Freedom to book and freedom to pay have both been critical to our early success.”

Not long ago, the OTA space seemed saturated. Dominated by global giants, it appeared nearly impossible for new entrants to gain ground. But changing consumer habits—particularly those of younger travellers—have opened the door for agile, tech-driven players such as FlyFairly.

Also Read: Opportunity, adaptation and the future of travel and hospitality

According to Yardley, Gen Z and millennials accounted for 62 per cent of all online flight sales last year. “They are not a minority; they are the overwhelming majority,” he says. “They have very different behavioural habits in how they discover, explore, and engage with brands. The traditional OTA ecosystem is rigid and inflexible, but a new generation of platforms is emerging to meet their expectations.”

That includes a focus on personalisation and discovery. Yardley highlights FlyFairly’s recent acquisition of social media company LFG, which bridges the gap between travel inspiration and booking.

“Gen Z does a lot of discovery online, through TikTok and other media platforms,” he notes. “By leveraging user-generated content, we build a bridge between discovery and booking.”

Flexibility beyond flights

FlyFairly’s success rests on four pillars of flexibility: booking, payment, choice, and rewards. With access to 650 airlines—about 50 per cent more than some major platforms—the company’s offering goes beyond price comparison.

“It’s not just about cheap flights,” Yardley says. “We give customers the choice to customise their travel, whether through flexible tickets or cancellation protection.”

Payment options are another differentiator. Gen Z’s comfort with digital finance is reshaping travel commerce, from buy now, pay later (BNPL) cryptocurrency schemes. “Gen Z has the highest attachment rate to BNPL of any generation,” says Yardley. “It’s a more responsible way to purchase — you split payments into clear, manageable parts.”

FlyFairly currently accepts over 70 cryptocurrencies and supports more than 100 payment methods. Yardley sees this diversity as essential to capturing younger consumers. “Seventy per cent of cryptocurrency wealth is held by millennials. Offering crypto payments is not a gimmick. It is giving people the freedom to transact in the way they prefer.”

Also Read: Business travel in the new normal: Strategies and tools for SME travel programme

Later this year, FlyFairly plans to launch a flexible rewards system that Yardley describes as “open-loop loyalty.” Unlike traditional airline miles that lock travellers into one brand, this model allows users to earn and redeem points across multiple airlines or transfer them back to a preferred carrier.

“Gen Z engages with twice as many brands as other generations, so they do not earn enough miles with one airline to make loyalty programmes worthwhile,” he explains. “We’re democratising rewards so you can earn and spend points wherever you choose.”

The resurgence of OTAs reflects a shift in traveller values as Yardley puts it, “When you are creating any company, your goal is to solve a problem. For us, it is about providing flexibility and freedom for the next generation of travellers.”

Rather than racing to the bottom on price, the new wave of OTAs focuses on user experience, flexibility, and trust, qualities that today’s Gen-Z traveller prizes above all.

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Image Credit: FlyFairly

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ChatCut, a conversational AI video editing platform founded by director and producer duo Kaiwen Li and Alima Strickland, has closed a US$1.35 million seed funding round led by ZhenFund with participation from Antler.

The Singaporean startup will use the money to accelerate product development, enhance existing capabilities and invest in infrastructure. ChatCut will also expand its engineering team, focusing on hiring both AI and full-stack engineers.

Also Read: Quanten wants to help filmmakers predict failure before it happens

ChatCut aims to revolutionise post-production by translating natural-language prompts into polished, professional video edits. This enables creators and teams to accelerate the process from raw footage to published content in minutes.

Li and Strickland’s journey into entrepreneurship was driven by a persistent industry pain point. The duo– the brains behind the VICE documentaries, Discovery Channel shows, and commercials for high-profile brands such as Airbnb, Gucci, and Chanel–experienced the difficulty of the editing bottleneck firsthand. For documentaries and commercials, editing routinely takes two to ten times longer than the actual filming process. They noted that even as AI sped up other elements of the post-production pipeline, editing remained a frame-by-frame manual effort.

ChatCut addresses this issue by tackling the actual editorial work–structure, pacing, and story flow–through conversation, rather than focusing solely on surface-level fixes like trimming background noise or adding captions.

Product and traction

The platform operates on a simple premise: Chat + Cut. Users upload their footage and input conversational requests, such as “Turn this 3-hour podcast into a highlight reel,” “Find all mentions of entrepreneurship,” or “Remove all pauses longer than 3 seconds”. Tasks that typically take a professional editor a full day to complete can be finished in as little as ten minutes using the platform.

