Enterprise Explores

As we mark Malaysia Day on September 16, we look at how businesses are growing across East Malaysia. Malaysian SMEs are often discussed as one broad group, but what does it actually take to build and scale a business in Sabah and Sarawak, and how different is that experience from Peninsular Malaysia?Theophilus Wong, Sarawak State Chairman and National Deputy Treasurer of SAMENTA, describes the SME landscape in East Malaysia. We get into the challenges preventing East Malaysian SMEs from scaling, and where their next growth opportunities lie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melvin Chee, Co-Founder and CEO of RPG Commerce, and Deepak Sharma, retail executive and mentor at Endeavor, talk about a tension entrepreneurs rarely talk about openly: how to tell good advice from bad, and when to trust your own conviction over someone else's experience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia has held the top spot on the Global Islamic Economy Indicator for 12 straight years, and other countries are now racing to build sectors of their own. MATRADE’s S. Jai Shankar joins us to talk about how Malaysia built its lead through platforms like MIHAS, and what it will take to maintain the country's position as competition grows. MIHAS 2026 runs from September 23 to 26, with a RM5 billion trade target.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Geeva Samynathan, Founder, Principal Trainer and Behavioral Strength Coach at ECTAA, and co-author of Social Sensitivity in the Changing Workplace, tells us social sensitivity actually means and how it differs from empathy or emotional intelligence. We get into how to give direct feedback without losing the message, whether psychological safety and accountability can coexist, and how managers in Malaysia's multigenerational, multicultural workplaces can adapt without falling into stereotypes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More businesses are letting AI make decisions that directly affect customers, including how they handle complaints. But does a bot apology land the same way as a person's?Alexander Eng, Associate Professor at Asia School of Business, tells us what an effective AI-powered complaints system should actually look like, from giving customers a real channel to flag or push back on a decision, to the mistake recognition and acknowledgements that customers want to hear. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara Malaysia recently found that almost 80% of businesses it engaged with are feeling the squeeze of higher costs. Azfar Asa'ad from CPA Australia and CK Chang, Founder of homegrown apparel brand Ox White, give us two very different vantage points on the same problem, one from the accountant advisory side, one from the frontline of running an SME through this environment. Raising prices might be the obvious move, but is it actually the smart one? We also get into the levers Malaysian businesses have beyond the price tag.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Local films are outpacing Hollywood at the Malaysian box office this year. Finas data shows 7.55 million admissions for local titles through July, ahead of 6.94 million for Hollywood releases, with five local films crossing RM10 million each.Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib, CEO of Finas, and Lina Tan of Red Communications look at the story behind the numbers: the difficulty of making a high-quality production and, more importantly, turning a decent return. We get into what the local film industry needs to keep doing well, the gaps that need plugging, and who should actually own film IP. And finally, is there a problem of concentration in film distribution, and what can be done about it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can AI be used to encourage employee behaviour that aligns with company goals? Or to monitor employee happiness and wellbeing? Tareef Jafferi tells us how the intersection of AI and behavioural science can be applied in the workplace, and how nudges toward small actions, like giving feedback, can produce useful, actionable data for managers.Photo credit: PexelsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adyen's latest Retail Index found that 74% of Malaysian consumers now use AI while shopping, up more than 50% from last year, yet more than half remain uncomfortable letting AI complete a purchase for them. Lee Soon Yean joins us to unpack how retailers can prepare for this shift in consumer behaviour and maintain customer trust in an increasingly AI-driven shopping journey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social enterprises are businesses, but they're built to solve social problems first. Azuar Zainuddin joins us to talk about the passion driving social enterprises, the biggest challenges they face in Malaysia today, and how programmes like Creative Sprint 2026 can help them access funding, mentorship, and the support they need to scale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Economic growth creates jobs, attracts investment, and raises living standards, but growth alone doesn't always tell us whether people are actually better off. Prof Saadiah Mohamad joins us to unpack the idea of a "Humane Economy," what it would mean for businesses and SMEs to put human dignity and inclusion at the centre without sacrificing competitiveness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the government reviews Malaysia's minimum wage, Rabin Nijhar of Cisco Security Systems joins us to share a business owner's perspective. He walks us through how his company absorbed the last minimum wage hike, what another increase would mean for a labour-intensive business like his and what supporting measures he would like to see from the government. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government is reviewing Malaysia's RM1,700 minimum wage, weighing inflation, the poverty line, median wages, productivity, and unemployment. Dr Juita Mohamad tells us why a minimum wage alone isn't the real goal: the bigger question is closing the gap between that floor and a genuinely decent standard of living, using tools like wage subsidies, productivity incentives, and social protection. We also discuss reasons why Malaysia's wages and income share of GDP have stayed stubbornly low, and how it ties back to the country's slow climb up the value chain.