Analyse Podcast

Fresh out of the studio, Yoel Roth, Senior Vice President and Head of Trust and Safety at Match Group, joins Bernard Leong to trace how trust and safety has evolved from a behind-the-scenes function into a board-level discipline. Drawing on his earlier work in Twitter (now known as X) and his current work across the different portfolio companies under Match Group: Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, Yoel reframes online fraud as an economics problem — why a new face costs scammers more than a new SIM card. He unpacks why anonymity does not cause online abuse, compares the American, European, and Chinese regulatory models, and argues trust and safety belongs alongside customer acquisition cost (CAC) as a growth lever. The future, he closes with what great would look like, is governance — AI shifting practitioners from moderators to auditors. Episode Highlights [00:00] Quote of the Day by Yoel Roth from Match Group [01:13] Introduction: Yoel Roth from Match Group [04:30] Content moderation as governance, not just policy [06:30] A front-row seat to platform governance debates [09:00] Protecting public-facing employees from threats [10:30] First shift in trust and safety: regulation goes global [11:30] Shift: from reactive to proactive [14:30] 98% of Match Group's revenue depends on safety [16:30] Tinder Face Check and the case for friction [18:00] Biggest mistakes in building trust and safety [23:30] Why scammers target dating platforms specifically [26:00] A new face costs more than a new SIM [30:30] AI as decision enablement, not replacement [34:00] Detection plus intervention against AI deepfakes [38:00] Three regulatory regimes shaping the internet [40:00] What regulators misunderstand about dating apps [44:30] Why the future of trust and safety is governance [47:30] Spencer Rascoff and the CAC reframe [49:00] Resilience and mission in trust and safety work [51:30] Closing Profile: Yoel Roth, Senior Vice President, Trust & Safety, Match Group LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoelroth/ Personal Website: https://yoyoel.com/ 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.

Fresh out of the studio, Peter Noszek, co-founder of SuperAI and TOKEN2049 join us on a conversation that maps the widening gap between Silicon Valley's creative intensity and Asia's underutilised compute infrastructure — including 900 megawatts of GPU capacity in Johor, Malaysia sitting at low utilisation because the routing layer between US demand and Asian supply simply doesn't exist yet. Peter introduces Pax Silica, his thesis that Singapore can serve as the neutral ground where fragmented AI communities from East and West converge through curated rooms, cultural bridging, and unreasonable hospitality. They explore why the Bay Area still doesn't understand Asia, the 12-to-18-month window before GPU backlogs clear, Singapore's unique "one to a hundred" positioning for enterprise distribution, and why AI agents — from Coinbase x402 transactions to Meta's agent-to-agent one-on-ones — are already reshaping how coordination happens at scale. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Peter Noszek, co-founder of SuperAI and TOKEN2049 [01:21] Peter Noszek's origin story [04:30] SuperAI as bridge across siloed frontier tech nodes [07:34] The Bay Area hive mind and its velocity on AI [08:27] Bay Area fragmentation versus Singapore's unified strategy [10:14] Chinese frontier models: fork on approach, convergence on distribution [14:41] The infrastructure shift from GPUs to energy [17:08] Data centres in space versus a 15-hour flight to Asia [19:15] Pax Silica: composing rooms that break the ice [22:10] The 12 to 18-month window for Asia's underutilised compute [24:13] Gulf energy, European bottlenecks, and the geography of compute [26:00] Is AI in Asian financial services still pilot theatre? [28:42] When does an AI agent stop being a tool? [31:25] Coinbase x402 and AI-agent transactions [32:47] OpenClaude adoption: Singapore ahead of Silicon Valley [33:42] SuperAI 2025 Pulse survey: the agent thesis, called correctly [34:59] SuperAI 2026's six tracks — from frontier models to society [38:26] Collaboration over competition in the paradigm shift [41:16] Five-year view: open models and agent-run logistics [44:32] Closing Profile: Peter Noszek, Co-Founder, SuperAI and Token2049 Conference LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petergnoszek 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. Our Official Site: https://www.analysepodcast.com

Fresh out of the studio with John Morgan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Splunk Security at Cisco. The conversation unpacks the AI inflection point reshaping security operations — from the explosion of machine data (set to more than double in three years) to the rise of the agentic SOC, where AI agents handle detection, investigation, and response while humans focus on high-stakes decisions. John breaks down why attackers armed with AI now exploit zero-days in hours instead of weeks, why security must start with observability (including the challenge of "shadow AI"), and how CISOs are evolving from technical gatekeepers into board-level business enablers. His parting message: the entire world is learning AI together — get to it with his perspective on what great looks like for Splunk Security moving forward. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by John Morgan from Splunk Security [00:50] John's path from technologist to cybersecurity leader [01:35] Leading Splunk Security: the mandate and mission [02:20] Why Cisco and Splunk have a disproportionate AI advantage [03:18] It's not the technology — it's the human beings [04:26] Why more data demands better curation and context [05:00] AI as both signal generator and attack surface creator [06:12] Where the bottleneck sits: ingestion, analysis, or response [07:10] Splunk at the intersection of observability and security [08:29] The evolving CISO role: gatekeeper to board-level risk officer [10:22] Defining the agentic SOC and where it's heading [12:00] Alert fatigue and how agentic approaches change the dynamic [13:56] Singapore Airlines: real customer outcomes from AI security [14:47] The AI arms race: who has the structural advantage [16:11] What a mature AI-native security platform looks like [17:19] How AI is changing detection from rules-based to correlation [18:35] Advice to CISOs: observe, trust, automate [19:41] The one question John wishes more CISOs would ask [20:22] The next five years — and why five years is too slow [21:20] Closing Profile: John Morgan, GM and SVP, Splunk Security, Cisco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmorganinc/ 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. This episode is recorded in Poddster Singapore. 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