ChatCut is positioned to capitalise on the increasing market demand for faster publishing cycles and consistent brand quality, as enterprises look to standardise on AI tools to reduce manual review rounds and localise content at scale.

The company views video editing as an entry point to developing a comprehensive video creation platform that will ultimately integrate cutting-edge AI capabilities for users working with recorded footage, AI-generated content, or hybrid approaches.

Co-founder Strickland stated that the company is “democratising editing capabilities and enabling world-class editing judgment into an intelligent agent anyone can access through conversation”. She added that for teams, this means faster outcomes, whilst for newcomers, editing is “no longer a barrier to publishing”.

Also Read: Thriving in the age of AI: What the media industry must do next

Antler Partner Winnie Khoo noted that the investment will enable further market penetration: “GenAI has crossed into everyday marketing and product work. ChatCut translates that capability into outcomes teams can publish today. The next step, and what this round enables, is pushing that experience into more formats, more integrations, and more markets”.

The post Filmmakers-turned-founders raise US$1.35M for ChatCut that makes video editing as easy as texting appeared first on e27.

Singapore’s AI ecosystem just got a significant boost, and it’s powered by collaboration.

Through Meta’s Llama Incubator Programme, created with support from IMDA, GovTech, EnterpriseSG, AI Singapore, SGInnovate, and key partners e27 and Deloitte, a new wave of startups is turning frontier AI into market-ready innovation.

This initiative–Meta’s first in Asia-Pacific–goes beyond training models. It’s about building an ecosystem where startups and SMEs can experiment, deploy, and scale AI responsibly, driving real-world impact across industries.

Also Read: Meta accelerates AI innovation in Singapore with Llama Incubator program demo day

Meet the 24 startups and SMEs at the forefront of Singapore’s AI future: from early-stage disruptors to emerging scale-ups redefining what it means to innovate with intelligence.

Opsis Emotion AI

Opsis specialises in facial, voice, ocular, body language and rPPG vital signals with LLMs for real-time emotional insights. Its proprietary healthcare data delivers accurate and scalable mental health.

AidMi

AidMi builds an AI-powered clinical assistant that helps doctors deliver better care before, during, and between visits. It automates pre-consult assessments, tracks patient symptoms between appointments, and offers clinicians actionable insights through smart dashboards.

ConnectingDNA

ConnectingDNA provides DNA-wellness digital infrastructure for personalised health, lifestyle, and brand optimisation. Its mission is to empower individuals and wellness providers to make smarter, faster, and safer health decisions using the power of their DNA.

Introdex

Introdex is an AI-powered sales platform that uses the largest warm connections network to help B2B companies get warm introductions to their pipeline leads.

Morpheus Labs

Morpheus Labs is an AI-powered, low-code implementation and integration platform that simplifies the process of building and deploying blockchain projects. The platform helps businesses and developers build, test, and launch applications, Web3, and AI solutions with greater speed and efficiency.

SOMIN

SOMONITOR is a platform for digital marketers that analyses competitor content to reveal communication gaps, identifies blind spots and recommends top-performing marketing strategies and content.

Smobler

Smobler is a next-gen game and frontier tech builder at the intersection of AI, blockchain, and immersive storytelling. It is a portfolio company of Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, and Brinc and is backed by Enterprise Singapore and IMDA.

CREX

CREX helps hotels build a premium guest experience through sustainability actions that genuinely drive conversions. It transforms their sustainability data into structured, AI-ready trust signals that set hotels apart, support their affiliate booking pathways, and connect them seamlessly to sustainability solution providers for measurable impact.

Addlly AI

Addlly AI offers brand-trained AI marketing agents and GEO tools to help global teams create, scale, and optimise content for AI-first platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Its AI Agents create high-quality, multilingual content across blogs, social posts, product descriptions, newsletters, ads, and more, at scale, and always in your brand voice.

Smart-Wares

It delivers intelligent AI-powered applications and software consultancy services that help businesses streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and drive digital transformation. It specialises in developing intelligent, AI-powered applications designed to transform operations across diverse industries, complemented by comprehensive software consultancy services.

Bitcomputing

Opencord.AI is an autonomous marketing assistant that helps SMEs scale without increasing headcount. It runs nonstop across multiple platforms and languages, engaging leads, optimising ROI, and delivering precision marketing campaigns. By automating repetitive tasks, Opencord.AI saves businesses significant costs while boosting reach and efficiency.