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a company buys another business, agreeing on its value is the difficult part. Cha Lun and Hasanuddin of BDO Malaysia join us to unpack how businesses should approach valuation in third-party transactions, common mistakes made, and how purchase price allocation can shape the way a deal looks on the books.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uber's proposed US$14.8 billion acquisition of Delivery Hero is one of the biggest deals the sector has seen, and could signal a fundamental shift in how platform businesses grow. It puts Uber in the unusual position of becoming both Grab's largest shareholder and, through foodpanda, its direct competitor in Malaysia's food delivery business.Jianggan Li and Chen Weihan of Momentum Works discuss what this deal could mean for the food delivery and ride-hailing industry, its customers, merchants and gig workers.Photo credit: PexelsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Malaysian SMEs digitise faster than they can secure themselves, "good cybersecurity" means different things depending on who you ask and how much you can spend. CF Fong and Yee Chee Meng join us to map out the steps SMEs should prioritise, which assets to secure first, and how AI fits into the picture, without necessarily driving up costs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pet cafe owners in Petaling Jaya have faced summonses for running a business concept that doesn't officially exist. That may be changing: MBPJ is rolling out new licensing guidelines covering animal care businesses for the first time. Nakata Teoh and Jia Wei Chan join us to share what it's really been like operating in a regulatory grey zone, and what they'd want written into the rules before they're finalised.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to the Jobstreet Salary Pulse 2026, more than a quarter of Gen Z workers in Malaysia earn under RM2,500 a month, yet they're the generation most likely to say they're happy with their pay, while Gen X, who earns the most, feels the least fairly paid. Nicholas Lam of Jobstreet by SEEK tells us why pay satisfaction isn't just about the number on the payslip, and why having honest, transparent conversations about pay may matter more for retention than matching a competitor's salary.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia's labour market is sending mixed signals. Retrenchments jumped 36% between January and May 2026 compared to last year, yet there were about 1.5 job placements for every worker retrenched over the same period. Derek Toh joins us to unpack what's really behind these numbers and whether it reflects a genuine skills mismatch. He also shares how both employers and job seekers can make better use of AI, whether it's finding the right talent or landing the right job.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia has around 1,800 government-linked companies with no single law governing how they're run, relying instead on a "patchwork" of statutes and directives. A State-Owned Enterprises Act was flagged last year but never made it into Budget 2026, even as neighbours like Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam push ahead with SOE reform. Alissa Rode and Ng Chien Chern of IDEAS tell us why this matters, using the recent RM10 billion Tabung Haji bailout as a case in point, and what it means for the business community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI traffic grew about 30% between January and May 2026, roughly 6.5 times faster than human traffic, and most of it comes from AI crawlers scanning the web for information. Fernando Medrano of Fastly joins us to unpack what this means for business infrastructure and costs, and what companies should be doing now to stay visible in a web increasingly navigated by machines. He also gives tips to multilingual businesses on how to avoid becoming invisible to AI systems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI is making it cost-effective for small businesses and finance teams to build their own tax tools, but even a well-set-up tool can hallucinate, producing confident answers that hide costly errors. Professor Anna tells us about the tax risks businesses face, where AI tax tools tend to go wrong, and what safeguards need to be in place.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The social media era was largely dominated by American platforms, but the AI race looks more like a US-China contest, with Chinese firms like Alibaba, Tencent, and DeepSeek competing hard on cost rather than raw model supremacy. George Chen joins us to unpack what this shift means for businesses, from hybrid AI strategies that blend frontier and open-source models, to where Malaysia's real opportunity lies beyond just building data centres.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Southeast Asia's IPO count fell 11% in the first half of 2026, yet funds raised jumped 117%. Meanwhile, Malaysia accounted for 36 of the region's 47 listings. Wong Kar Choon from Deloitte unpacks what’s driving interest in Malaysia’s equity market, the new regulatory guidelines and what a genuinely mature IPO market looks like.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and vocal stakeholders mean businesses are  operating in full view of employees, customers, and the public, what some call the Naked Economy. Rajeev Peshawaria joins us to unpack how businesses can actually thrive in this environment, what they must get right, which companies have led by example, and what lessons the rest of us can take from them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia is expected to table its first dedicated climate law, the National Climate Change Bill, later this year. Jozsef Acabo of ESGpedia joins us to unpack this law, who's actually impacted (essentially everyone, since any business could be supplying a carbon emitter that gets taxed), and what businesses should be doing now to prepare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Building companies that can shape Malaysia's future economy takes more than capital; it takes long-term investment and the right support at the right stage. Kayse Foo joins us to unpack how Dana Impak, part of Khazanah's Advancing Malaysia strategy, backs Malaysian businesses and strategic sectors such as the semiconductor industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia has seen franchise brands expand fast, open dozens of outlets and collapse just as quickly. Azizam Ramli of Pernas, the government agency tasked with developing Malaysia's franchise industry, discusses franchises that scale sustainably from those that don't, and what aspiring franchisors and franchisees need to understand first.