- 7 months ago
In this interview, Gibu Mathew, Vice President and General Manager of Zoho Asia Pacific, shares how Zoho’s partnership with Cradle Fund supports Malaysian startups — from solving operational challenges and offering low-code tools, to enabling global scale and regional compliance.
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00:00All right, thank you for tuning in Tony Agawani.
00:02And right now we'd like to revisit a key partnership
00:04that could actually further energize the Malaysia startup ecosystem
00:08which they recently signed to Memorandum of Understanding MOU
00:12between Zoho and also Credo Fund.
00:14And Zoho is now a key technology partner of the MyStartup platform
00:17aiming to empower local startups with world-class tools,
00:20mentorship and also pathway to global scalability.
00:24And with over 18,000 startups in 40-plus countries
00:27already supported through the Zoho for Startups program,
00:30we want to know what does this mean for Malaysia's digital future.
00:34And joining me right now is the Vice President and General Manager
00:36of Zoho Asia Pacific himself, Jibu Matthew,
00:39virtually to hear from Zoho's perspective.
00:41Perhaps we could start with the big picture.
00:44We see that startups often feel not due to the lack of ideas
00:47but because of pro-execution.
00:50So how does this MOU with Credo
00:52aim to help Malaysian startups overcome real-world operational bottlenecks
00:56and technological pinpoints Malaysian startups face today?
01:00Thank you for having me on the show, Nabila.
01:03And thank you for that very interesting question.
01:06Well, first of all, I would like to share our partnership with Credo
01:11through the MyStartup platform
01:14is actually designed to ensure that technology is an enabler for a business
01:22and not a barrier for business.
01:24Because many times in the past,
01:27we see that technology doesn't get used within the organization.
01:31And that is one of the challenges that businesses and startups face.
01:35Well, the harder part is today the levels of digitalization
01:41that has happened across functions in an organization.
01:45What that means is there are so many tools
01:48and startup founders and ecosystem businesses
01:52actually find it difficult to actually put all these tools together
01:57into a functioning operations tool for their teams.
02:01Well, that's where Zoho as a technology,
02:05a suite of technology products built on the same platform
02:09brings a big difference for the ecosystem.
02:13Well, if you look at how Zoho does things,
02:16well, we started off as a startup ourselves
02:19and we believe we still run like a startup at heart,
02:21even though we are like close to 20,000 employees globally.
02:24Well, when you look at how we have built our tools,
02:27we have built it up from the ground up,
02:30which means we have built it on the same technology platform.
02:33The tools share the same backend.
02:37It's built on the similar technology,
02:39which means when we come out with tools like, say, a CRM
02:42or our finance tools or HR tools,
02:45they all run on the same backend
02:47and everything is built from the ground up
02:50and never actually bought and stitched together.
02:53That gives us an advantage
02:54to make the user experience for an organization
02:59to actually get started.
03:02So I think those are actually fundamental aspects
03:04to make sure that technology is an enabler
03:08rather than a barrier for an organization to get startup.
03:14Well, what that means is we are trying to create real value
03:18at the operational level for the startups
03:22so that they can actually focus on building on the ideas that they have.
03:27And let's have a reality check, Jibu,
03:32where in today's fast-moving environment,
03:34especially post-COVID,
03:36startups are also navigating compliance,
03:38data security, and also rapid scaling.
03:40So how do your tools actually cater to startups
03:43in regulated or fast-evolving sectors,
03:46regulated industries like fintech and also health tech, for example?
03:48Right.
03:51So when you look at regulatory and compliance,
03:54especially when you are a software as a service,
03:59the advantage what a startup business gets is
04:03the SaaS provider or the cloud solution provider
04:07takes the responsibility to facilitate those compliance,
04:12for example, on your behalf,
04:14be it from security perspective or data compliance perspective.
04:17So when we roll out solutions,
04:21we make sure that our tools are compliant in the markets it operates.
04:27We make sure that we, for example, from a security perspective,
04:31we ensure that we have the best practices
04:33in terms of cybersecurity practices,
04:36be it from the back-end side
04:38or best practices on how organizations
04:41should implement those security practices within their teams.
04:46Because if you think of it, right,
04:48a lot of times, especially when it comes to security,
04:52the weakest link in the chain of security users
04:57or the users who use the tools is people.
05:00So we actually bring in best practices
05:03in terms of how tools have to be balanced
05:08in terms of security and compliance
05:10versus user experience for the employees who use the tools.