Fresh out of the studio, Borko Kovacevic, Co-founder of Poddster and Podyx, joins us to explore how he is building the world's largest podcast studio network and the operating system behind it. He shares his career journey from nearly 17 years at Microsoft across Central Europe and Asia Pacific, to making the entrepreneurial leap and launching Poddster's first flagship studio in Dubai, followed by Singapore. Borko explains how Poddster scaled by treating operations like software — standardizing over the operational framework to run studios from UAE and Singapore to now globally across the world while building a flywheel connecting corporate brands with authentic content creators. He unpacks how Podyx, the software spinoff, hit 24 markets with zero churn on day one. Closing the conversation, Borko shares why frequency and consistency in content creation — not polish — is the single most underestimated edge in the AI era, and what great looks like for Poddster and Podyx as a global studio network and platform. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Borko Kovacevic [01:00] Introduction: Borko Kovacevic [03:17] The danger of corporate complacency & achieving success too early[07:00] The leap: why he finally decided to leave Microsoft and build something[10:13] The origin story of Poddster — not planned, born from a co-founder complaint[13:00] Building a mini studio prototype inside Microsoft; discovering the market gap[16:33] Modelling Poddster like McDonald's: 90% of operations standardized and repeatable[18:23] Building the flywheel: connecting corporates with content creators at scale[23:00] The global studio partner network — a community of 150+ studio owners globally[26:12] The roadmap: New York by September, then Los Angeles and London[32:10] How Podyx was born — a prototype to solve Poddster' own booking chaos[33:47] Why existing booking tools (Calendly, Acuity) didn't fit the podcasting workflow[36:55] Podyx metrics: $6M+ in transactions, 160 paying studios across 24 markets, zero churn[37:15] Stripe named Podyx fastest-growing vertical SaaS startup from Singapore[38:34] Founder-led sales: Borko personally onboarded the first 50+ studios on calls[42:23] Making a services business operate like software — what can actually be productized[44:48] The test for every new process: can you repeat it 10 more times across locations?[49:48] The one thing most people don't know about podcasting: frequency beats polish[50:42] LLMs and agents will train on your content — why posting consistently is the real SEO[54:14] Creators vs. corporates: fundamentally different problems.[56:00] Corporates discovering long-form: the end of scripted media interviews[58:22] The AWS-Cisco example: executive dialogue that earns trust without selling[01:03:13] What great looks like for Poddster and Podyx in the next few years Profile: Borko Kovacevic, co-founder of Poddster and Podyx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/borko-kovacevic/ Poddster Website: https://poddster.com Podyx Website: https://podyx.com 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. This episode is recorded in Poddster Singapore and full disclosure: Bernard is an investor to Podyx.

Fresh out of the studio, Ken Exner, Chief Product Officer at Elastic, joins us to explore how Elastic evolved from the world's most popular open-source search engine into the context layer powering modern AI applications and agent systems. He shares his career journey from database programming to over 16 years at Amazon building AWS resilience practices, and now leading product strategy where search, observability, and security converge into a unified AI platform. Ken explains why context engineering is the defining discipline of the AI age, where developers become managers of agents, and how Elastic's 15-year enterprise head start positions it as the foundational retrieval layer between enterprise data and LLMs. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Ken Exner from Elastic [00:51] Ken's origin story: database programmer to Amazon [02:07] What attracted Ken to Elastic [02:51] Lessons from building resilient systems at AWS [04:34] How Elastic evolved from search to AI infrastructure [07:06] Elastic today: context engineering, observability, security [09:42] Why observability will be fundamentally transformed by AI [10:48] How early vector search prepared Elastic for GenAI [12:53] Context engineering: ingestion, retrieval, evaluation [15:39] The 10-year head start over purpose-built competitors [20:57] A developer's day is now all context engineering [24:16] Elastic as the bridge between enterprise data and LLMs [26:13] Agent Builder capabilities for customers [28:09] Data, tools, and context in the Elastic framework [29:39] Elastic on battleships and a Mars rover [31:00] The disorienting acceleration of AI coding models [32:07] Developers will be managers of agents [34:00] Authentication and identity for autonomous agents [35:30] Great in five years: the foundational AI layer [36:14] Disrupting observability and security from within [36:36] Closing Profile: Ken Exner, Chief Product Officer, Elastic LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-exner-b914542/ 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.

Fresh out of the studio, Nir Eyal, best-selling author of "Hooked," "Indistractable," and the forthcoming "Beyond Belief," joined us in a conversation to explore how deeply held beliefs quietly shape our attention, decisions, and success. Nir shared his personal origin story of childhood obesity that revealed how we escape uncomfortable feelings through habitual behaviors, and progressed through the Hook Model that democratized Silicon Valley's habit-formation secrets for building products like Duolingo and Fitbod. He unpacks the critical insight that the opposite of distraction isn't focus—it's traction—and introduces the Motivation Triangle framework explaining why knowing what to do isn't enough without belief. Throughout the conversation, Nir demonstrates how 90% of our distractions stem from internal triggers rather than technology itself, and challenges the moral panic around AI by drawing parallels to historical fears from the written word to social media. Last but not least, he argues that beliefs are tools, not truths, revealing how our hidden convictions fundamentally alter what we see, feel, and do—and provides a science-backed path for transforming limiting beliefs into liberating ones that unlock previously impossible performance. Episode Highlights [00:00] Quote of the Day by Nir Eyal [01:02] Introduction: Nir Eyal [04:45] Hook model democratizes habit-forming product secrets [06:42] Startups sell painkillers not vitamins [08:59] Traction versus distraction defines intentional living [10:24] Distraction is behavior not medical addiction [11:28] AI triggers predictable moral panic cycle [14:21] First generation without mass starvation faces excess [16:58] Hook model: trigger action reward investment [23:26] Persuasion helps people achieve their goals [29:39] Internal triggers cause ninety percent of distractions [32:36] Indistractable readers didn't implement the steps [34:46] Motivation triangle requires behavior benefit belief [36:19] Steve Jobs willed reality through liberating beliefs [43:43] Facts beliefs faith require intellectual humility [45:41] Beliefs are tools not truths [48:32] Beliefs reshape attention anticipation agency [51:30] Closing Profile: Nir Eyal, author of "Beyond Belief", "Indistractable" and "Hooked" Main Site: https://www.nirandfar.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/ 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.

