The second playlist of Analyse Asia 2 starts from Episode 251 onwards.

Analyse Asia Playlist 2

"What's the point if it's a fast platform, but I still have to go somewhere else? And the last thing is speed. Right now, especially in our region, it's a land grab. When we think about some of the fastest-growing economies in the world—Indonesia, for example, Vietnam, the Philippines—you have hundreds of millions of people here. What we see in every customer I speak to is interest in how they use our platform to move faster, to deploy AI. They don't want to have to build a foundation level of AI, integrating all those elements themselves. They want to deploy it faster. When you think about our history, we have 250 petabytes of data being accessed by 150,000 customers every single day. When you take that set, we had to get this right. We had to because we have thousands of engineers focused on building these platforms so our customers don't have to—so they can deploy innovation and create truly unique and differentiated customer journeys." - Sujith Abraham 

Fresh out of the studio, Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ASEAN at Salesforce, joins us to explore how AgentForce 2.0 is transforming enterprise AI. He shares his journey from automotive engineering to tech leadership, reflecting on the rise of AI agents that move beyond chatbots to take real-world actions. Sujith explains how AgentForce 2.0 integrates across Salesforce products like Slack and Tableau, helping businesses automate sales, customer service, and marketing. He highlights how banks, airlines, and telcos in Southeast Asia are leveraging AI for growth, alongside Salesforce’s shift to a pay-as-you-go model for easier adoption. Addressing AI trust and governance, he underscores data privacy and enterprise-grade AI security. Closing the conversation, Sujith shares his vision for AI-driven customer engagement and what great looks like for Salesforce &amp; AgentForce 2.0 in ASEAN. 

Profile: Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ASEAN for Salesforce, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sujithabraham/ Audio 

Episode Highlights: [00:46] Quote of the day by Sujith Abraham [01:44] Introduction: Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ASEAN for Salesforce [02:22] Sujith’s Career Journey [03:51] Career Lessons from Sujith [05:26] What is Salesforce &amp; Its Mission? [08:27] Definition of Generative AI &amp; AI Agents in the context of enterprises [11:22] Introduction to AgentForce 2.0 [15:37] AI Across Salesforce Products [20:22] Enterprise AI Adoption &amp; Challenges [22:51] The Business Model of AgentForce [24:07] Industry Use Cases in Southeast Asia [25:47] AI Governance &amp; Trust at Salesforce [27:54] Choosing the Right Large Language Model (LLM) [28:55] Advice for Business Leaders on AI Adoption [30:60] The One Thing Sujith Knows About Salesforce &amp; AgentForce in ASEAN That Very Few Do [32:48] The One Question Sujith Wants More People to Ask: Why Salesforce? [34:45] What Does Great Look Like for Salesforce? [37:05] Closing 

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. 

Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast. 
Analyse Asia Main Site: https://analyse.asia 
Analyse Asia Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kkRwzRZa4JCICr2vm0vGl 
Analyse Asia Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/analyse-asia-with-bernard-leong/id914868245 
Analyse Asia YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AnalyseAsia 
Analyse Asia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/analyse-asia/
Analyse Asia X (formerly known as Twitter): https://twitter.com/analyseasia 
Analyse Asia Threads: https://www.threads.net/@analyseasia 
Sign Up for Our This Week in Asia Newsletter: https://www.analyse.asia/#/portal/signup 
Subscribe Newsletter on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7149559878934540288

How Agentforce is Transforming Businesses in ASEAN with Sujith Abraham

Fresh out of the studio, Feon Ang, Managing Director of LinkedIn Asia Pacific, joins us to explore how the platform is transforming professional networking and career development across the region's 343 million members. She shares her career journey from publishing to tech leadership, reflecting on the evolution from typewritten CVs to AI-powered job searches today. Feon explains LinkedIn's unique approach combining scale, trust, and member-first philosophy, emphasizing how their AI tools enable professionals to find opportunities through natural language while companies streamline hiring processes. She highlights the platform's remarkable growth metrics—47 hires per minute and 36% video engagement growth—showcasing how organizations are re-engineering recruitment and learning through AI coaching and personalized pathways. Addressing the challenges of AI adoption and skills gaps, she emphasizes the importance of three key actions: fluency, agency, and action, while advocating for accessible AI integration into daily workflows. Closing the conversation, Feon shares her vision for creating even greater economic opportunity across Asia Pacific as professionals and businesses navigate the AI transformation together.