05:14So we bring in those best practices,
05:17our learnings from a global perspective,
05:18and we distill it in a way that is easy to use
05:22for organizations to get started and not be overwhelmed.
05:26And in addition to that, right,
05:28say, for example,
05:29we have some basic fundamental principles
05:33on which our organization runs,
05:35be it in terms of how we run our security practices
05:37or more importantly in the recent times,
05:40I would say data privacy, right?
05:43So when we came out with support for GDPR,
05:46maybe it's over like five to seven years ago,
05:48for example, when GDPR was,
05:52you know, we supported GDPR,
05:53it was not specific to just Europe.
05:56So our CEO actually announced that
05:58we would be GDPR compliant in spirit
06:02and in action globally, right?
06:04So we have been making sure that privacy
06:07is actually a very fundamental aspect,
06:10how we run and take design decisions.
06:13So when we build tools,
06:15we keep these things in mind
06:17so that we are compliant.
06:19We do not have, for example,
06:21an advertisement driven business model
06:25also in our tools.
06:27So which means when our designers,
06:29when our developers,
06:30when our architecture designers and architects
06:33work on our tools,
06:35we make sure that those best practices
06:37are put into place right from day one,
06:39you know,
06:40and it has been done historically,
06:42which means today when we look at how AI
06:45and generative AI is so common,
06:48if you look at it,
06:48AI makes sense only when there is a lot of data.
06:52And this is one thing we assure our customers also,
06:55wherein we have taken the best practices
06:57for at least a few decades
06:59and we are actually even ready for that AI age,
07:03wherein you need to have more data,
07:06even more data to make better decisions.
07:08So we are in such a position
07:10because of the basic principles
07:12on which our organization has been running.
07:14And for example,
07:15as I mentioned,
07:16we are GDPR compliant globally.
07:17We focus on ensuring data sovereignty
07:20and other best practices needed,
07:24which means a lot of defaults in our product,
07:28in how we handle data,
07:31in the capabilities we provide on our products
07:34and our platform products,
07:36they actually come with good defaults,
07:39which can be tweaked by the organizations
07:41on a need basis
07:42to make it even more stricter if needed.
07:45This is all to ensure that,
07:47you know, as an organization,
07:49they should focus on growing their business.
07:52And we provide the right tools and knobs
07:54in our applications and products
07:57and platform services
07:58so that an organization can be compliant
08:01wherever they run as a tool.
08:05And indeed, cybersecurity and also data privacy
08:08has always been the main concerns
08:10for startups especially.
08:12But many early stage Malaysian startups especially
08:14are built by small, non-technical teams.
08:17So how intuitive and adaptable
08:20is Zoho's low-code platform for founders
08:22with little coding background
08:23to create or actually customize
08:25the solutions they need?
08:28Yeah, that's a very interesting question,
08:30especially for startup founders.
08:33So when you look at,
08:34it's also an interesting keyword
08:36that you used in terms of low-code platforms.
08:40So when you look at products and solutions,
08:42in general, startup founders
08:45have a lot of ideas they have to chase,
08:48but they need aspects or tools
08:50to support and make those actions
08:54or business processes efficient.
08:56And that is where low-code platforms help you.
09:01Well, Zoho's approach to low-code
09:03is quite, I would say,
09:06scalable and different.
09:08We have a core product called Zoho Creator,
09:11which is a low-code platform.
09:14Well, the advantage about low-code platform
09:15is you don't need to have
09:17a software developer itself
09:19to build a full-blown application.
09:23You do not need actually an application developer
09:26to build a mobile app for your business.
09:30Well, you could just do some clicks
09:32in a web browser
09:34and even build a web app,
09:36an iOS for Apple devices
09:39or Android app for other Android devices.
09:44Well, all that,
09:45you could do it right from a browser.
09:46Of course, if you add a few developers to it,
09:49you can make it even more complex
09:50or comprehensive.
09:52However, this low-code things
09:54are actually an important trend,
09:56especially where organizations
09:58have newer generation employees
10:02who have been exposed to technology
10:04in the early days of their education.
10:07So what you're seeing
10:07is a new breed of new generation employees
10:11who are joining the workforce
10:12who have been exposed
10:14to a lot of technology
10:15for quite a while,
10:16which means today you also have people
10:19what we like to,
10:20the industry calls citizen developers.
