Southeast Asia’s female business leaders share their insights

In Southeast Asia, the tech industry is undergoing a significant transformation not just in the use and adoption of tech. A growing emphasis on equity and inclusion is driving change across startups, venture capital, and multinational corporations. Overcoming the barriers, female leaders are making meaningful strides, redefining success and leadership in a traditionally male-dominated sector. This shift reflects broader global efforts, but in Southeast Asia, the cultural and economic diversity of the region adds unique dimensions to the journey toward equality.

Over the past year, we have had the voices of many talented leaders shine through. We feature highlights from the interviews with six accomplished female leaders in the industry who are shaping this movement in their respective fields. Their stories and strategies highlight how they navigate challenges, advocate for change, and foster inclusive growth in their organizations.

1. Antoinette Patterson, CEO and co-founder of Safe Space, a leading mental health platform based in Singapore.
2. Violet Yeo, co-founder of Cloudsquire, which is the company behind the new AI feedback tool that is able to understand local accents and nuance.
3. Belinda Koh, Senior Director & Head of Inside Sales APAC and LATAM at PayPal, the global payments firm.
4. Dr. PohHui Chia, Director at Vickers Venture Partners, the leading venture arm of Singaporean bank DBS.
5. Nopparat Yokubon, Country Lead for ANZ and SEA at Moloco Ads, a cloud-based programmatic advertising platform.
6. Lastly, Linda Ang, Head of Strategy at aelf, which is a blockchain network.

These business leaders demonstrate that the journey toward equity is not just a corporate objective but a collective effort that requires persistence, innovation, and collaboration. Their insights offer valuable lessons for individuals and organizations working toward a more inclusive future.

Antoinette Patterson, Safe Space

Antoinette discussed how the mental health industry in Southeast Asia has evolved over the last few years.

• Increased awareness and acceptance: Public understanding of mental health issues has grown, reducing stigma and encouraging more individuals to seek help. Campaigns, media coverage, and advocacy have played significant roles in this shift.
• Digital transformation: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital mental health services, including teletherapy, virtual counselling, and mental health apps, making support more accessible.
• Corporate engagement: Companies are increasingly implementing Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to support employee well-being, recognizing the impact of mental health on productivity and retention.
• Innovative partnerships: Collaborations, such as Safe Space’s partnership with the National Healthcare Group in Singapore, have led to tailored mental health programs offering counselling, coaching, and educational resources to meet specific organizational needs.

Violet Yeo, Cloudsquire

Quality feedback continues to be a challenge for companies, especially with the diverse languages and localizations in the region. Violet Yeo discusses the need for better feedback and how AI is supporting the growth of the industry.

• AI-powered feedback analysis: Hearback utilizes artificial intelligence to capture and analyze real-time verbal feedback, assessing tone, emotion, and intent to provide deeper insights than traditional text-based surveys.
• Multilingual capabilities: Designed for Southeast Asia’s linguistic diversity, Hearback processes multiple languages, allowing users to provide feedback in their preferred language, enhancing authenticity and accuracy.
• Accelerated decision-making: By automating transcription and analysis, Hearback enables businesses to quickly interpret feedback, facilitating prompt responses to customer and employee concerns, which is crucial in fast-paced markets.
• Encouraging candid input: The platform offers anonymous voice-based feedback options, fostering open communication in hierarchical cultures where direct criticism may be discouraged, thereby improving organizational culture.

Belinda Koh, PayPal

Belinda Koh, Senior Director & Head of Inside Sales APAC and LATAM at PayPal, discusses the evolving payments industry in Southeast Asia and how consumer expectations are changing.

• Digital commerce growth: Southeast Asia’s increasing internet penetration and smartphone adoption have led to a surge in online shopping, with digital payment volumes growing nearly 10% year-on-year.
• Evolving consumer expectations: Consumers demand seamless, instant, and secure payment solutions, prompting businesses to adopt innovative technologies that offer personalized and frictionless experiences.
• Challenges for SMEs: Small and medium-sized enterprises face difficulties in meeting rising consumer expectations and managing operational complexities, highlighting the need for advanced, flexible, and secure payment solutions.
• Technological innovations: Advancements such as AI-driven personalization, no-code checkout platforms, and comprehensive risk management tools are essential for SMEs to enhance customer experience and streamline payment processes.

Dr. PohHui Chia, Vickers Venture Partners

We explore the growing deeptech industry with Dr PohHui Chia, Director at Vickers Venture Partners and how it is growing.

• Focus on impactful innovations: Vickers Venture Partners seeks startups addressing global challenges like environmental sustainability and healthcare, aiming for investments that are both profitable and socially beneficial.
• Investment criteria: The firm evaluates the uniqueness of technology, the robustness of intellectual property, scalability, and the founding team’s expertise, emphasizing solutions to significant global problems.
• Successful investments: Examples include AWAK Technologies’ wearable dialysis system and RWDC Industries’ biodegradable biopolymers, showcasing the potential of Southeast Asia’s deeptech ecosystem.
• Future outlook: Improving infrastructure and supportive regulatory environments position Southeast Asia as a prospective hub for deeptech innovation, offering vast opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs.

Nopparat Yokubon, Moloco Ads

We chat with Nopparat Yokubon, Country Lead for ANZ and SEA at Moloco Ads provides her insights on the current state of the performance marketing industry in the region.

• Data-driven personalization: Marketers in Southeast Asia are increasingly using data analytics and machine learning to deliver personalized, targeted advertisements, enhancing engagement and ROI.
• Regional diversity challenges: The region’s linguistic and cultural diversity necessitates localized content, requiring marketers to tailor campaigns to resonate with varied audiences.
• Machine learning applications: ML technologies analyze large data volumes to optimize marketing strategies, enabling real-time bidding and audience targeting based on conversion probabilities.
• Performance marketing effectiveness: A significant percentage of marketers view performance marketing as more effective for driving revenue growth compared to traditional brand marketing, especially during economic uncertainty.

Linda Ang, aelf

We have a discussion on the evolving blockchain landscape in Southeast Asia with Linda Ang, Head of Strategy at aelf.

• Evolving blockchain landscape: Blockchain technology has rapidly developed, becoming commonplace in various industries and driving the adoption of Web3 applications.
• aelf’s unique architecture: aelf differentiates itself with a mainchain-sidechain structure, enhancing scalability and security by allowing decentralized applications to operate independently, preventing issues in one chain from affecting others.
• Successful deployments: Projects like Portkey, a Web3 account abstraction wallet integrating familiar Web2 logins, demonstrate aelf’s capability to bridge traditional and decentralized platforms, simplifying user access to blockchain services.
• Fostering Web3 growth: aelf supports the Southeast Asian Web3 ecosystem by providing resources and infrastructure for startups, promoting innovation and adopting of decentralized technologies in the region.