Fresh out of the studio, Patrick Kelly, Vice President for Asia Pacific at Arize AI, joins us to explore the critical world of AI observability, evaluation, and infrastructure and how Arize AI will start their go to market across the region. Beginning with his transition from Databricks to Arize AI, Patrick explained how the company's mission centers on making AI work for people by helping teams observe, evaluate, and continuously improve their AI agents in production. Emphasizing that evaluations are the most important requirement for AI systems in 2025-2026, he revealed a striking insight: approximately 50% of AI agents fail silently in production because organizations don't know what's happening. Through compelling case studies from Booking.com, Flipkart, and AT&T, Patrick explained how Arize AI enables real-time observability and online evaluations, achieving results like 40% accuracy improvements and 84% cost reductions. Patrick concluded by sharing his vision for success across Asia Pacific's diverse markets - from regulatory frameworks in Korea and Singapore to language localization challenges in Vietnam - emphasizing the three pillars that remain constant: helping customers make money, control costs, and manage risk in an era where AI governance has become paramount. Last but not least, he shares what great would look like for Arize AI in the Asia Pacific Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Patrick Kelly [01:10] Bernard introduces AI evaluation and infrastructure topic [02:24] Patrick's journey from Databricks to Arize AI [03:20] Arize AI's mission: making AI work for people [04:00] Understanding agentic systems and their complexity [05:18] Observability, evaluation, and development framework explained [06:27] Creating continuous feedback loops for AI improvement [07:00] On-premises and air-gapped deployment capabilities [08:00] Open Telemetry and Open Inference standards [09:08] Evaluations are critical for 2025-2026 success [10:36] Booking.com case: real-time production AB testing [14:36] Phoenix open source and Open Inference: entry to Arize ecosystem [16:00] Travel industry use cases: Skyscanner and Flipkart [17:53] AT&T case: 40% accuracy improvement, 84% cost reduction [19:36] 50% of production agents fail silently [20:26] Korea and Singapore MAS launches AI risk management framework [22:08] Arize AI CEO's 10 predictions for AI 2026 [22:41] Cursor for X: AI engineering everywhere [24:06] Context and session state matter critically [26:27] Harness: new buzzword for agent orchestration [34:13] Three pillars: make money, control costs, manage risk [36:00] Asia Pacific diversity: India to Japan [37:12] Language and cultural nuances in evaluations [38:00] Closing Profile: Patrick Kelly, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Arize AILinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kelly-aab6168/?ref=analyse.asia 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.

By popular demand, Michael Smith Jr., co-host of The Generalist podcast, and Daniel Cerventus Lim, semi-retired entrepreneur and community builder in Malaysia, return for another candid deep-dive into Southeast Asia and India tech landscape. Fresh off India's record-breaking IPO wave that's drawing regional companies like Pine Labs to redomicile, they dissect what this exit boom means for a Southeast Asian ecosystem still struggling with venture returns. Michael delivers his characteristically unflinching take on why "the year of [insert country]" never materializes beyond Singapore and Indonesia, while making the provocative case that most VCs fundamentally misunderstand B2B distribution strategy—specifically how hyperscaler marketplaces like AWS and Microsoft provide the GTM playbook that separates successful exits from perennial fundraising. Daniel shares emerging insights from the SME acquisition space, revealing the stark reality that traditional businesses are "seeing black" while venture-backed startups continue "seeing red." Together, they debate whether we're witnessing an AI infrastructure bubble that will pop or simply taper, examine why Southeast Asia leads globally in AI adoption despite the disconnect with venture outcomes, and question the fragility of cloud infrastructure after recent AWS and CloudFlare outages. The conversation culminates in a sobering assessment: the region has achieved a remarkable $300 billion digital economy milestone, but the path forward may require accepting longer timelines, smaller profitable exits over unicorn dreams, and modernizing traditional businesses rather than building the next ByteDance. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quotes of the Day by Michael, Daniel & Bernard[02:12] Record India IPOs signal redomiciling trend from Singapore[03:53] Pine Labs exit provides significant Southeast Asia returns[04:41] Indonesia's venture funding freeze despite strong exit activity[11:29] Year of whatever narrative never materializes for any country in ASEAN[15:05] AI infrastructure bubble debate: does it pop or fizzle?[18:42] OpenAI's unprecedented growth speed creates new tech pantheon[21:00] Recent AWS and CloudFlare outages highlight infrastructure fragility[24:00] AI agents remain in early stages of development[28:00] Real-world robotics models still lack adequate data foundations[34:00] AppPoint's dual NASDAQ-SGX listing demonstrates successful B2B strategy[38:00] B2B marketplace strategy provides essential distribution for startups[44:00] Reflections on eConomySEA 10th Year Report 2025[53:00] SME market offers modernization opportunities with lower risk[54:00] Southeast Asia modernization surprises many American visitors[56:00] SME acquisition market shows profitability versus startup losses[57:00] 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.