10:23These citizen developers
10:24can be a transforming force
10:26for the organization
10:27because citizen developers
10:29can add a lot of value
10:31to your organization
10:32because they spend a lot of time
10:35understanding your business process.
10:37You have your experts
10:38have already trained them
10:39on your business process.
10:41Understanding the business process
10:42is one of the hardest things
10:44for an external person.
10:45Well, if your citizen developers
10:47can understand your domain
10:50and then also work on tools
10:53or like low-code platforms,
10:55like for example, Zoho Creator,
10:57they can actually build amazing applications.
11:01Now, Zoho's approach to low-code is
11:03the low-code platform layer
11:05is there across many of our products,
11:10be it our customer relationship
11:11management application
11:12called Zoho CRM
11:13or our customer support software
11:16or our project management solution
11:18or our accounting platform
11:20or our people,
11:23Zoho HR,
11:23IES information system
11:24called Zoho People.
11:25It's actually ubiquitous
11:27across 20 different applications
11:29in Zoho itself,
11:31which means,
11:32well, you get that powerful
11:34customization capabilities
11:35in individual applications also
11:39or you could actually build something
11:41from the ground up
11:42completely out of the box.
11:43and that's the beauty
11:45about low-code as a technology
11:48and this is actually very important,
11:50especially for early-stage startups,
11:52I would say,
11:52especially with lean teams,
11:54sometimes it is not about,
11:56you know,
11:57it's not about having
11:59the 100% of the problem solved
12:01because solving 100% of the problem
12:03could take years maybe,
12:05but maybe it's about getting 80%,
12:0790% done
12:08and finishing off the rest of it
12:10on your way
12:11or towards the next couple of years.
12:12The beauty about low-code platform
12:14is your teams can collaboratively
12:16build that application
12:18iteratively over time
12:19even as you get more learnings
12:21and that's the best thing
12:23about low-code as a platform
12:25and our approach to low-code
12:27being in our own platform products also.
12:32And besides being a low-code platform,
12:34I like how Zoho tailors its support
12:37for high-growth verticals
12:38like, for example, FinTech,
12:39HealthTech and also GreenTech
12:41beyond just offers just generic
12:42productivity tools
12:44because we know
12:44the digital adoption right now
12:46remains uneven across sectors.
12:49But, Jibu,
12:50as startups scale,
12:51they often outgrow
12:52their initial tech stack.
12:54So, in your opinion,
12:55what's Zoho's approach
12:56to actually ensure continuity
12:57across the startup journey
12:59from MVP stage
13:00to regional expansion
13:01without forcing costly
13:03rip and replace transitions?
13:04Yeah, so when you look
13:07at the startups,
13:09like, for example,
13:10verticals like HealthTech,
13:11GreenTech,
13:12you know,
13:13if you look at
13:14some of these verticals,
13:16right,
13:17a lot of,
13:18even FinTech,
13:18for example,
13:19right,
13:19for example,
13:20they have the most advanced
13:22in terms of technology adoption,
13:25right?
13:25So, they may not want
13:27just a basic tool,
13:28but they will want
13:29something that is able
13:31to keep up
13:32with their innovation.
13:34When you look at,
13:35you know,
13:35normally the banking
13:36and finance sectors,
13:37they adopt technology
13:39quite fast.
13:40Similarly,
13:41technology that is
13:42applied in consumer tech,
13:44right,
13:44for example,
13:44your social networks
13:45and other aspects,
13:46they also adopt
13:47technology quite fast.
13:49Now,
13:49these are verticals
13:51or industries
13:52where they actually
13:54adopt technology faster
13:56and what they need
13:57is they need tools
13:58that are able
13:59to keep up
14:00with what they do.
14:01Now,
14:01when you look at
14:02tools that we provide,
14:04for example,
14:05we give a lot of things
14:07by default
14:08with best practices
14:09that we learn
14:10globally
14:11in our tools.
14:12However,
14:13as I mentioned
14:14just in the previous statement
14:15about low-code platforms,
14:17our products
14:18are not just
14:18configuration capable,
14:20but you can even
14:21customize it
14:23with low-code.
14:25You can even
14:26customize it
14:27with professional
14:28code,
14:28which means
14:29you could write
14:30entirely
14:31software code
14:32from the ground up
14:34and drop it
14:34into our application
14:36to make it
14:36even more dynamic.
