Lightspeed partner on AI’s gap in SEA

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In focus

• ​​Lightspeed’s Aluwi on why SEA needs more AI adoption, not more chips
• ​​Can Kunal Shah unlock WhatsApp’s next act?
• Nadiem Makarim found guilty of corruption, gets 10 years in prison

Hello reader,

One answer from Lightspeed venture partner and Gojek co-founder Kevin Aluwi stayed with me long after our interview ended.

When asked what an AI-native Gojek would look like if he were building it today, he didn’t begin with autonomous vehicles, AI agents, or futuristic products. Instead, he talked about documentation.

He described how the company had teams spread across India, Singapore, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Because everyone wasn’t in the same office, everything was documented, including Slack conversations, decisions, and operating playbooks.

Aluwi said he would have liked to train an AI system on all of those pieces of information. On top of helping employees work faster, such a system could understand how the company operated, ingest years of knowledge, and perhaps even assist with executive decision-making.

Thinking like this is another example of how VCs and founders are shifting their approach to AI. Instead of replacing people with chatbots, the biggest opportunity may be in rethinking and augmenting how a company works.

Meanwhile, I also take a closer look at why Meta is betting so heavily on Cred founder Kunal Shah. Not only did Meta appoint him as WhatsApp’s new global head, it also invested US$900 million in his startup.

Samreen Ahmad, journalist

Top Stories

1️⃣ Lightspeed’s Aluwi: Compute isn’t AI’s bottleneck in SEA

Photo credit: Lightspeed

Aluwi believes there are significant opportunities for Southeast Asian AI firms, particularly in the services layer. He says startups that help businesses integrate AI into customer workflows could become the region’s next local champions.

Read on for our exclusive interview with Aluwi, where he also shares his thoughts on solo-founder unicorns and discusses Lightspeed’s current investment framework.

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