Rolling into 2026, we have the latest version of technology tools that business leaders in the region use to improve productivity, push scale and a whole lot more. In this edition, we have Urvashi Gupta, recently appointed as the Head of Asia-Pacific (APAC) at Primer, an infrastructure player for global payments. Urvashi now leads Primer’s work in the region, bringing over 15 years of experience scaling B2B technology companies. She is based in Singapore and is responsible for leading the company’s regional go-to-market strategy, sales execution, and remote team development.
We explore why e-commerce and fintech continue to dominate Southeast Asia’s startup economy in 2026
Prior to joining Primer, she served as the Regional Vice President for APAC at identity verification technology company Onfido. Across her career, Urvashi has developed a strong track record of supporting scale-ups that have achieved product–market fit and are ready to accelerate their go-to-market strategies. She brings deep expertise in scaling fast-growing businesses, navigating cross-border complexity, and building durable commercial teams across Southeast Asia.
Here are the 5 technology tools she uses at Primer.
Using Notion for our knowledge repository (Paid)
Notion is where our knowledge lives. We have invested heavily in building huge libraries of information that comprehensively document content, allowing team members to find answers without interrupting colleagues in different time zones.
One of my favourite implementations is how we handle onboarding. Instead of scheduling endless video calls for new team members to introduce themselves, we have them create their own Notion page with their profile, background, fun facts, interesting hobbies and even their favourite playlists. This makes it much easier and more enjoyable for people to get to know each other asynchronously, especially as teams change shape and grow.
We have also automated much of our onboarding process through Notion workflows, combining technology with deliberate processes to equip new hires with everything they need from day one. This is especially critical when you are bringing someone onto a fully remote team, because you need to ensure they feel supported and have all the information to hit the ground running.
Building the pipeline with Salesforce (Paid)
Salesforce is our central nervous system at Primer. Managing go-to-market operations across APAC requires tracking multiple moving parts simultaneously, from pipeline management to customer deployments to team expansion planning. Salesforce provides the single source of truth we need to coordinate these complex workflows across the region.
What I particularly value about Salesforce is how it enables visibility and accountability across our regional operations. The platform allows our different teams to all work from the same data while maintaining their specific workflows and views.
The reporting and analytics capabilities are crucial when you operate in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. I can see real-time pipeline health, forecast accuracy, and customer engagement patterns across different markets, which helps me make informed decisions about resource allocation and regional strategy. It helps to keep our entire APAC go-to-market engine running smoothly.
Figma helps with design collaboration (Paid)
One challenge of remote work, especially across different cultures in APAC, is ensuring everyone truly understands the strategy and plan. Text-based documentation can sometimes fall short, particularly when you are trying to communicate complex ideas or facilitate creative collaboration
We use Figma for design collaboration and group brainstorming through FigJam. Whether we are planning our regional expansion, mapping customer journeys across different APAC markets, or designing our team structure, Figma’s real-time collaboration features let us work together visually, even when we are not in the same room. FigJam in particular has become invaluable for workshops and ideation sessions where we need everyone to contribute ideas simultaneously.
Promote inter-office communication with Donut (Paid)
Donut has become one of our most important tools for maintaining a remote culture at Primer. In a traditional office, some of the most valuable conversations happen at the water cooler or while grabbing coffee. Those spontaneous interactions are where you connect with colleagues from different teams and learn about what they are working on. When you are fully remote, you need to be intentional about creating these moments.
Donut randomly pairs people from across the business for 15-minute chats. It is our modern equivalent of the water cooler conversation, but with the added benefit of connecting people who might never have met otherwise. These serendipitous connections have led to unexpected collaborations and have helped break down silos in ways that structured meetings never could.
What I love most is how it strengthens our sense of being one team despite the distance. Donut creates those small moments of human connection that remind us we are all part of something bigger together, and it helps new joiners quickly build relationships across the organisation.
Working with AI assistants with ChatGpt and Claude (Free/Paid)
AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT have become indispensable tools for our team’s personal productivity. What I find most powerful is how our teams have been able to create their own personal AI agents tailored to their specific workflows. Rather than using them as generic chatbots, they have built custom prompts and workflows that act like an assistant who understands exactly how they work
What used to take hours of manual work now takes minutes, freeing up time to focus on high-value activities like strategic thinking and relationship building. The key is treating these tools not as replacements for human judgment, but as powerful amplifiers of your own expertise and efficiency.