14:38So,
14:38which means
14:38it actually scales
14:40according to the needs
14:41of the business
14:42and be it
14:43whatever be
14:43the industry vertical,
14:47well,
14:48it actually supports
14:48that model.
14:50For example,
14:50if you look at
14:51fintech startups,
14:51right,
14:52they could leverage
14:52Zoho Books
14:53for real-time
14:54financial cracking.
14:55It's not just
14:55about fintechs,
14:56obviously.
14:57Zoho Books
14:58can be used
14:58by SMEs
15:00and other businesses
15:01also.
15:02They could build
15:02custom workflows
15:04maybe with
15:05our low-code
15:06platform creator
15:07to facilitate
15:08some specific
15:09use case
15:09that they have
15:10and each of
15:11our tools
15:12actually become
15:13much more powerful
15:14and are flexible
15:16and it actually
15:17is an enabler
15:18in an industry
15:19agnostic way
15:20and the most
15:21important thing
15:22I would say
15:22is it's not
15:23just about
15:24digitizing workflows,
15:25it's also about
15:26how you can
15:26empower a startup
15:28to customize
15:32their tools
15:34for their
15:34specific needs
15:35because that
15:37is what
15:37at the end
15:38of the day
15:38improves the
15:40user experience
15:41for their employees
15:42and when you
15:43build tools,
15:44you want the
15:44employees to use
15:45it day in
15:46and day out
15:47and be productive
15:48and creative
15:50for your organization
15:51and that's where
15:52our ease of use
15:53of our tools
15:54come into play.
15:56But Jibo,
15:57in your opinion,
15:58Malaysia aims to be
15:59a regional startup hub
16:00and especially
16:01with the ASEAN-wide
16:02initiatives on
16:03digital trade
16:03and also data
16:04interoperability.
16:06So how can
16:06actually Zoho's
16:07ecosystem support
16:08local startups
16:09in accessing
16:10cross-border markets
16:11especially when
16:12handling digital exports
16:13or complying
16:14with international
16:15regulations in your opinion?
16:18Sure.
16:19So if you look at
16:20Malaysia is not
16:21just aiming to
16:22grow into a
16:22startup ecosystem.
16:23It's also,
16:24I guess,
16:24positioning itself
16:26to be a regional
16:27digital launchpad.
16:30There's quite a lot
16:31of initiatives
16:32like for example
16:33the Malaysia
16:34Digital Economy
16:35Blueprint
16:35or the My Digital
16:37Program
16:37and the Malaysia
16:39Startup Ecosystem
16:40Roadmap
16:40for 2021
16:41to 2030.
16:43There's a clear
16:44roadmap
16:44to build
16:46a digital economy
16:47and there is
16:48quite a lot
16:49of interesting
16:49government support
16:51also to facilitate
16:52that for startups.
16:55Now what is
16:56actually needed
16:57is for example
16:58right let's say
16:59Malaysian startups
17:01want to go
17:02beyond Malaysia.
17:04They want to go
17:05regional right
17:06or they want to
17:06go they want to
17:08support going
17:10regional or global
17:11right.
17:11So they will need
17:12for example
17:12multi-currency
17:13accounting or
17:14cross-border
17:15payment integrations.
17:17For example
17:17Zoho Books
17:18could support
17:19accounting in
17:20so many countries
17:22globally
17:22not just you know
17:23a specific country
17:24in one or two
17:25countries but we
17:26support quite a lot
17:27of interesting
17:27countries globally.
17:29That is there
17:30other aspects in
17:31terms of being
17:31GDPR compliant
17:32if you are trying
17:33to go into
17:34Europe for example
17:35how we handle
17:36and provide best
17:37practices in the
17:38tools actually
17:39make it a lot
17:41more easier for
17:42organizations to
17:43go global.
17:44well if you look
17:45at our
17:46collaboration with
17:47Cradle itself
17:48it's about
17:49equipping say
17:50founders not
17:51just for the
17:52local market
17:52but actually for
17:54regional playbooks.
17:56We are embedding
17:57this kind of a
17:58mindset early on
17:59right.
18:00So we do a plan
18:01or we do have a
18:02lot of hands-on
18:03workshops and
18:04topics on various
18:05aspects that help
18:07type specific types
18:08of businesses or
18:10broad set of
18:11SMEs also to
18:13understand how
18:14to use
18:15technology to
18:17facilitate their
18:18work to be done
18:18better.