Sustainable Living Lab

Sustainable Living Lab (SL2) is a sustainability consultancy and innovation lab. We specialise in creating and implementing rapidly evolving, impactful solutions. Our expertise lies in leveraging technology, as a tool for sustainability, with a strong emphasis on a community-driven approach to implementation.

Glee Trees (Gleematic)

Gleematic AI is software for robotic process automation. It automates business operations by emulating mouse/keyboard strokes, text analytics, and machine learning.

Straits Interactive

Straits Interactive is an edutech company that specialises in Gen AI, data governance and data protection. It helps organisations convert their knowledge into AI Assets safely and securely.

IntentAI

IntentAI helps large, regulated enterprises take GenAI projects from proof of concept to full production. Its enterprise GenAI platform makes it easy to build, integrate, scale and maintain AI Agent workflows with strong governance, omnichannel support, and flexible deployment (cloud or on-premise).

i-Sprint Innovations

i-Sprint provides identity and access management (IAM) and mobile app protection and is used by enterprises to combat cyber threats with bank-grade security solutions.

SmsDome

SmsDome is a mobile and multi-channel marketing solutions company specialising in connecting B2B and B2C clients. The company positions itself as a mobile marketer and has served various industries, including government agencies, healthcare, education, retail, and F&B.

AgriG8

AgriG8 is an agri-fintech platform connecting financial institutions with Southeast Asian rice farmers. The platform aims to solve the problem of smallholder farmers’ reliance on high-interest informal loans (around 40 per cent per annum) and the financial challenges of adopting sustainable farming practices.

Explico

Explico is an assessment-based learning platform using AI and machine learning that identifies users’ academic strengths and weaknesses to structure their learning needs.

Good Bards

Good Bards is a marketing OS powered by agentic AI. The platform simplifies complex workflows, accelerates campaign deployment, and enables context-aware customer engagement.

Scarlett Panda

Scarlett Panda aims to reimagine how children read in the age of screens. Today’s kids spend more than six hours a day on digital devices but less than fifteen minutes reading for fun. It bridges that gap by combining storytelling, personalisation, and safe generative AI – transforming screens from passive entertainment into active imagination.

UIB Holdings

UIB has created a conversational AI platform with cognitive IoT capabilities. The platform, UnificationEngine, facilitates frictionless onboarding and seamless communications between humans, IT systems, and machines, such as connected appliances (smart homes), smart cities and smart factories (Industry 4.0).

MyRepublic

MyRepublic is a telecommunications provider aiming to redefine connectivity in the digital age. Through a continuous drive for innovation, the company delivers broadband and mobile solutions that exceed conventional expectations.

CraveFX

CraveFX is a Singapore-based creative technology studio that brings stories to life through animation, visual effects, motion graphics, and interactive experiences. CraveFX’s designers, animators, developers, and technologists collaborate to deliver visually compelling and emotionally resonant experiences that span commercial, educational, and cultural domains.

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Data courtesy: Tracxn.

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Singapore’s entertainment scene is seeing a new experiment with the launch of Superstreamer Asia, a reality TV competition where live-streamers take on challenges designed to test performance, selling skills, and audience connection. Produced by FLY Entertainment in collaboration with Synagie, Hoods Inc., IAmCasting and Shopee, the series blends entertainment with entrepreneurship.

Contestants will compete in live challenges that test not just their ability to perform, but to sell, connect, and convert in real time.

The show is the brainchild of Irene Ang, CEO of FLY Entertainment and a familiar figure in Singapore’s media landscape.

“They’re not just selling things; they’re entertaining, connecting, building communities. It’s the new stage, the new theatre,” says Ang. “Superstreamer Asia isn’t just entertainment; it’s a platform that could launch real, sustainable careers. Live-selling is not a frivolous pursuit — it’s the future of digital commerce.”

And the numbers back her up.

The business of going live

Globally, the live-streaming market is worth US$99 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit US$345 billion by 2030. In Southeast Asia alone, video commerce accounts for US$31.8 billion, or roughly 20 per cent of the region’s e-commerce GMV.

In Singapore, top live-sellers already make over SG$10,000 (US$7,720) a month, according to Superstreamer Asia’s own announcement post — a figure once reserved for senior corporate roles.

Yet, the spectrum is vast. Small streamers earn anywhere between US$50 and US$1,500 per month, while mid-tier creators average US$3k to US$5k per month. Globally, elite streamers can exceed US$1 million annually.