Fresh out of the studio, Jay Parikh, Executive Vice President of Core AI at Microsoft, joins us to explore how Microsoft is fundamentally transforming software development by placing AI at the center of every stage of the development lifecycle. He shares his career journey from scaling the internet at Akamai Technologies during the dot-com boom, to leading infrastructure at Facebook through the mobile revolution, and now driving Microsoft's AI-first transformation where the definition of "developer" itself is rapidly evolving. Jay explains that Microsoft's Core AI team, is moving beyond traditional tiered architecture to a new paradigm where large language models can think, reason, plan, and interact with tools—shifting developer time from typing code to specification and verification while enabling parallel project execution through specialized AI agents. He highlights how organizations like Singapore Airlines cut project timelines from 11 weeks to 5 weeks using GitHub Copilot and challenges both individuals and enterprises to raise their level of ambition: moving from being amazed by AI to being frustrated it can't do more, while building cultural experiments that unlock this exponential technology. Closing the conversation, Jay shares what great looks like for Microsoft's Core AI to enable AI transformation for every organization around the world. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the day by Jay Parikh [01:00] Introducing Microsoft's Core AI strategy and transformation [02:34] Career philosophy: pursuing hard problems and discomfort [04:08] Core AI team's mission: empowering every developer [06:00] Reinventing the entire software development lifecycle [09:17] Parallel projects and agents transforming development workflows [12:12] AI first strategy across Microsoft's product ecosystem [15:37] GitHub platform beyond code: context and orchestration [20:33] Building AI platforms: lessons from scale experience [21:00] Two mindsets: amazement versus frustration with AI [22:15] Raising ambition and pushing AI tool boundaries [25:00] Enterprise adoption challenges: tools and cultural transformation [28:00] Learning loops: shrinking circles to accelerate growth [31:00] Alignment without tight coupling across global teams [36:56] Concrete trends: use tools, understand model development [40:27] Responsible AI and security built from start [43:30] Asia innovation: two thirds of developers here [46:19] Raising ambition to unlock human creativity collaboration [48:35] Goal: AI transformation for every global organization Profile: Jay Parikh, Executive Vice President, Core AI, Microsoft LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayparikh/ 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.

Raghav Kapoor, CEO & co-founder of Smartkarma, joined us for a conversation on the launch of PvtIQ and the structural transformation of Asia's private markets. Drawing from his experience building Smartkarma's independent research platform, Raghav explained how client demand for pre-IPO coverage led to creating PvtIQ, an intelligence platform designed to bridge the critical information gap in Southeast Asia's private markets. We discussed the striking imbalance where $74 billion has been invested into the region's tech ecosystem but only $23 billion has been returned through exits, highlighting the urgent need for better data infrastructure and price discovery. Raghav shared unique insights on how families dominate the region's investment landscape, why private and public markets are converging into one, and his vision for PvtIQ to become the intelligence backbone supporting companies, investors, and regulators in bringing more transparency and efficiency to Asia's rapidly evolving private market ecosystem. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Raghav Kapoor [00:57]] Smartkarma launches PvtIQ for Asia's private markets [03:11]] Investors requesting coverage three years before IPO [04:08]] Supporting MAS equity market development program [05:24]] Singapore's public markets languished despite private growth [06:13]] Path from fundraising to public listing explained [08:37]] $74 billion invested, only $23 billion exits [09:45]] Companies need support to achieve IPO readiness [11:00]] Capital chasing deals shifted to improving disclosure [11:57]] Southeast Asia's extreme market fragmentation challenges [13:23]] Families dominate and influence Southeast Asian markets [14:38]] Lack of data creates serious structural challenges [19:01]] Private market investors transitioning from momentum investing [20:18]] Digital banks provide disclosure model for research [21:24]] Late stage private rounds resemble public IPOs [23:26]] Liquidity without information is just volatility [24:06]] Private and public markets converging into one [25:30]] Information gap is the single biggest opportunity [27:00]] Private market research TAM already $8 billion [28:57]] What great looks like: intelligence backbone for Asia's private markets [30:57]] Closing Profile: Raghav Kapoor, CEO and co-founder, SmartkarmaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ragkap/ 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. Recorded in Poddster Singapore

Fresh out of the studio, Karen Hao, investigative journalist and author of "Empire of AI" joined us in a conversation to unravel how companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI have become modern empires reshaping society, labor, and democracy itself. Karen traces her journey from mechanical engineering at MIT to becoming one of the tech industry's most critical voices, sharing how Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem has distorted toward self-interest rather than the public good. She unpacks the four characteristics that make AI companies mirror colonial empires: resource extraction through data scraping, labor exploitation of annotation workers, knowledge monopolies where most AI researchers are industry-funded, and quasi-religious quests to build an "AI God." Throughout the conversation, Karen reveals OpenAI's governance dysfunction stemming from its contradictory non-profit-for-profit structure and shares the inspiring story of Chilean water activists who successfully blocked Google's data center from draining their community's freshwater resources. She explains how Sam Altman's plans for 250 gigawatts of data center capacity—equivalent to four dozen New York Cities—would be environmentally catastrophic, while demonstrating how China's export restrictions paradoxically spurred more efficient AI innovation. Last but not least, she argues that empathy-driven journalism remains irreplaceable and calls for global citizens to hold these companies accountable to the broader public interest. Episode Highlights:[00:00] Quote of the Day by Karen Hao[00:47] Introduction: Karen Hao, Author of "Empire of AI"[01:44] From MIT engineering to investigating AI journalism[02:51] Silicon Valley distorts innovation toward self-benefit[04:12] AI companies as modern empires of power[06:00] Four traits of Empire: extraction, exploitation, monopolies, ideology[09:01] Quasi-religious movements driving Silicon Valley AI development[10:04] AGI believers speak specialized fanatical vocabulary[11:16] OpenAI founding: nonprofit facade, profit ambitions[13:53] Sam Altman firing: board's failed governance attempt[17:13] Fragmentation: every billionaire building their own AI[19:06] China's export controls sparked efficient AI innovation[21:57] Silicon Valley lacks American democratic values entirely[25:06] Chilean activists successfully blocked Google's water extraction[28:51] Sam Altman's 250 gigawatts: four dozen New York cities[31:21] Scaling continues despite base model asymptote reached[32:53] Benchmarks faulty: training data unknown, results unreliable[39:11] Success: sparking conversation about AI's human costs[39:40] Closing Profile: Karen Hao, Author of Empire of AI and Investigative Journalist LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karendhao/Personal Site: https://karendhao.com/ 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.