18:20And in short
18:20they are not just
18:21helping say
18:22Malaysian startups
18:23to scale up
18:24we are actually
18:25also helping them
18:26to scale out
18:27of their comfort
18:29zones.
18:30Like you mentioned
18:32it's not just for
18:32scale up but it's
18:33for scale out as
18:34well.
18:35So with your
18:36collaboration with
18:37Cradle we know
18:38that startups don't
18:39just need capital
18:40and they need
18:40talent also tech
18:41capability.
18:42So does this
18:43partnership with
18:44Cradle include
18:45mentorship and
18:46also upskilling or
18:47perhaps capacity
18:48building support for
18:48founders and their
18:49teams?
18:51That's an interesting
18:52question.
18:53So yeah definitely.
18:54So a lot of things
18:55that we do, we do a
18:56lot of interactive
18:57sessions, we do a
18:58lot of panel
18:59discussions, we
19:00facilitate a lot of
19:01educational activities,
19:03we work with
19:04different organizations
19:06in different places
19:07in Malaysia
19:09itself.
19:09For example, we do
19:11a lot of events
19:11in say not just
19:12in KL but in
19:13Sarawak, in
19:14Penang, in
19:15Ippo, in other
19:16parts of Malaysia
19:18where we actually
19:19do educational
19:21events to help
19:22an organization
19:24to learn more
19:25about how
19:26technology can
19:27enable them
19:29right in terms of
19:30going global.
19:32Now when you talk
19:32about
19:33skilling, especially
19:35when it comes to
19:36technology, right,
19:37we see how
19:38technology is an
19:40enabler, technology
19:42is also a
19:43disruptor.
19:44So if you see in
19:45the latest few
19:46years in terms of
19:47how generative AI
19:49itself is playing
19:50out, right, so
19:52technology is
19:53possibly disrupting
19:55even the people who
19:56build the technology
19:57which is generative AI
19:59is even disrupting
20:00software developers as
20:01we see in the news
20:02today.
20:03So technology is
20:04something that is
20:05changing and changing
20:07quite fast.
20:08So the fundamental
20:09tools that you use
20:10in an organization
20:11should facilitate
20:14creativity and
20:15collaboration.
20:16So our tools,
20:18for example,
20:19facilitate
20:19collaboration and
20:21learning within the
20:22organization.
20:23We have products
20:24like Zoho Connect
20:25that helps you to
20:27create functional
20:28and cross-functional
20:30teams and groups
20:32and conversations
20:33and facilitate
20:34creativity and
20:37ideas to bubble
20:39from the bottom
20:41up.
20:42Previously,
20:43typically creativity
20:44used to be from the
20:45top down only.
20:46But today,
20:47without technology
20:48has kind of
20:48flattened decision
20:50making,
20:51we believe that
20:52creativity is now
20:53all in all the
20:54team members.
20:55So we build tools
20:56to facilitate that
20:58so that ideas can be
20:59shared across
21:00team members.
21:01That is actually a
21:02very important
21:02aspect.
21:03And our
21:04applications and
21:05tools facilitate
21:06collaboration across
21:08our tools,
21:09across our
21:09applications,
21:11not just across
21:12employees,
21:13but you can even
21:13collaborate with your
21:14external partners
21:15and suppliers,
21:17whatever be your
21:18industry you work
21:20in.
21:21So those are
21:22very important
21:23aspects,
21:24especially when
21:25you're trying to
21:25go global or
21:27go regional.
21:27and when you're
21:29working with
21:30environment which
21:31is fast changing,
21:32not just in terms
21:34of technology,
21:35but where things
21:37are changing even
21:37in terms of
21:38compliance and
21:40where you need to
21:40make quick
21:41decisions.
21:43Well,
21:43enabling those
21:44tools make it
21:45easier for every
21:47team member to
21:48make those
21:48qualified decisions
21:49to make your
21:50organization a
21:52lot more
21:53agile.
21:55So in general,
21:56I would say the
21:56mindset of a
21:57founder should
21:57be about,
21:59it's a very
21:59critical aspect,
22:00right?
22:00It's a very
22:01critical role,
22:01how the founder
22:04itself of an
22:04organization works
22:05where technology,
22:07you know,
22:07and typically
22:08technology should
22:09be a long-term
22:11enabler.
22:12That is how
22:12founders have to
22:13look at tools.