For some, it starts with a smartphone; for others, it evolves into a multi-camera production backed by analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence.

Also Read: Is AI the end of originality or a new dawn for creativity?

When stories sell

One example is Benjamin Wing, a storyteller, content creator, and keynote speaker. In 2025, he went live for CarTimes at The Car Expo, bringing car sales beyond the exhibition floor.

“Going live for CarTimes taught me that people don’t just buy cars — they buy confidence,” he reflects. “And when AI helps you understand what the audience feels in real time, that’s a superpower.”

Wing’s comment captures the heart of this new creator economy: Performance meets psychology, powered by technology.

The creator economy and AI

Superstreamer Asia reflects a wider cultural shift where creators are being recognised as entrepreneurs. Contestants, ranging from 18 to 80, will face challenges that test creativity, engagement, and conversion.

Among them is Belle Kwok, who sees live-streaming as a balance of authenticity and commerce. “With the right AI tools, creators like us can turn personality into greater profit,” she says.

AI is increasingly present behind the scenes: from optimising lighting and sound to analysing audience sentiment and suggesting products in real time. Beyond these support functions, some creators are also experimenting with AI avatars as virtual co-hosts, exploring how automation can extend their reach and presence during livestreams.

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

In China, Baidu’s AI version of influencer Luo Yonghao hosted a six-hour livestream reaching 13 million viewers and generating RMB 55 million (US$7.7 million) in sales. Other brands, like Brother China, have reported sales lifts after using AI avatars. Research published in 2025 also suggests that virtual hosts can increase trust, responsiveness, and impulse purchases.

The human edge

Even as AI plays a bigger role, creators emphasise that technology works best when combined with authenticity. Viewers return not only for efficiency but also for emotion, connection, and relatability — qualities that are difficult to replicate artificially.

That balance between human creativity and AI-driven optimisation is what Superstreamer Asia seeks to explore.

As Ang puts it: “FLY Entertainment has always transformed with the times. This is the next shift — and I’m excited to see where it leads.”

The next stage

The future of entertainment and entrepreneurship is converging – and Singapore is positioning itself as the epicentre of Asia’s creator-commerce revolution.

AI is not replacing influence; it is amplifying it, reshaping how creators connect with audiences and sustain their work. The next generation of live-streamers may not only perform but also design and manage engagement — potentially alongside AI tools that act as co-hosts or collaborators.

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Walk into any art studio and you’ll find midlife artists producing works of extraordinary beauty. But scroll through social media, and you’ll notice many of these same artists are almost invisible. The gap isn’t talent, it’s storytelling.

Social media thrives on stories. People don’t just want to see a painting; they want to know what inspired it, what the artist was feeling, and what message the work carries. Yet for many in their 40s, 50s, and beyond, writing about art feels intimidating. They excel in brushstrokes, not in typing reflections. This barrier holds back visibility, recognition, and even opportunities for sales or exhibitions.

Why storytelling matters

A painting can be beautiful on its own, but stories are what make people stop, connect, and remember. In today’s fast-moving digital world, social media isn’t a gallery wall; it’s a conversation.

When artists share the story behind their work, the spark of inspiration, the emotions they carried while creating, or the memory that shaped the colours, they invite the audience into their world. That connection builds trust, curiosity, and even loyalty.

Storytelling turns passive viewers into engaged followers. It transforms art from something nice to look at into something meaningful to feel. And for midlife artists, who often carry decades of life experience, these stories are not just promotion, they are a way of passing on wisdom and perspective.

Why AI changes the game

Here’s the shift: AI has made storytelling accessible even for those who dislike writing.

Take a painting. Snap a photo. Ask ChatGPT: “Describe this painting in the style of an art curator, but make it warm and simple.” In seconds, you have a caption ready for Instagram or Facebook.

But here’s the important part. While AI descriptions are articulate, they can feel bland without the artist’s input. The magic still lies in personal stories, the spark of inspiration, the frustration of trial and error, or the quiet joy of completion. That’s what moves audiences. AI is the assistant, not the artist.

Also Read: Singapore outsmarts the world in AI–ranked No.1 global hub

When AI analyses your art

One of the most surprising things about AI is how confidently it analyses art. You upload a photo, and suddenly it’s describing textures, emotions, and hidden meanings as if it had spent years in art school. Sometimes it gets it wonderfully right, other times it sounds like a very enthusiastic tour guide who’s had too much coffee.