Simon Milner, Vice President of Public Policy for Asia Pacific at Meta, joins us to explore how Meta's deliberate commitment to open source AI is reshaping innovation across the world's most diverse and dynamic region. He shares his journey from the BBC to nearly 14 years at Meta, where he built policy teams from the ground up to lead Meta's Asia Pacific strategy. Simon unpacks Meta's open source philosophy behind the Llama models, explaining how openness accelerates innovation through community scrutiny, provides governments greater control over sensitive data, and enables local developers to fine-tune models for languages like Korean, Vietnamese, and Bahasa Indonesia. He highlights compelling use cases across the region in Japan and Korea. Looking ahead, Simon reveals why the future of AI is not on our phones but in wearables like AI-enabled glasses that create always-on assistants seeing what we see and hearing what we hear, enabling us to be more present in the world while Meta supercharges its family of apps serving billions globally. Last but not least he shares what great looks like for Meta in the Asia Pacific on open source AI. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Simon Milner from Meta[01:37] Simon's journey: BBC, BT, Meta's 14-year evolution[03:12] Navigating diverse regulatory landscapes across global markets[05:24] Career advice: Take risks, embrace unexpected opportunities[07:54] Open source AI democratizes access and innovation[10:21] Meta sparked open model trend, others followed[14:49] Open models enable faster innovation through community[16:21] Government control and data sovereignty with open[19:13] Governance mechanisms: transparency, red teaming, community engagement[22:49] Meta learned responsible AI through 20 years experience[25:49] Singapore, Japan, Korea developers using Lama locally[28:26] AI isn't just big companies and includes local innovation[31:15] Keeping AI open prevents fragmented national bubbles[34:01] Governments balancing open innovation with national interests[37:00] Future AI: wearables and glasses, not phones[38:19] Always-on AI assistants seeing and hearing you[41:35] Supercharging Meta apps and building new products[42:00] Closing 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 and edited in both video and audio format by G. Thomas Craig. Visit our Analyse main site: https://analyse.asia

Fresh out of Oracle AI World 2025, Chris Chelliah, Senior Vice President of Technology and Customer Strategy for Japan and Asia Pacific at Oracle, joins us to unpack how Oracle is positioning itself as the definitive enterprise AI platform across the region. He shares his career journey from a computer science geek working on distributed databases to leading technology strategy across a market representing two-thirds of the world's population. Chris explains Oracle's comprehensive four-tier AI stack—infrastructure, data platform, applications, and agentic orchestration—emphasizing how this unique full-stack ownership enables enterprises to consume AI out of the box and extend seamlessly without ripping and replacing existing systems. He highlights compelling use cases from financial fraud detection and healthcare automation to precision agriculture and energy grid optimization. Closing the conversation, Chris shares his vision for what great Oracle will look like in Asia Pacific, continuing its 50-year legacy as the behind-the-scenes platform provider powering everything from OpenAI and TikTok to global banking infrastructure. Profile: Chris Chelliah, Senior Vice President of Technology and Customer Strategy for Japan and Asia Pacific at Oracle https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrischelliah/ Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the day by Chris Chelliah [02:10] Chris's journey from computer science to enterprise tech [03:13] Technology tinkering and Oracle's innovation culture explained [04:17] Two-thirds world population drives APJ market potential [05:06] Career advice: Find passion, own your brand [06:54] Oracle's mission: Unlocking data value for enterprises [07:58] 47,000 customers, 44% yearly consumption growth in JPAC [08:51] Oracle AI World 2025: AI changes everything announcement [09:12] Four-tier stack: Infrastructure, data, applications, agents [11:25] AI Data Platform enables production-grade AI systems [14:14] AI Agent Studio and Marketplace solve scaling challenges [15:12] Agents as higher-level abstraction for enterprise automation [16:27] Real-world AI use cases across industries shared [18:49] Multi-cloud strategy accelerates enterprise AI adoption [21:16] Partners enable scale with 100 marketplace solutions [23:01] Convergent AI: Consume applications then extend capabilities [26:51] Multi-cloud and multi-model future requires strong governance [27:31] Four-tier security isolation from infrastructure to applications [29:57] AI agents need enterprise-level data residency controls [31:02] Using AI to accelerate cloud migration skills [[33:08] Design thinking to working prototype in days [36:10] Success metrics: Beat your personal best daily [39:55] Why Oracle differs: Only four-tier stack player [43:01] What great looks like for Oracle in the Asia Pacific [45:51] 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.

