TechTouch Asia

AI can only be implemented successfully if there are people with the skills to make the most of it. Nick Catino (NC), Head of Policy at Deel, recently spoke to TechTrade Asia about how businesses are coping with a shortage of AI talent. Q : There's been a lot of talk about how AI is replacing people. What's Deel's stance on this?  NC : Our Global AI Hiring report shows that 91% of organisations have already experienced role changes or displacement, and one-third (34%) have undergone significant workforce restructuring to integrate AI. Routine tasks are being automated, while human roles shift toward strategic oversight, system management, and creative problem-solving.  This is also transforming recruitment. Firms are adopting skills-based hiring, where they value practical, demonstrable abilities alongside technical credentials. Traditional university degrees are losing relevance, with only 5% of global organisations and 2% of Singaporean companies viewing them as essenti...

Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) has partnered with Gobarakah Tech (Gobarakah) to deliver targeted relief to rural communities impacted by floods and landslides in Penampang, Sabah.  The digital flood relief supported over 140 individuals from 47 households in heavily-affected areas, including Kampung Madsiang, Kampung Sogumau, Kampung Inobong, Kampung Limbata, and Country Heights. This marks PayNet’s first digital aid initiative in rural Sabah and its second relief effort for Penampang. Beneficiaries were verified and onboarded onto Gobarakah’s platform, receiving e-vouchers, enabling impacted households to redeem essential goods via Koperasi Wawasan Rakyat Sabah’s mobile supply trucks and local grocery stores.  “The current monsoon season has heavily impacted the residents of Penampang. Our goal was to provide greater control and flexibility in the flood aid relief to the impacted residents. This digital approach in partnership with Gobarakah, empowers beneficiaries to ch...

Milestone Systems, a data-driven video technology provider, has released an advanced vision language model (VLM) specialising in traffic understanding. Powered by NVIDIA Cosmos Reason , the VLM powers an as-a-service tool (aaS for third-party integrations. The VLMaaS helps developers create AI-powered solutions quickly without needing to set up, fine-tune or manage their own AI systems, regardless of the level of analytics currently in place. This enables the development of AI and analytics can be accelerated significantly – up to 70x less effort than doing the work to finetune a VLM to do the same. Feature highlights include: · A high-accuracy vision language model, finetuned on traffic-optimised data  · Prompt-based instructions supported for traffic-related operations · API-first delivery – integration via HTTPS ​ · Finetuned models for US and EU markets, with more regions to follow​ · Standalone solutions can be built, or tools to be integrated with the Mil...

Source: Statrys. Koh. Aaron Koh (AK), Statrys’ GM in Singapore, points out a core paradox of modern business: while technology has made global trade faster than ever, administrative tasks for those operating across borders remain highly fragmented. He discusses what can make a difference. Q : Why do businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), need support beyond payments processing? AK : I used to run my own business and have had firsthand experience of how challenging it can be to find, engage, and manage multiple vendors. One provider for incorporation, another for accounting, and another for your payments, each having different standards, turnaround times, and expectations; that creates unnecessary friction. Q: Working with multiple suppliers is just the way business is conducted, isn't it? What kind of friction occurs? A : One of the clearest pain points we hear repeatedly is how manual and painful the monthly bookkeeping process can be. Let’s take a...

Source: UNM via Salesforce. The NOVA avatar. The University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) is adopting Salesforce's  Agentforce , the digital labour platform, to enhance student experience during the university applications process. UNM is the first tertiary institution in Malaysia to deploy Agentforce, and in the long-term aims to provide a unified, always-on digital touchpoint that supports prospective and current students through every stage of their university journey. Established 25 years ago, UNM is the first UK university to establish a campus overseas. Today, it serves over 4,500 students from more than 70 countries. According to Salesforce, UNM's AI agent, Nottingham Online Virtual Assistant (NOVA),  significantly benefits international students who account for over half of UNM’s applicants. International students often submit enquiries outside local business hours, when a human representative might not be available.  Prospective students can chat with ...

New AI features now help reduce friction in discovery and transactions across AWS Marketplace : • Agent mode — a new conversational discovery experience that's purpose-built for software procurement is now accessible on the AWS Marketplace website or through an AI application that supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration. Powered by agents, customers can find solutions using natural language queries based on their use case, as well as use a chat interface to ask follow-up questions, request product insights, or upload documents to narrow results to those that meet their business and technical requirements. Agent mode allows customers to evaluate solutions side-by-side with a comparisons table that updates based on their needs. Once customers are ready to buy, they can initiate a purchase or generate a custom purchasing proposal to download and share with internal stakeholders. • Express private offers – a new opt-in capability for partners that allows customers to a...

Source: SAP. Malaysian real estate investment holding company Pelaburan Hartanah has chosen GROW with SAP to modernise its core business operations. Pelaburan Hartanah (PHB), a leading Malaysian real estate investment holding company, has chosen GROW with SAP , to modernise its core business operations, laying the foundation for long-term growth and innovation in Malaysia’s competitive property market. Established in 2006 under the purview of Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, PHB is mandated to enhance Bumiputera participation in the ownership of prime commercial real estate across Malaysia through its unit trust fund, Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera (AHB). Today, PHB manages a portfolio worth over RM11 B – encompassing office, retail, healthcare, logistics, and education properties in key urban centres. As PHB advances its strategic business transformation and expands its portfolio, the company has demonstrated resilience and delivered tangible results, providing stable and consisten...