Data and intuition: why both matter

Welcome to Tech in Asia’s Sunday newsletter, your weekend brief on the biggest moves in Asia’s tech and startup world. Not on the mailing list? Register here. Got a story tip? Send it to editors@techinasia.com.

In focus

• Thu Huong Le on balancing data and intuition
• Singapore’s AI hiring boom, tracked here
• Manus co-founders scramble to unwind Meta deal

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Hello reader,

In my work, I’ve always leaned more toward narratives than data. At Tech in Asia, a highly data-driven company, that has sometimes sparked debates around a familiar question: Should editorial decisions be guided by data or by gut instinct?

A few years ago, I got hooked on an interview that David Rubenstein did with Jeff Bezos, where Bezos spoke about how intuition often led to some of his best decisions. “All of my best decisions in business and in life have been made with heart, intuition, guts… not analysis,” he said.

For a long time, that resonated with me. But lately, I’ve started appreciating the value that good data brings. What does the data say about how our stories perform? What are readers actually interested in? Where do they spend time? What kinds of coverage keep them engaged?

In the past year, we’ve also put out some notable data stories such as Movers and shakers in Southeast Asia’s genAI space (Update) or The next Manus might be on this list. According to our data, these articles have been resonating with readers.

This week, our data journalist Duc Tran pulled together information showing how global AI giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic are expanding their presence in Singapore, highlighting Southeast Asia’s growing role in AI beyond just adoption. The irony is that this comes at a time when the industry is also experiencing another brutal month of tech layoffs.

I now think that both data and intuition matter. Data helps reveal signals and validate assumptions. With intuition, we can ask the right questions, spot what matters, and exercise judgment.

We can use AI to process and leverage far more data to better serve our readers and customers. But in the end, the best judgment still comes from people.

Thu Huong Le, managing editor

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Editor’s pick

OpenAI, Anthropic, and who else is hiring in Singapore?

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Short cuts

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Weekend deep dive

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60/40 dives into Asia’s shifting market landscape