The Business Show Asia 2026

Across Southeast Asia, small and emerging businesses are the backbone of the econom, yet they consistently have the lowest levels of digital adoption of any business segment. It's easy to read that as a lag, a sign these businesses simply haven't caught up yet. The reality is different: most business software is built for organizations with dedicated IT teams and real implementation budgets - it was never designed with a 10- or 30-person operation in mind. Staying manual isn't a phase SMEs are slow to grow out of, it's often the only viable option they've been given. This session unpacks why that gap exists, and what it quietly costs businesses that fall into it in time, errors, and growth that stalls before it starts. It ends with practical tips on where to look for, and find, the low-hanging fruit in the path of unlocking tech-enabled improvements.