"AI is in the minds of a lot of people right now and naturally with such big technological shift, you find that there is a big skill gap. You know, there is companies demanding skills in this area, and yet naturally in the marketplace, they might have difficulty finding that skills that is required for companies. So, you know, job seekers need to be a lot more conscious in terms of how they are equipping themselves. One of the things is that LinkedIn courses are there [to help]. I always talk about the three affirmative actions that you can do. One is making sure that you are fluent in this area. I think what are the things that you can do to actually get your hands on all these tools so that you become fluent in just playing around with the tool and making sure that you feel comfortable. The second area that I advise people is to make sure that you feel that you have the agency to master your destiny. The third thing will be to take action. If you have learned all these skills, find a way to showcase it and find a way to actually talk about it so that you are, you can actually surface your capabilities in this space." - Feon Ang

Profile: Feon Ang, Managing Director of LinkedIn Asia Pacific: https://www.linkedin.com/in/feonang/

Episode Highlights: 
[00:00] Quote of the Day: Feon Ang 
[01:06] Feon's career journey from publishing to tech
[03:00] Three key lessons from Feon's career journey: members first, scale, trust
[00:05:18] LinkedIn's mission: creating economic opportunity globally
[00:06:28] Asia Pacific: 343 million members, fastest growing
[00:08:19] Business milestone: crossed 17 billion globally
[00:09:50] Highest engagement rate across social platforms
[00:11:00] Video content growing 36% year-on-year
[00:12:24] Real-time hiring: 47 hires per minute, 10,000 applications every minute
[00:14:00] AI job search using natural language
[00:15:42] LinkedIn hiring assistant streamlines recruitment
[00:17:18] AI coaching creates personalized learning pathways
[00:19:10] Skill gaps demand conscious professional development
[00:21:00] Advice for Professionals in the age of AI: Fluency, Agency, Action
[23:13] Community partnerships supporting workforce development
[25:12] How CEOs are using social media via LinkedIn
[27:02] What does great look like for LinkedIn in the Asia Pacific? 
[28:00] Closing

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast.

Creating Economic Opportunity in the era of AI: LinkedIn's Mission in Asia Pacific with Feon Ang

Fresh out of the studio, Paul Harapin, Chief Revenue Officer for Asia Pacific and Japan at Stripe, joined us in a conversation discussing Stripe's explosive growth in the region that represents 40% of global GDP. Paul dived deep into how Stripe is revolutionizing commerce through AI and stablecoins, sharing fascinating customer stories in the Asia Pacific and Japan. He delved into Stripe's current innovations specifically on agentic commerce toolkits, virtual card issuing, and adaptive pricing solutions that are transforming how businesses scale across the dynamic Asia Pacific region. Last but not least, Paul shared the key trends in AI-powered payments and stablecoin adoption, defining what great would look like for Stripe's user-first approach to building the financial infrastructure of the internet economy in APAC.