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The IRB's Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme for stamp duty ends at the end of this year. This is the time to stamp your eligible documents without penalties. KPMG's Soh Lian Seng explains what qualifies for this programme, what taxpayers need to do, common misconceptions, and ends with how the business community can contribute towards building a robust stamp duty framework that caters to today's business environment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysian consumers are still spending, but they're becoming far more deliberate about where their money goes. Milieu's 2026 Consumer Study reveals a shift towards more intentional spending, and Cindy Pang joins us to discuss what these changing behaviours mean for businesses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia's Gig Workers Act came into force in April. We look at the Act from three angles: the policy design with Dr Lee Hwok-Aun of ISEAS, the platform's perspective with GoGet's Francesca Chia, and the lived experience of gig worker Akladima Nashan Nugraha Mohd Nasir (Dima) to ask whether this is genuinely a good deal for Malaysia's gig workers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Microsoft's newest Work Trend Index finds that a small group of "Frontier Professionals" are pulling far ahead in what they can do with AI. But the report also finds that organisational culture, not individual skill, is the biggest factor in whether AI actually pays off. Microsoft's Vera Siertsema joins us to unpack who's really getting value from AI, and how companies can implement this technology successfully.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As demand for AI grows, so does Malaysia's data centre boom, particularly in Johor, along with questions about energy, water, land, and impact on local communities. Asher Ling unpacks what responsible data centre infrastructure actually looks like, and how it impacts local businesses and communities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most AI governance conversations focus on making AI systems safe, transparent, and accountable. But what happens when AI starts shaping how people think and decide? Kamales Lardi joins us to unpack Cognitive Governance, the idea that safeguarding human judgement may matter just as much as governing the technology itself. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia's e-Invoicing rollout has been underway for nearly two years, and the government has just introduced a Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP), allowing businesses to correct e-Invoice errors without penalties until the end of 2027, alongside accelerated capital allowances for qualifying investments. Thenesh Kannaa joins us to discuss what businesses, especially SMEs, should be doing during this window to get their e-Invoicing processes in order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia have proposed a major overhaul of the LEAP Market, Malaysia's platform for MSMEs and mid-tier companies to raise capital. LEAP Market 2.0 would open the market to retail investors for the first time, simplify listing disclosures, and create a smoother path from equity crowdfunding to the ACE Market. Eng Cha Lun and Arthur Cheng of BDO Malaysia looks at what's changing, why LEAP's liquidity problems have persisted, and what the proposed reforms could mean for businesses and investors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia posted back-to-back quarters of stronger-than-expected growth, 5.4% in Q1 and an advance estimate of 5.8% in Q2. Woon Khai Jhek joins us to unpack whether this changes RAM's outlook for the year, and what a prolonged Hormuz disruption could still mean for inflation, interest rates, and economic growth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Insolvency is usually deemed business failure, but restructuring is about the opposite: giving viable businesses a way to reorganise, protect value, and recover. Kumar Jai joins us to unpack when a struggling business should seek help, how restructuring can protect jobs while giving companies a genuine second chance, and how the new Cross-Border Insolvency Act 2026 changes the game for creditors and businesses with foreign exposure. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Organisational resilience isn't just financial strength or a continuity plan; it's whether employees trust their leaders and feel safe to speak up. Emellia Shariff explores why psychological safety is as critical to resilience as any business strategy, and how to create a workplace where people feel psychologically safe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After studying expert entrepreneurs, Professor Saras Sarasvathy found they weren't better at predicting the future; they simply made decisions differently. In a world shaped by AI, geopolitical shocks, and fast-changing consumer behaviour, we explore what a different mindset can teach entrepreneurs, business leaders, and anyone making decisions when the future cannot be predicted. We discuss:Why expert entrepreneurs don't out-predict everyone else, and what they do insteadThe five principles of EffectuationHow successful entrepreneurs turn surprises into opportunities rather than setbacksWhether entrepreneurship is a learnable method rather than an inborn talent, and what that means for developing it within a companySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia's creative industry has never lacked talent; the bigger question has always been how to turn that talent into sustainable businesses. Zainol Haqim Zainol Rashid tells us what's working, what's still holding creative entrepreneurs back, and what it will take for Malaysian creative brands to go global.We discuss:The "orange economy," and where the biggest opportunities and challenges lie todayWhy funding alone hasn't been enough, and whether the real gap is commercial viability rather than capitalHow AI is reshaping design, music, publishing, and content creationValuing creative IP, and what it will take for more Malaysian creative companies to build globally recognised brands without losing their local identitySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies are investing more than ever in workplace policies and employee well-being, but according to the 2026 Malaysia People@Work Index Report by O-Psych, the overall employee experience score is stuck at 62%, unchanged from last year, despite real  improvements in workplace risks and conditions.We dig into where the disconnect lies, and what businesses may be missing beneath the numbers.We discuss:What the People@Work Index actually measures, and why psychosocial risk, well-being, and psychological safety matterThe difference between disengagement and depleted capacity, and how strong KPIs can mask a deeper people problemWhy employees report coping better personally but feeling less connected to purpose, and what that means for long-term motivation"Hidden pockets of toxicity" within a company. What it means and what can be done.