The e-Conomy Southeast Asia 2024 Report with Sapna Chadha, Fock Wai Hoong & Florian Hoppe
Release Date: 11/05/2024
Analyse Asia
"I quote a study that looked at 84 countries in terms of internal migration and India was dead last. That's not a knock against the culture. It's just not part of the culture that young women in particular leave home at 17, go to the other side of the country and work in a factory. You don't have that. So what's the phrase: Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Apple might have a plan, but like good luck upending 5,000 years of Indian culture to make it happen." - Patrick McGee, author of "Apple in China" Fresh out of the studio, Patrick McGee, San Francisco correspondent for the...
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"At IBM, we really work on two emerging technologies: hybrid cloud and AI for enterprise. These two are deeply connected. Hybrid cloud for us means that regardless of where the data sits whether the compute is on-premise, off-premise, or across multiple clouds. We believe the client should have the control and flexibility to choose where to run and place their data. If you look at the facts, a very high percentage of client data is still on-premise. It hasn't moved to the cloud for obvious reasons. So, how can you scale AI if you don’t have proper access to that data? AI is all about the...
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"If you take a step back and ask, how has the last 10-15 years panned out? The truth of the matter is that Southeast Asia has not done as well as it should have based on the reports and projections that existed earlier. There have been fundamental flaws from a culture standpoint with respect to how the ecosystem has been shaped. I think there has been too much of a mirror of what's happening in Silicon Valley and figuring out how to replicate those concepts in Southeast Asia, whereas there should have been a better, more localized, customized, regional model to suit the culture and concepts in...
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"I think the why is so important, but it's always not really being asked. Most people want to know, 'What's your growth look like?' or 'How is this offering different from another offering?' Those are the questions we get most of the time. But going back to the real why we actually do this in the first place is the most critical question if you ask me. For myself personally, it is all about having a positive impact in society. We have chosen to go down the route of wellness, fitness, and longevity to have that positive impact, which we believe is extremely important and a strong one whereby...
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"Now, some people are only ever going to want to use WhatsApp to message the people in their life, and they should be able to carry on doing that and have an incredibly simple experience in doing so. But we're increasingly seeing that users want to use WhatsApp for more than messaging close friends and family. It's why we're doing things like business messaging. It's why we built new features like channels and status and updates tab separate from your personal chats. We think that if we carry on getting the core of private messaging right, it also gives us the opportunity to build more of...
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" We did a survey with The Economist globally which obviously included Europe and APAC as well. And we asked the question, 'Does my organization's current architecture supports the unique demands of AI workloads.' Basically 85% said, 'No. We don't have the architecture to support it.' Some partially does, but it needs lots of modifications. So we can still feel a lot of people are still in the early stages and that data point ties back to: 85% of GenAI [proof of concepts] has not gone into production. I think that another interesting point is, 'Does your architecture connect AI application?...
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"The thing that's most fascinating, we talk a lot about how complex North Korea is here but when you compare it to some of the other illicit groups, particularly those that are sanctioned, say your terrorist organization that's soliciting donations on Telegram or some other social media outlet understanding what that difference in the level of complexity is, I think is really fascinating to actually know about. When we're talking about DPRK, we're talking about laundering of funds through tens of thousands. By the time we're done, it'll be hundreds of thousands of wallets. And then on the...
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"When I discuss with senior leaders, interview them, or assess them for senior roles, they often come to me, and I ask them: 'What makes you unique? How do you see yourself?' Eighty percent of them tell me what they can't do. They talk about their development needs, and I say, 'Is that how you pitch yourself? Is that what you really bring to the table? You sit with a headhunter and tell me what you can’t do—why not tell me what you’re really good at?' Your exceptional value-add, your competitive advantage—that’s what makes an impact, not what you cannot do. Development needs require...
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"They will judge Masa to have been an extraordinarily consequential investor and historic figure in world investing and tech investing because he has made not just spectacular bets—but he's made so many people rich. I mean, with other people's money. All these founders, he's given them money, he's been an enormous disruptor, and he's built global businesses. He's built a huge business in Japan on the mobile operator. So for all these reasons, I know he sometimes feels dissatisfied with his legacy, and he's now trying to build his greatest legacy in the march to artificial general...
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"We're all vulnerable. And I hadn't thought about that previously. I thought, oh, it's only a small group of people who might fall for this. What I've learned is actually [that] these scammers are so sophisticated. They have so much money. Based on my reporting, this industry, you know, is maybe more lucrative than the illicit drug trade, and these criminal syndicates might be making over 500 billion US dollars a year. So that means they have access to the latest technology, whether it's voice cloning or face changing software. They can buy the latest in AI tools. they can stay several...
info_outline"The key message of the report is that the fundamentals of this region are critical, they’re clear, and businesses are doing exactly, I think, what they need to do for us to move ahead." - Sapna Chadha
"Given that one of the other themes we’ve had this year is trust, having a strong regulatory foundation and good constructs around that for digital financial services is critical to unlocking the next wave of growth here." - Florian Hoppe
"All 10 ASEAN nations have announced their own national strategic AI initiatives or plans, and ASEAN itself has actually released a report and guide on AI governance and ethics. So, I think if you put all that together, it’s very natural that Southeast Asia is, quite frankly, well-positioned to capitalize on the AI trend." - Fock Wai Hoong
Fresh out of the studio in Google, Bernard Leong led a discussion on the 2024 Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report, joined by Sapna Chadha (Google), Florian Hope (Bain & Company), and Wai Hoong (Temasek). The panel delved into Southeast Asia's impressive digital growth, with the region’s economy reaching $263 billion in GMV and significant strides in profitability. The panellists examined the key themes which include Southeast Asia’s emergence as an AI hub, driven by $30 billion in AI investments, the rise of video commerce, and the region’s booming digital financial services specifically on embedded insurance. The conversation highlights challenges and opportunities in digital inclusion, AI infrastructure, and regional integration, providing a nuanced outlook on Southeast Asia’s potential. The episode concludes with each panellist sharing their vision for Southeast Asia’s digital future and success metrics for the next decade, emphasizing the region’s unique strengths and long-term global impact.
Audio Episode Highlights
[00:46] Introduction
[02:17] Key Report Insights
[04:09] How Sapna, Florian, and Wai Hoong provide perspectives to the key report takeaways
[07:00] Investor Perspective on Southeast Asia
[10:06] Exiting the Funding Winter
[12:44] AI’s Role in Accelerating Growth
[14:30] Impact of Video E-commerce
[16:23] Growth in Digital Financial Services
[18:03] Embedded Insurance in E-commerce
[24:12] AI Infrastructure Investment
[27:55] Southeast Asia’s Startup Ecosystem
[29:45] Generative AI Use Cases
[31:06] AI for Revenue and Cost Optimization
[34:16] New Internet Users and Digital Inclusion
[37:55] Regional Integration as a Success Metric
[39:01] Vision for Southeast Asia Digital Economy Success
[40:20] Closing Remarks
Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G. Thomas Craig
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