Fresh out of the studio, we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the e-Conomy SEA [Southeast Asia] Report with Sapna Chadha from Google, Florian Hoppe from Bain & Company, and Cassie Wu from Temasek, celebrating a decade of tracking Southeast Asia's digital transformation. The panel reflected on the region's remarkable achievement of reaching $300 billion in GMV—exceeding the original $200 billion goal by 1.5x—alongside revenue growth of 11x over the past decade. The panellists examined pivotal themes including Southeast Asia's position as the world's most AI-curious region with three times more interest than elsewhere, the explosive rise of video commerce and the maturation of digital financial services. The conversation explored the expansion from SEA-6 to 10 ASEAN countries, the ecosystem's resilience through multiple crisis cycles, and the shift from growth-at-all-costs to sustainable profitability. The episode concludes with each panellist sharing their vision for 2030, emphasizing building trust in AI adoption, creating an inclusive AI economy that benefits SMEs alongside large platforms, and navigating the AI transition gracefully to unlock innovation while addressing employment challenges—underscoring Southeast Asia's evolution from digital catch-up player to global innovation leader rewriting the playbook for digital adoption. "We set this audacious goal of 200 billion by 2025. People told us we were crazy. In 2016 when we put that ambition out there, we've actually reached 1.5x that and we've hit 300 billion. And so it's just reflective of this incredible economy." - Sapna Chadha"Indonesia e-commerce still I think is larger or about the same size as all of India e-commerce. And yet the attention tends to be a little bit veering away from Southeast Asia, but this is actually a real economic powerhouse I think for all of Asia Pacific." - Florian Hoppe"Southeast Asia as a region, as we think about digital economy adoption, we are not playing catch up anymore. In many ways we're leading the digital adoption. We're writing how digital economy, how digital adoption could look like for a population and demographic like us." - Cassie WuProfiles: Sapna Chadha, Vice President Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, Google Asia PacificFlorian Hoppe, Partner at Bain & CompanyCassie Wu, Director, Southeast Asia at Temaseke-Conomy SEA 2025: https://economysea.withgoogle.com/Episode Highlights:[00:00] Quote of the Day by Sapna Chadha, Florian Hoppe & Cassie Wu[01:17] 10th anniversary of e-Conomy SEA Report[03:00] Digital economy hits 300 billion, exceeding goals[04:09] Ecosystem resilience through multiple crisis cycles[06:10] Report expands from SEA-6 to ASEAN-10[08:13] Southeast Asia most underappreciated AI opportunity[09:31] Indonesia e-commerce matches all of India[10:04] Region leading digital adoption, not catching up[12:13] Cash no longer king, payments fully inverted[13:00] Revenue growth 11x over past decade[15:00] 300 billion GMV despite headwinds and tariffs[16:00] Video commerce grew 5x in three years[19:03] Digital payments north of 60% of transactions[23:32] Super apps unique to Southeast Asia ecosystem[25:45] Data center capacity growing faster than anywhere[27:01] Lower labor costs delayed AI adoption initially[31:00] Ecosystem healthier than ever before[33:08] Talent is the critical AI bottleneck[35:19] Digital infrastructure must align with green economy[39:00] Southeast Asia remains globally underappreciated[40:39] Can Southeast Asia leapfrog into AI era[43:00] ClosingPodcast 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.

Fresh out of the studio, Arnaud Frade, Managing Partner at Mesh Advisory and author of the upcoming book The Sentient Startup, joins us to explore how AI is fundamentally transforming entrepreneurship through the radical concept of AI as a true co-founder rather than merely a tool. He distinguishes between startups that are merely "AI-onboard" versus true sentient startups where AI operates as part of how the business is run, and introducing the concept of Machine Resources (MR) as a new organizational function alongside Human Resources to manage evolving AI models and maintain knowledge integrity. He emphasizes the co-intelligence model over the sterile human-versus-machine debate, highlighting how the 95% AI project failure rate stems from organizational issues rather than technology problems—a reality perfectly captured by the Banani framework (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible) that explains why companies struggle with AI readiness. Closing the conversation, Arnaud shares what great looks like for The Sentient Startup: being part of the essential conversation about AI governance, accessibility across income levels, child safety, and building better regulations. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Arnaud Frade [01:00] Introduction: Arnaud Frade [02:49] Arnaud's career journey [05:27] Advice: stick to values and volunteer for opportunities [07:21] Arnaud's story on his first book about algorithmic marketing [09::32] Sam Altman's solopreneur unicorn comment was the epiphany [10:04] Sentient startup: AI as co-founder, enhanced by co-intelligence [12:15] AI onboard versus AI as true co-founder distinction [16:45] Barriers to entry reducing with AI and agentic models [23:40] MIT report: 95% of AI pilots fail organizationally [28:15] Need overlay systems for effective agentic AI [30:45] Culture: retain humanity when engaging with AI [36:10] Governance frameworks for AI decision-making transparency [40:10] Banani framework: brittle, anxious, non-linear, incomprehensible [42:16] Co-intelligence model versus human versus machine debate [43:19] Goal: be part of the conversation on AI [44:15] Focus on regulations, access equity, and child safety[45:00] Closing Profile: Arnaud Frade, author of "The Sentient Startup" which will launch on May 19, 2026 via Penguin Random House. Register at thesentientstartup.com for community updatesLinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnaudfrade

Fresh out of the studio, Ralph Haupter, President & CRO, Small Medium Enterprises and Channels at Microsoft, joins us to explore how Microsoft is empowering 400 million small and medium businesses globally across 56 counties through a partner-first strategy that combines platform standardization with deep specialization. He shares his career journey spanning over 20 years at Microsoft, from running Europe to leading Greater China, building Asia's geographical operations in Singapore, and eventually taking on global SME strategy. Ralph explains that Microsoft's unique advantage lies in being a platform company at its finest, offering a complete technology stack from productivity to infrastructure, security, and applications—all with core AI integration—while relying on a specialized partner ecosystem to deliver local expertise and support. He highlights how partners are creating entirely new business models on agentic AI while emphasizing the four critical partnership moments from transaction to ongoing support that most companies neglect. Closing the conversation, Ralph shares what great looks like for Microsoft. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Ralph Haupter [00:54] Ralph's 20+ year Microsoft career journey from Europe to China to Global [02:19] Ralph's Experience in Microsoft Greater China [04:24] Giving space to local country leaders [06:16] Career advice: Get out of comfort zone [08:02] Microsoft's 400 million SME customer opportunity [11:00] AI accessibility for small business competitiveness [13:09] Satya's vision: Empower every organization globally [15:00] Microsoft as AI platform company strategy [17:24] Standardization enables partner ecosystem at scale [21:22] Security partners drive consultative innovation [25:15] Full stack portfolio simplifies SME technology [28:00] Training investment for partners and customers [32:00] Four critical partnership moments: Sales to support [35:00] Local partner presence matters by geography [40:36] Scale requires clarity, simplicity, and standards [42:36] Global Leadership Lessons: Learning from positive performance signal deviations [45:22] Customers should ask partners for expertise [47:34] What does Great Look Like for Microsoft SME & Channel Globally [48:00] Closing Profile: Ralph Haupter, President and CRO, Small Medium Enterprises and Channel (SME&C), Microsoft LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphhaupter/ 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.