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stan Singh from ASOCIO explains why AI governance can no longer be an afterthought. AI ethics can be seen as the compass, while AI governance is the traffic rules, and right now, most organisations are driving without either. Here's what you can do to govern AI if it's being used in your organisation.We discuss:What AI governance actually means in practiceWho should be accountable when AI makes a bad decisionWhat an AI Ethics Committee actually does, whether SMEs realistically need oneHow to stop governance from becoming just another compliance exerciseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With 10 million workers in the services sector, Malaysia could be more exposed to widespread unemployment than most realise, with up to 320,000 jobs at risk, rising to 680,000 under deeper automation scenarios. Dr Thomas Lim Kok-Tiong, author of "Augmentation or Elimination: The Potential Impact of AI on the Malaysian Economy," a paper published by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, discusses the possibility of widespread structural unemployment in Malaysia caused by AI.We discuss:How AI-induced job augmentation differs from eliminationEstimates for AI-caused unemployment, and how they compare to Malaysia's Covid-19 unemployment rateThe limits of job reskillingHow agentic AI adoption changes the picture, and why Malaysia's status as an "AI Contender" could make its workforce more vulnerableWhat government policy could look like to get ahead of structural unemployment before it happensSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The digital economy is booming, but KRI warns MSME digitalisation is “broad but shallow.” We explore why many micro- and small businesses digitise only their customer-facing functions while core operations remain manual, the practical costs of shallow digitalisation, and why micro-enterprises, about 71% of MSMEs, struggle to improve their digital maturity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UNICEF's "Family-Friendly Workplaces" toolkit makes the case that flexible work, childcare support, and parental leave aren't just an HR policy, they're a win for employees, a win for business, and a win for the wider economy, backed by data from businesses across Asia and Africa. We unpack what the numbers say, and what it actually takes for a business, especially an SME, to put this into practice.We discuss:The real business case for family-friendly policies, Why replacing a skilled employee can cost between 20% and 400% of their annual salaryHow childcare support can cut turnover among working mothers by 15–30%Adapting flexible policies for factory and manufacturing settings without hurting production targetsImage credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Banks are the heart of an economy, when they struggle, everyone feels it. Southeast Asian banks head into the second half of 2026 with solid capital and liquidity buffers on paper, but the lingering fallout from the Iran war and a fragile peace deal are testing these its resilience. We discuss:Why banking sector health is a leading indicator for the wider economyHow Indonesia's rupiah weakness, an MSCI downgrade threat, and capital outflows are filtering into banks' dollar bondsWhy Thailand's elevated household debt is weighing on asset quality, and which lenders are better positionedThe Philippines' weaker capital ratios at midsize banksSingapore's new TLAC and Liquidity Coverage Ratio rules, and how the region's dollar bonds could perform if the Iran peace deal doesn't holdImage credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deloitte's 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report argues that human capital is the real competitive advantage as organisations transform with AI. This extends to how AI is used within the organisation, the guardrails that need to be in place, how AI can support employee satisfaction and hiring, and how far any of this can go without trust.We discuss: Nearly 60% of workers are already using AI at work on their own initiative, while only 14% of leaders feel equipped to guide how people and AI should work together. How should leaders close that gap?How does unresolved cultural debt accumulate within a company over time, and what are the warning signs?Should AI take over all the routine work, or should employees still be given simple tasks to avoid burnout?What should business owners be doing now to keep trust, skills and culture from falling behind?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Large consulting firms are increasingly using AI, raising important questions for the companies that hire them. Are firms disclosing when AI has contributed to a report? How do consultants add value in an AI-enabled environment? As companies build their own internal AI capabilities, what will the future role of external consultants be, and how should business owners evaluate and select them?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rohit Ramesh, from Boston Consulting Group, tells us how AI is reshaping the entire hotel business, from how properties are designed and built to how rooms are priced, staff are deployed, and guest experiences are delivered. We discuss: How hotels are moving past digital tools at the front desk toward faster operations, leaner costs and more personalised service. How automation can create value in an industry built on human connection,Where Malaysia’s hotels stand against neighbours like Singapore and Indonesia in adopting this technology. Image credit: PixabaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.