22:15And that's an
22:16important thing
22:17which we feel
22:18Zoho as an
22:19organization,
22:20we like to
22:20support that
22:21kind of a
22:22thinking with
22:23an integrated
22:24scalable platform
22:25that can adopt
22:27to the
22:27business's
22:29digital
22:30transformation
22:30journey.
22:32And looking
22:32at your,
22:33or drawing
22:33from your
22:34work across
22:35more than
22:3510 countries,
22:37Jibu,
22:37in your opinion,
22:38what actually
22:38moves the
22:39needle for
22:39startup adoption
22:40of digital
22:41tools?
22:41Is it
22:42government
22:42policy and
22:43also digital
22:43infrastructure,
22:45or actually
22:46something more
22:46cultural like
22:47founder mindset?
22:49Well,
22:50I think all
22:51three are
22:52equally important,
22:53as I mentioned
22:53about the
22:54mindset of the
22:55founder is
22:55also very
22:56essential.
22:56I would say
22:57the policies
22:58are also a
22:59game changer,
23:00especially
23:00interesting policies
23:01that have been
23:02rolled out in
23:02the recent times.
23:04We have the
23:05e-invoicing
23:06itself happening
23:07even as we
23:09speak in
23:09Malaysia.
23:10Well,
23:10that actually
23:11helps businesses
23:13to be actually
23:14more bankable.
23:16If you look at
23:16it,
23:17you have better
23:18accounting
23:19practices.
23:20And when you
23:20are more
23:21bankable,
23:22what that means
23:22is you're
23:23able to
23:23get credit
23:24from a
23:25good,
23:26you have a
23:26better credit
23:27rating and
23:28you are able
23:28to get
23:29more finance
23:31to run
23:31your business
23:32more and
23:32scale out
23:33your business,
23:33right?
23:34So that is
23:34an important
23:34aspect.
23:35And especially
23:36when it comes
23:36to technology
23:37today,
23:38technology has
23:38become just
23:40like as
23:41important as
23:42air and
23:42electricity for
23:44air for humans
23:45and electricity
23:45for a business
23:46to run.
23:47Without
23:47good digital
23:49infrastructure,
23:50your creativity
23:51is not going
23:52to be,
23:52you're not
23:53going to be
23:53able to
23:53maintain the
23:54creativity.
23:55Well,
23:55so that's
23:56actually an
23:56important aspect
23:57and we have
23:58seen,
23:59you know,
23:59Malaysia's
24:00Jandela
24:00initiative,
24:02it's aimed
24:03at expanding
24:04the broadband
24:04accessibility
24:05and 5G
24:06rollouts,
24:07which is
24:07actually very
24:08essential.
24:09So,
24:10yes,
24:10these are
24:11very important
24:12aspects.
24:12Policy
24:13actually kind
24:14of gives
24:15a subtle
24:16push to
24:16the organization
24:17so that
24:18they actually
24:18speed up
24:19their
24:19transformation,
24:21especially
24:21when you
24:22see a lot
24:23of tools
24:23being used
24:24in the
24:24consumer
24:25world and
24:26when government
24:26services are
24:27more digital,
24:29that will
24:29also encourage
24:30small businesses
24:32especially and
24:33other larger
24:33businesses to
24:34transform themselves
24:35because today
24:37for a local
24:39business itself,
24:41your competition
24:42is not that
24:43the next door
24:44physical business
24:46out there.
24:46your competition
24:47may actually
24:48be somebody
24:48who is
24:48sitting global
24:50thousands of
24:50miles away
24:51from you,
24:51who can
24:52actually deliver
24:52something to
24:53your neighbor's
24:54house or to
24:55your neighborhood
24:55within hours.
24:58So,
24:58that's also the
24:58competition we
24:59are seeing today
24:59as a small
25:00business or a
25:01medium business.
25:02Now,
25:02how do you
25:03transform that?
25:04So,
25:04you transform
25:04yourself by
25:05actually enabling
25:07your business to
25:08have those best
25:09practices and best
25:10tools and you
25:11provide that
25:12infrastructure.
25:13So,
25:14the government
25:14providing that
25:15infrastructure helps
25:16the startups to
25:18think beyond
25:19their neighborhood.
25:20That's when they
25:21go regional or
25:22global.
25:23So,
25:23the policy,
25:24the digital
25:25infrastructure and
25:26the mindset of
25:27the founders
25:28actually go a
25:30long way,
25:31especially when
25:32the founders
25:33think digitally,
25:35I would say
25:35digitally native
25:36founders,
25:37when they think
25:38end to end,
25:40that's going to be
25:40a transformational
25:41factor for
25:42organizations to
25:43scale out.