I once showed an artist friend what ChatGPT “saw” in his painting. He laughed out loud and said, “That’s deeper than what I intended!” But here’s the point. Even when AI overshoots, it sparks reflection. You start to think about your own work in new ways. And that humour, that playful “Wait, is this really me?” moment, often becomes part of the story you share with your audience.

Talking instead of typing

Typing can feel like homework, especially for those of us who didn’t grow up with digital fluency. But today’s AI tools make it easy.

Instead of typing, imagine this. Open your phone’s voice-to-text function. Talk about your painting for two minutes, why you created it, what emotion it carries, or even how the colours remind you of a memory. Copy that raw text into ChatGPT and ask: “Turn this into a short, engaging post for an artist.”

Suddenly, your voice is clear and ready to share. Storytelling no longer feels like a chore. It becomes a conversation.

From struggle to step by step

There are simple ways midlife artists can begin. ChatGPT can be your friendly brainstorming partner. Talk to it the way you’d talk to a friend over coffee. Ramble, grumble, pour out your thoughts. Then ask it to help you find the main point and turn it into one short, emotional story. The more you “train” it with your stories and reflections, the more personalised it becomes, like building a creative partner who knows your voice.

You can then take your finished story and art images into CapCut, a free and simple video editor. Add captions or a voice-over, and you’ve got a polished video for social media. I often tell artists, you don’t need Hollywood production, just let your story and art shine.

Bell’s incidental art moment

My friend Bell, also 58, once noticed how rain and dust had created delicate patterns on his window. Most people would wipe it away. He stopped, looked, and saw art in that accidental design. He could explain it beautifully when speaking, how nature itself was the artist, but struggled to put it into words on paper.

That’s where AI came in. By recording his thoughts and feeding them into ChatGPT, what started as a fleeting, rambling reflection became a clear artist statement. Suddenly, his incidental encounter with nature was transformed into a story he could share with others.

Also Read: AI and the human touch: How leadership paves the way

A younger artist’s challenge

Another artist I know, in her mid-40s, faced a different challenge. She spoke only Mandarin and worried about reaching wider audiences. One day, I took a photo of her painting and showed her how ChatGPT could describe it in an artistic way. The result amazed her. It sounded polished and ready for social media.

But I reminded her of something important. AI alone cannot replace the human touch. Without her own thoughts and feelings, the description lacked soul. Once she began adding her personal story, her art posts gained emotional depth. What began as hesitation turned into excitement, because she saw that AI could support her voice, not replace it.

Both Bell and this younger artist discovered the same truth. AI isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about inclusivity. Whether you’re 58 or 45, fluent in English or not, AI levels the playing field so creativity and stories can be seen.

Why this matters beyond art

This lesson isn’t just for painters. Midlife professionals in any field, coaches, consultants, educators, face the same challenge. They carry decades of wisdom but struggle to package it for digital platforms.

AI offers a bridge. It doesn’t replace your voice, it amplifies it. By lowering the barrier to storytelling, AI helps midlifers step into visibility. Whether it’s promoting art, launching a side business, or building a professional profile, clarity is now within reach.

The mindset shift

To benefit, midlifers need to shift perspective. Stop fearing mistakes. AI is forgiving. You can refine, retry, and re-prompt until it feels right. Focus on authenticity. Don’t outsource your voice entirely, share personal sparks, and let AI polish. Experiment playfully. Start small. Try one ChatGPT post, one CapCut video. Build your comfort step by step.

Closing thought

For midlife artists and professionals, the challenge isn’t creativity, it’s clarity. Decades of experience, memories, and emotions often stay locked inside because typing feels like a wall or language feels like a barrier.

But AI has changed that. For Bell, it turned his incidental reflection on nature into a story worth sharing. For the younger artist in her 40s, it transformed a photo of her painting into a description that gave her confidence to add her own story.

This is the real gift of AI. It doesn’t just speed things up, it levels the playing field.

So here’s the takeaway. For midlifers, don’t hold back. Your story matters, and AI can help you tell it with clarity and confidence. For younger trainers and digital natives, remember that what feels easy to you is a real barrier for others. AI gives you a chance to guide, not judge, and to make creative spaces more inclusive.

Never fear. AI is here. Not to replace voices, but to translate them across age, across language, and across the invisible walls that hold creativity back.

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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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A study has revealed that air and water pollution constitute a significant share of premature deaths in major Asian economies, including India and Indonesia.