"APAC represents 40% of global GDP. So you can see that there's huge opportunity in a very, very diverse region. The needs of Japan are different to the needs of China. India is exploding with SaaS, software, AI. Australia one of our larger markets, again, very different. And so Southeast Asia, the complexities of Asia make it a joy to work in." - Paul Harapin

Episode Highlights
[00:00] Quote of the Day by Paul Harapin
[02:30] Building tech companies, helping Silicon Valley expand Asia
[03:27] How Paul talked himself into Stripe role
[04:30] Key career lessons: people and passion matter most
[07:05] Stripe's mission to increase GDP of internet
[09:00] Asia represents 40% of global GDP opportunity
[12:42] AI transformation like discovering fire, very early cycle
[14:12] Agentic commerce toolkits downloaded thousands times weekly
[18:04] Virtual card issuing for secure AI transactions
[19:00] Stripe Link enables six second checkout process
[21:26] Adaptive pricing increases conversion by 18 percent
[24:23] Bridge acquisition brings stablecoin payment capabilities
[26:00] Stablecoin enables stability in volatile currency markets
[27:00] Japanese car exporter Zimbabwe cash bag example
[29:20] Digital currency adoption growing at consumer level
[31:00] Working closely with regulators across Asia Pacific
[33:40] Asia's fast digitizing economy leads global innovation
[34:05] India's UPI 10 billion transactions forecasted 100 billion
[36:30] How Stripe helps businesses in Asia Pacific to scale
[38:42] User-first founding principle drives everything at Stripe
[40:20] Closing

#stripe #stablecoins #bridge #agenticai #generativeai #payments 

Profile: Paul Harapin, Chief Revenue Officer, Asia Pacific & Japan, Stripe https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulharapin/

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast.

Analyse Asia Main Site: https://analyse.asia

Analyse Asia Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kkRwzRZa4JCICr2vm0vGl 

Analyse Asia Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/analyse-asia-with-bernard-leong/id914868245 

Analyse Asia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/analyse-asia/

Analyse Asia X (formerly known as Twitter): https://twitter.com/analyseasia

Analyse Asia Threads: https://www.threads.net/@analyseasia 

Sign Up for Our This Week in Asia Newsletter: https://www.analyse.asia/#/portal/signup 

Subscribe Newsletter on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7149559878934540288

Transforming Asia's Financial Infrastructure: Stripe's AI and Stablecoin Strategy with Paul Harapin

Fresh out of the studio, Associate Professor Jamus Lim from ESSEC Business School and author of "Asian Economies: History, Institutions and Structures" joined us in a comprehensive exploration of the economic foundations shaping Asia's remarkable rise. Jamus shared his story on how the Asian Financial Crisis sparked his passion for macroeconomics and development. He unpacked the critical yet often overlooked role of geography, history, and institutional frameworks in explaining Asia's immense economic diversity, arguing that abstract economic models fail to capture the real-world complexities driving regional development. Through deep dives into China's demographic transition and export-driven challenges, South Korea's state-led chaebol industrialization model, and Japan's historic shift from deflation to inflation, Jamus demonstrated how colonial legacies and historical persistence continue to shape modern economic structures across the continent. Throughout the conversation, he revealed why China's middle-income trap escape depends on building domestic consumption to absorb its massive manufacturing capacity, explained how institutional solutions that once solved problems can become growth constraints, and argued that understanding Asia's past is essential for navigating its economic future in an increasingly complex global landscape.

"The way that institutions emerge and entrench themselves and become a part of the functioning of an economy and society is because they solve some problems. So they're usually a non-market solution toward solving some problem that the economy, that the market system couldn't necessarily solve. Of course the most prominent example of an institution that solves an. Market problem in the non-market way is a firm, as Ronald Coase, of course very early on, taught us that. When a firm realizes that in some cases when transactions costs are high, you want to internalize things within the firm. That the firm is itself an institution. But these other social political institutions, they also exist to resolve some problem. And once they resolve that problem and they're resolving it adequately, then it becomes really hard to bring about change. So the institution solves a problem. So to be clear, it is better than in the absence of the institution, but it also means that without somehow breaking this institution or having some crisis that leads you to substantially reform the institution, you are going to be stuck at a suboptimal equilibrium." - Jamus Lim, author of "Asian Economies: History, Institutions and Structures"