Fresh out of the studio and we hit our 500th episode milestone, guest host Yana Fry from Yana TV turns the tables on Bernard Leong, CEO of Dorje AI and host of Analyse Asia, in a special ask-me-anything format. We start with Bernard's journey from finding his first guest to navigating 11 years of podcasting, revealing his 12-word life philosophy: "Learn from everyone, follow no one, observe the patterns, work like hell." Following on, Bernard shares how his theoretical physics background provides the tools on everything from digital transformation to building Dorje AI's vision of reimagining ERP systems. The conversation dives deep into Bernard's pragmatic idealist worldview, product management philosophy and focus on the future. Bernard announces a major rebrand: Analyse Asia is dropping "Asia" to become the Analyse Podcast as it expands to a global audience, marking a new chapter in the show's evolution."For Dorje AI, what great looks like is being able to solve the ERP problem for businesses. It could take five years, ten years, or even two decades — because every technology adoption cycle takes time. We’re at the beginning of a massive shift, but many still cling to the old ways of doing things. The one thing I’ve learned about digital transformation is this: everyone loves transformation, but they hate to change. Everything that people say will happen in two years usually takes five.When I think about Analyse Asia, greatness for me is being able to do an interview without looking at a set of questions — to tease out a guest’s story authentically, without prejudice, without being a fanboy. Just getting the story out. If I can do that, that’s great. Of course, hitting a million subscribers would be fantastic — that’s the next milestone I’m chasing. But for me, it’s always: ‘I’ve reached this milestone — what’s next?’When you think about frugality at the highest level, it’s not about resources — it’s about time. The real measure is how much time you can spend doing what truly matters. That’s what great looks like for me: asking, what’s the minimum amount of time I can make the maximum impact? Maybe I’ll never fully get there. But if we can say we lived this life without regret — that’s enough." - Bernard LeongEpisode Highlights:[00:00] Quote of the Day by Bernard Leong[01:00] Introduction: Yana Fry (Guest Host) and Bernard Leong[02:05] Early Days of Analyse Asia Finding first guest was biggest initial challenge[04:30] Looking at Everything from a corporate executive like a theoretical physicist[06:23] Podcast interviews are combinations of science and art[08:19] Pragmatic idealist philosophy shapes Bernard's worldview[10:17] 12 Word Advice: Learn from Everyone, Follow No One, Observe the Patterns & Work like Hell[13:00] Dorje AI solving fundamental ERP ledger problems[16:15] Attacking competitors' strongest strength - Lessons of history from Kublai Khan[21:34] New is Easy and Right is Hard for Product Management[24:00] Audio to video was hardest podcast pivot[29:25] Japanese craftsman approach keeps Bernard going[33:09] Analyse Asia rebranding to Analyse Podcast globally[39:55] Father's 50-year loyalty shaped Bernard's management philosophy[44:00] Asia is diverse cities, not monolithic continent[46:00] Most problems aren't AI problems after questioning[51:00] What does Great Look Like for Dorje AI, Analyse Asia and Bernard Leong?[52:10] ClosingProfile: - Bernard Leong, Host of Analyse Asia Podcast, CEO of Dorje AI https://dorje.ai, Adjunct Associate Professor from NUS Business School & Institute of Systems Science. - Guest Host: Yana Fry from @yanatvsg which we highly recommend and subscribe to: https://www.youtube.com/@yanatvsgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanafry/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.

Fresh out of the studio, Ling Hai, President of Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa at MasterCard, joins us to explore how payment networks are evolving to embrace stable coins, AI agents, and the future of digital commerce across diverse global markets. He shares his career journey from management consulting to retail banking and eventually to MasterCard. Ling Hai shares that MasterCard is a global technology company that creates interoperability and universal acceptance, with technology services like cybersecurity, data insights, and consulting increasingly contributing to revenue beyond traditional payment processing. He highlights compelling innovations from Asia Pacific leading the way, including Singapore's nationwide open loop transit system and MasterCard's approach to stable coins as settlement vehicles alongside traditional currencies, while emphasizing how the company bridges the DeFi universe with the physical merchant world through on-ramp and off-ramp solutions for crypto adoption in markets like Latin America. Closing the conversation, Ling Hai shares what great looks like for MasterCard to become the operating system of commerce and the digital economy.“MasterCard, in the end, is a global technology company. We run a global network, and we’re very much a data company. So, in all of this, when we handle people’s money and when we handle people’s data, trust is the most important thing. If we lose that, we lose our business. For us, that trust factor is absolutely critical — it’s embedded in everything we do.As the world evolves, we’ve gone from handling payments in the physical world, to e-commerce in the digital world. Tomorrow, with AI, it’s going to be agentic — agents will be doing commerce for us. But the common thread across all of this is still safety, security, trust, and also ease of use.Today’s consumer doesn’t want to trade off between convenience and security — they want both. So when we think about our solutions and services, that’s part of our design thinking. We must ensure they are easy, convenient, safe, secure, and trusted by everyone.” - Ling HaiEpisode Highlights:[00:00] Quote of the Day by Ling Hai[01:00] Introduction: Ling Hai[03:00] Overview of Mastercard and balancing global consistency with localization[06:00] MasterCard's vision: inclusive digital economy for everyone[09:13] Open loop transit leading digital payment adoption[11:14] Asia Pacific: most advanced multi-payment region globally[14:03] MasterCard is a global technology company focused on trust.[16:00] Stable coins create more use cases for MasterCard[20:38] Two universes: DeFi and traditional finance will coexist[21:07] Payment secret sauce: resolving disputes when things fail[24:00] Stable coins stronger for B2B, wholesale settlement use[25:38] Be at the table or you're on table[29:00] AI enables personalization beyond one-size-fits-all marketing[31:24] Agent commerce requires new rules and payment standards[32:23] Tokenization and authentication: no regret moves for future[34:16] MasterCard network supports real-time payments beyond cards[35:00] What does great look like:: Operating system of commerce and digital economy[36:00] ClosingProfile: Ling Hai, President of Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, MastercardLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ling-hai-a7952ab8/ 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.asiaAnalyse Asia Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kkRwzRZa4JCICr2vm0vGl Analyse Asia Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/analyse-asia-with-bernard-leong/id914868245