India ranks among the lowest globally on urban air quality, and severe ambient PM2.5 exposure is one of Indonesia’s leading health risks. This crisis is a top investment priority for adaptation, cited by 87 per cent of investors, says the ‘Unlocking Capital For Climate x Health: The Investment Landscape in Asia’ report prepared by AVPN and Prudence Foundation, in partnership with Catalyst Management Services (CMS).

Also Read: Unlocking climate x health capital: A data-driven blueprint for smarter impact investing

The economic impact of pollution-linked health issues is enormous. In the Philippines alone, air pollution caused 66,230 deaths per year, incurring a cost of US$44.8 billion. In India, 1.6 million deaths were attributed to air pollution in 2021.

Investment tailwinds from national programmes

Governmental commitment is driving investment opportunities through national programmes. India’s National Clean Air Programme commands approximately US$1.7 billion for implementation across 132 cities. Indonesia has also tightened its air-quality standards in 2023, signalling increased public demand and potential procurement pathways.

Investors are moving beyond traditional, capital-intensive mitigation technologies like smog towers, favouring scalable, subscription-based models.

Case study: Devic Earth’s subscription model

Devic Earth, based in India, exemplifies how a technology-driven, subscription model can succeed in this market.

• The technology: Devic Earth’s Pure Skies system utilises Radio Frequency (RF) waves to passively and efficiently clear particulate matter from the air, creating wide-area clean air zones without reliance on expensive filters or heavy infrastructure.
• The model: The company offers “clean air as a service” via subscription, with modular systems for industrial and city environments. This structure removes high upfront capital expenditure for clients and facilitates integration into ESG mandates.
• Impact: The solution has proven effective at scale. Deployment across over 40 sites by 2021 showed remarkable results, including a reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 levels by approximately 50 per cent at an ACC Cement facility in 30 days. Furthermore, during a 35,000-runner event, PM2.5 was reduced by 30 per cent, with no reported health incidents.
• Funding: Devic Earth has attracted commercial capital, raising US$2.5 million from investors including Axilor Ventures and Blue Ashva Capital.

Also Read: Investors bet on algorithms and insurance to tame Asia’s climate-health crisis

This success highlights the importance of scalable delivery over standalone technology. Distribution-focused models and policy alignment (India’s National Clean Air Programme) are being prioritised as they offer quicker adoption and clearer pathways to commercial returns.

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Despite Singapore’s ambitious climate goals under the Green Plan 2030, a recent survey by renewable electricity retailer Flo Energy reveals that cost savings remain the dominant factor driving electricity choices among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The findings highlight a persistent gap between the nation’s net-zero ambitions and SME adoption of green energy solutions. According to the “SME Renewable Energy Insights Survey” conducted by Flo Energy, nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of SMEs in Singapore consider price the most crucial factor when selecting an electricity provider, while only 15 per cent prioritise sustainability.

Among those who switched providers, just 13 per cent cited environmental reasons, with most motivated by short-term incentives such as promotions or contract flexibility.

This trend underscores the enduring challenge of aligning SME behaviour with long-term environmental objectives. While over half of respondents acknowledged that sustainability is “quite important” to their broader business decisions, it remains a secondary factor in energy procurement.

“Singapore has a clear roadmap to reach net zero by 2050, but our research shows that many SMEs are still putting cost ahead of sustainability,” said Matthijs Guichelaar, CEO of Flo Energy. “The good news is that sustainability is increasingly seen as an area for improvement, which shows growing awareness and demand.”

Also Read: Air and water pollution are killing millions, but also creating new investment frontiers

Despite nearly half (45 per cent) of SMEs considering renewable energy options, awareness of tools such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) remains low. Over half of all SMEs surveyed were unfamiliar with RECs–a key mechanism for tracking and verifying the use of green power. Among those who had switched retailers, awareness was higher, indicating that education and exposure play a critical role in accelerating adoption.

High upfront costs and lack of information were cited as the most significant barriers to renewable adoption, aligning with global SME trends.

Interestingly, the survey found that once SMEs are onboarded, sustainability rises in importance. It ranked second to faster service and technical support regarding improvements SMEs wanted from their current provider, suggesting growing expectations for greener practices over time.

SMEs account for over 99 per cent of businesses in Singapore and are central to the nation’s economic and environmental future. However, as highlighted in an OECD report, smaller firms often struggle with limited resources, a lack of awareness, and difficulty navigating green incentives—all of which hamper decarbonisation efforts.

This reality presents a strategic crossroads: as Singapore pushes towards net zero by 2050, SMEs will need more support and incentives to make the green shift viable.

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Image Credit: Khanh Do on Unsplash

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