Episode Highlights: 
[00:00] Quote of the Day by Jamus Lim
[02:27] Introduction: Jamus Lim, Associate Professor in ESSEC Business School and Author of Asian Economies
[04:38] Asian Financial Crisis sparks Jamus' macro economics interest
[07:38] Teaching in Asia reveals regional development contrasts
[09:10] Middle income trap challenges across Asian economies
[10:23] Defining Asia: beyond East Asia stereotypes
[15:10] How Geography and History are overlooked in economic discourse
[17:26] China's transformation: poverty to economic powerhouse
[24:28] Lewis turning point: China's labor transformation
[26:11] Housing boom and excess supply challenges
[29:10] Hukou system creates unequal access issues
[33:30] China shock: WTO entry transforms global manufacturing
[38:27] South Korea's state-led industrialization model success
[44:17] Japan's deflation to inflation transition challenges
[46:32] Structural adjustments in Japanese labor markets
[48:03] Institutional foundations: solving problems creates persistence
[54:04] Academic success vs. real-world policy impact
[55:00] Closing

Profile: Jamus Lim, Author of Asian Economies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamuslim/

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. 

Asian Economies & Why Geography and History Matter More Than Economics Models with Jamus Lim

Reuniting after more than a decade since their days in This Week in Asia Podcast from 2009, Michael Smith Jr., co-host of The Generalist podcast, and Daniel Cerventus Lim, semi-retired entrepreneur and community builder in Malaysia, join us for a candid assessment of Southeast Asia's tech ecosystem evolution. In this raw conversation, Michael offers his unflinching perspective on what he calls the 'broken windows era' of Southeast Asian tech, arguing that recent alleged fraud cases like E-Fishery and Tanihub require serious consequences to restore investor confidence, while questioning whether the region was ever correctly modelled for Silicon Valley-style outcomes. Daniel shares his pivot from startup founder to search fund advocate, explaining his bullish view on acquiring profitable traditional businesses and reflects on whether the region's potential was genuinely unrealized or simply impossible to achieve. Together, they explore the shift from venture-backed unicorn dreams to bootstrap realities, debate work ethic of Southeast Asia founders in comparison with Chinese and Indian founders, and discuss why the future of Southeast Asian tech may lie in smaller, profitable exits rather than the massive IPOs once envisioned.

"I think wealth creation here is very SME-focused." - Daniel Cerventus Lim
"Basically whether, it's SME or startup, to me now it's just: can you build a profitable business?" - Bernard Leong
"I have this philosophy that I think people don't agree with me, but we're in a broken Windows era of Southeast Asia and the only way in my opinion, the windows get fixed is if some of these people are behind bars." - Michael Smith Jr.
Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Quote of the Day by Daniel Cerventus, Bernard Leong & Michael Smith JR
[00:59] Introduction: Daniel Cerventus and Michael Smith Jr. from the Generalists Podcast
[06:00] Multiple alleged frauds in Southeast Asia: E-Fishery, Tanihub
[09:57] Southeast Asia in "broken windows era"
[11:26] Only exits from seed to Series A
[11:47] B rounds virtually gone, A rounds endangered.
[14:00] 50-100 million exits still viable
[16:30] Malaysian crypto companies globally focused
[19:25] Country expansion model in ASEAN doesn't work
[23:02] Israel model: never think local market
[24:15] Razer story: HP Mafia network backing
[25:07] Supabase: not really Singapore capital, but globally successful
[30:18] Chinese founders arriving with speed
[31:19] Work ethic comparisons with India
[32:34] Search funds emerging in Singapore
[37:25] Mainstream media ignores bootstrap success
[39:50] Search fund model targeting aging operators
[41:21] SME vs startup distinction blurring
[46:20] Hedge funds questioning regional companies
[49:32] Unrealized vs impossible potential debate
[51:07] Bangladesh ecosystem showing promise
[53:20] Structural exit issues remain unsolved
[54:31] Reset creating better founder discipline
[55:40] Optimistic on Southeast Asia's startup ecosystem
[57:21] Closing

Profile:

Michael Smith Jr., Tech Evangelist from Oracle & Co-Host, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast

 

Daniel Cerventus Lim, semi-retired entrepreneur, Community Builder in Malaysia and TEDxKL founder. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cerventus/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/80164351656

 

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format.

Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast.

Analyse Asia Main Site: https://analyse.asia

Southeast Asia 16 Years Later with Michael Smith Jr & Daniel Cerventus Lim

Fresh out of the studio, Beatrice Lion, the chief executive officer and global partner from True Global Ventures, shares the remarkable story of how she became one of the youngest fund managers and the backstory to secure Singapore's Capital Markets Service license from MAS equivalent to Sequoia & Andreessen Horowitz's RIA licence in the US. Beatrice begins with her unconventional career journey from university straight into venture capital in 2017 and details TGV's investment thesis of backing only tested serial entrepreneurs across AI and blockchain applications. Beatrice offers her perspectives on the convergence of AI and crypto, the evolution of stablecoins as crypto's killer app, corporate treasury strategies such as Michael Saylor's Strategy with Bitcoin and Ethereum Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), and why TGV maintains their performance-focused philosophy of keeping fund sizes at $100-200 million rather than chasing larger management fees. Last but not least, Beatrice shares what great would look like for TGV in the future. 

"We took a longer time, there was a bit of roundabout, but the fact that we actually made like two or three times on whatever investment amount we did in the beginning - that for me was a very pivotal moment. Just because we didn't give up. The line between success and failure is so thin. So the impact of being a VC space is that you really can influence the technology founders that you back." - Beatrice Lion

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Quote of the Day by Beatrice Lyon 
[01:00] Introduction: Beatrice Lyon, CEO of True Global Ventures 
[04:27] Supporting portfolio companies through business development
[05:03] Successful turnaround story and investment recovery
[08:30] How she take the CEO role as operational glue among partners
[11:25] MAS approval process for Capital Markets Licence (CMS)
[13:00] TGV fund structure: four, five, six overview
[14:55] Investment thesis: AI and blockchain applications globally
[16:01] Focus on serial entrepreneurs, not first-timers
[17:39] CMS license removes 20% constraint limitations
[20:54] The rationale behind applying for broad licenses
[26:57] Secondary market opportunities and liquidation preferences
[30:18] Blockchain landscape evolving toward financial applications
[34:49] Private stock tokenization and where it is heading
[38:27] Stablecoin as killer app for crypto
[39:09] AI agents settling payments with stablecoins
[42:25] Different regulatory approaches across jurisdictions
[43:36] Corporate crypto treasury strategies beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum DATs and Solana
[48:35] 80-20 rule for portfolio company treasuries 
[50:37] Four-year crypto cycles may be extending
[54:31] What does great look like for TGV
[59:09] Closing

Profile: Beatrice Lion, Chief Executive Officer and General Partner, True Global Ventures: https://www.tgv4plus.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatricelion/

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. 

Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast.
Analyse Asia Main Site: https://analyse.asia
Analyse Asia Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kkRwzRZa4JCICr2vm0vGl 
Analyse Asia Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/analyse-asia-with-bernard-leong/id914868245 
Analyse Asia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/analyse-asia/
Analyse Asia X (formerly known as Twitter): https://twitter.com/analyseasia
Sign Up for Our This Week in Asia Newsletter: https://www.analyse.asia/#/portal/signup 
Subscribe Newsletter on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7149559878934540288

Why True Global Ventures secure the CMS Licence in Singapore & the future of AI & Crypto with Beatrice Lion

A weekly podcast dissecting the pulse of business, technology & media in Asia. Hear our host interviewing leading journalists, senior executives, respectable authors & thinkers, entrepreneurs & thought leaders to discuss the most important issues that move and shake the business landscape in the Asia Pacific. The show is originally created and hosted by Bernard Leong.