25:45But moving forward
25:46before we end
25:47this discussion,
25:48Jibu,
25:49in your opinion,
25:50how do you
25:51foresee the
25:52toughest emerging
25:53challenges that
25:54you foresee for
25:54startups in this
25:55region for
25:56perhaps five to
25:57ten years?
25:58And if you can
25:59explain on how
26:00is Zoloho
26:01planning to keep
26:02up and also
26:02lead in enabling
26:04these next-gen
26:05founders for
26:06them to thrive
26:07sustainability across
26:08borders, in your
26:09opinion?
26:11So when you
26:12look at the
26:12challenges for
26:13the next five
26:13to ten years,
26:14I would say
26:15I'm sure the
26:17challenges will
26:17change in two
26:18years, right?
26:19So I'm not able
26:19to predict for
26:20five to ten
26:20years because of
26:22how AI itself
26:24has transformed
26:25I think almost
26:27everything that we
26:28have seen, right?
26:29For example,
26:30even Google
26:31search as we
26:32see, which is
26:34almost similar for
26:34the last 25
26:35years, right, is
26:36set to change
26:37completely, right?
26:39So we are going
26:39to see, one thing
26:40is for sure, we
26:41are going to
26:41see a lot of
26:42changes happening
26:43and going to
26:43change very fast
26:44in the next five
26:45years to ten
26:46years.
26:47And these are
26:47going to be
26:48fundamental changes
26:49on how businesses
26:50itself run and
26:51how they will
26:52have to organize
26:53themselves.
26:54Now, when you
26:54look at technology
26:56itself being an
26:56enabler, that is
26:58something which is
26:59very essential for
27:00an organization and
27:02startup founders have
27:03to keep that in
27:04mind even as they
27:05plan their
27:07startup growth.
27:08Well, fundamentally
27:09they have to
27:10stick to their
27:10basics, they have
27:12to stick to and
27:13identify those niche
27:14areas that they can
27:15succeed in, but keep
27:17their eyes open on
27:18what innovation
27:18happens in adjacent
27:20spaces and adopt
27:21that as early as
27:23possible into their
27:24spaces or into their
27:25domains so that they
27:26are able to be more
27:27creative.
27:29Now, in the next
27:30five to ten years,
27:32you will see AI
27:33transforming every job
27:35function, right?
27:37be it in accounting,
27:38you will be seeing a
27:39lot more accounting
27:41practices getting much
27:42more easier, but the
27:44bar will be raised even
27:46more higher.
27:47The more technology is
27:48used, it doesn't mean
27:49that there is less
27:50work.
27:51What's actually going to
27:52happen is we will see
27:53better experiences.
27:55Experience is not really
27:56tangible or measurable
27:58easily, right?
27:59But people will start to
28:02expect some things to be
28:04that way.
28:04If your business doesn't
28:06provide services in a
28:09specific manner, well,
28:11what's actually going to
28:12happen is your customers
28:13are going to go to your
28:14competition or whoever is
28:15doing innovation there.
28:16So it's not that you're
28:17going to lose business
28:17with AI, but you're
28:20actually going to go out
28:21of the market if you
28:21don't be creative enough.
28:23So that is the way to
28:24think when it comes to
28:25technology adoption.
28:27So keep your eyes and
28:28ears open, adopt
28:29technology, build the
28:31right framework so that
28:33you're able to continuously
28:34keep yourself relevant.
28:37So as Asia continues to
28:38build out a startup
28:39ecosystem, founders'
28:41mindset and also
28:41partnerships between
28:42public and also private
28:43sectors players will be
28:45key to addressing real
28:46challenges where in
28:48operations, for example,
28:50we have talent
28:50development or market
28:51access.
28:52So I'd like to say
28:52thank you to Jibu
28:53Matthew, the Vice
28:54President and General
28:55Manager of Zoho Asia
28:57Pacific for your time
28:59also perspective.
29:00And you can find this
29:01whole discussion on all
29:02of our social media
29:03platforms and that
29:04includes us through
29:04awani.com.
29:06I'm Nabila Kalida.
29:06Thank you so much.
29:07Yeah.
29:07I'm Nabila Kalida.
29:11I'm Nabila Kalida.
29:11I'm Nabila Kalida.
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