Fresh out of the studio, Yuying Deng, Co-founder and CEO of Esevel, shares her transformative journey from corporate lawyer to healthcare operator to tech entrepreneur with our guest host Yana Fry from Yana TV. Yuying discusses how the pandemic's sudden shift to remote work in April 2020 revealed critical gaps in IT infrastructure for distributed teams, inspiring her to launch Esevel—a platform now serving companies across 88 countries. Yuying challenges the traditional HQ-centric worldview, advocating that "HQ should be a mindset, not a location," and shares how Esevel deliberately builds leadership opportunities for talented professionals regardless of whether they're based in Manila, Singapore, or São Paulo. Last but not least, Yuying shares what great would look like for Esevel's future: becoming the indispensable tool companies think of first when scaling global teams, while proving that talent and performance matter more than location."Many companies that say they do distributed and remote work actually still have a very HQ-centric worldview. That means leadership is in HQ, strategy is formed in HQ, and high-impact jobs are in the HQ as well. So when they hire remote and distributed teams. For example, in the Philippines, Brazil, and India they use these more as back-office functions. So you have very talented people who join them there, thinking that they could rise in a global company. But very soon they find that they hit a glass ceiling and are no longer able to advance, and so they move on to another firm. I think that’s a massive waste of talent, especially if you’re talking about here in Asia. This is the world’s fastest-growing region. People are ambitious, people are bright, and they are able to take on leadership positions if they’re given the opportunity to. This is one thing that we have really tried to reverse at Esevel. You do not have to be at HQ in order to rise into a leadership position. As long as you perform your job and perform it well, we look at performance more than location. So I think that is one thing that has to shift: HQ shouldn’t be a location. HQ should actually be a mindset. And I think that’s something that a lot of remote companies or distributed work companies have correct when it comes to that." - Deng Yuying Episode Highlights:[00:00] Quote of the Day by Deng Yuying[02:00] Introducing Yuying Deng, CEO of Esevel[02:25] From lawyer to operator to founder[03:32] MBA at INSEAD shaped entrepreneurial journey[03:53] Built community care division for Orange Valley[04:24] Family business dynamics and PE exit lessons[05:44] Esevel: IT operations platform for distributed teams[07:56] Company DNA shaped by pandemic remote work[08:38] Importance of staying close to customer problems[10:16] Managing operations across 88 countries globally[12:39] Failure is a feature, not a bug[14:33] Operational complexity and doing boring work well[16:35] Future of hybrid and remote work[19:48] HQ should be a mindset not location[21:25] Characteristics needed for remote work success[22:40] Growth opportunities regardless of employee location[24:58] Founding a company is like raising child[26:52] No perfect time for major life decisions[29:31] Ethical principles learned from parents[30:33] Vision for Esevel and family independence[32:28] Partnership requires mutual support for success[35:48] Rising through adversity with determination[36:34] Legacy focused on happy, independent childrenProfile: Yuying Deng, CEO of Esevel: https://esevel.comLinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuyingdeng/Guest Host: Yana Fry from Yana TV: https://www.youtube.com/@yanatvsgLinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanafry/ 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.

Fresh out of the studio, Kamal Brar, Senior Vice President of Worldwide ISV and Asia Pacific/Middle East at Confluent, joins us to explore how data streaming platforms are becoming the critical foundation for enterprise AI across the regions. He shares his career journey from Oracle to Confluent, reflecting on his passion for open source technologies and how the LAMP stack era shaped his understanding of real-time data challenges. Kamal explains Confluent's evolution from the category creator of Kafka to a comprehensive data streaming platform combining Kafka, Flink, and Iceberg, emphasizing how real-time data infrastructure enables businesses to harness both public AI models and proprietary enterprise data while maintaining governance and security. He highlights compelling customer stories from India's National Payments Corporation processing billions of UPI transactions daily to healthcare AI applications serving patient needs, showcasing how data streaming solves fragmentation challenges that plague 89% of enterprises attempting AI adoption. Addressing implementation hurdles, he stresses that data infrastructure is the most critical piece for AI success, advocating for standards-based interoperability through Kafka's protocol and Confluent's extensive connector ecosystem to unlock siloed legacy systems. Closing the conversation, Kamal shares his vision for Asia Pacific becoming Confluent's largest growth region, powered by massive-scale innovations in payments, mobile transformation, and AI on the edge for autonomous vehicles and next-generation interfaces. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Kamal Brar [01:00] Kamal's Career journey from computing to open source [04:00] Attraction to data streaming and Kafka ecosystem [07:00] Confluent's mission: data streaming platform leadership [10:00] Why data streaming is critical for AI [13:00] Report findings: 89% eager to adopt DSP [14:00] Data fragmentation remains biggest enterprise challenge [17:00] Real-time visibility becomes competitive differentiator [20:00] AI-enabled applications transforming enterprise stack [24:00] India payments: Kafka powers UPI infrastructure [27:00] Data governance and security in AI [33:00] Data infrastructure: foundation for scalable AI [35:00] Connectors enable seamless system interoperability [38:00] Interoperability unlocks fragmented enterprise data [39:00] Asia Pacific driving aggressive regional growth [42:00] What does great look like for Confluent [44:00] Closing Profile: Kamal Brar, Senior Vice President WW ISV [Independent Software Vendor] & Asia Pacific/Middle East, Confluent https://www.confluent.io https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamalbrar 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