AI Agents: licensed to get things done

IN FOCUS

In today’s newsletter, we look at:

• Wanted: First movers for Southeast Asia’s agentic AI leap

• How the fast pace of AI innovation is making founders cautious about adopting new products

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Hi there,

Being an early adopter of new technology can often suck. Not because of the tech itself – early versions of any technology will always have issues – but because it’s a constant fight to convince everyone else to buy in.

When IP phone service first became available in the US, smartphones hadn’t arrived yet, but you could get a physical IP-based phone in your house. I wanted one but had a hard time convincing my roommates to make the switch. They wanted to stick with an old-fashioned landline because they were concerned we wouldn’t be able to call emergency services.

What I heard: No, we don’t want to save money. We’re scared to change because we don’t understand the new thing.

As technology continues to change rapidly, this argument isn’t going away. The issue is more prominent in business, because disruptive technology applied in the wrong way can hurt a company, and there is no bigger technology on the market these days with the capacity to disrupt then agentic AI.

In this week’s Big Story, I look at how Southeast Asian startups are adapting to the new tech.

The answer, unfortunately, is not well. It’s not the tech stack itself that is giving founder’s headaches, but the speed at which both hardware and software are evolving.

Investors who spent millions on machine learning and genAI products just five years ago are hesitant to fork out capital to buy agentic AI products today. But if they don’t, it could be a missed opportunity. The global market value of agentic AI is expected to hit US$197 billion by 2034.

The situation isn’t likely to become easier to handle in the near future either. In the second half of this newsletter, I take a look at how the lightning-fast rollout of new AI products is likely only going to accelerate. But first, on to our Big Story.

— Scott

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THE BIG STORY

Wanted: First movers for Southeast Asia’s agentic AI leap

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THE HOT TAKE

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DEEP READS

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FYI

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Learn, prepare, and thrive in a changing global landscape

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