With the Techsauce Global Summit 2026 just around the corner, many Asian startups are gearing up to enter the AI sector and boost visibility in the global industry. However, is the regulatory landscape in the SEA region ready to accommodate the AI boom?
Speaking to The Sociable, Indonesian digital policy analyst Azka Haria Fitra explained that the current ASEAN policy landscape is quite dynamic. There is a convergence around several principles such as responsible AI, transparency, accountability, human oversight, safety, and interoperability.
However, he stated that how these principles are translated into practice differs with each country.
“Singapore relies heavily on soft governance and testing, Vietnam has moved toward binding AI legislation, and Malaysia and Thailand are currently strengthening their horizontal frameworks, whereas Indonesia still combines national guidance with sectoral governance,” said Haria.
Azka Haria Fitra
At the moment, Fitra believes that Singapore remains the strongest benchmark for overall regulatory readiness in ASEAN. While the country does not have a single, comprehensive AI Act, its governance framework evolves alongside its technological changes.
“Overall, the direction of Singapore’s policy appears consistent: building capabilities, driving deployment, strengthening trust, and subsequently paving the way for commercialization and scaling up,” he said, adding that Singapore’s primary strength lies “in the interconnections between these policy instruments, providing startups with a clearer pathway from technology development to customers, financing, and market expansion.”
According to the e-Conomy SEA report published by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, there were more than 680 active AI startups across Southeast Asia as of November 2025. Singaporean startups represent the majority, with nearly 500 startups listed
Despite this fact, Fitra warned that the number of AI startups registered in one region should not become the main indicator of success in AI adoption. “What matters more is how many [startups] have real customers, have gone into production, are generating revenue, are building IP or capabilities, and can scale to other markets.”
Fitra also acknowledged that Thailand is quite progressive, particularly with regards to practical governance. Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency already operates an AI Governance Center and is driving its evolution into an AI Governance Practice Center by 2026. Their focus has shifted toward risk assessment, AI safety testing, red-teaming, certification, and the implementation of governance in real-world use cases.
CEO & co-founder of Techsauce, a Thailand-based technology and business ecosystem builder and host of the Techsauce Global Summit, Oranuch “Mimee” Lerdsuwankij, said that Thailand’s new startup law is poised to strengthen Thailand’s innovation ecosystem.
“A supportive policy environment helps reduce barriers for entrepreneurs, encourages investment, and creates greater confidence for startups to grow. At the same time, innovation thrives when startups, corporates, investors, universities, and the public sector work together,” explained Lerdsuwankij.
Through platforms like Techsauce Global Summit, AI startups can foster knowledge exchange, partnerships, and international connections. She believes that a combination of progressive policy and strong ecosystem collaboration will help position Thailand as “a tech gateway in the region.”
“Within Southeast Asia, I’m particularly excited about Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. These markets are seeing increasing demand for AI solutions across sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, agriculture, and retail.”
“Rather than asking which country is the best, I think founders should look for ways to leverage the strengths of multiple ecosystems across Asia.”
Oranuch “Mimee” Lerdsuwankij
The role of AI startups in bolstering SEA economy
According to Azka Haria Fitra, Southeast Asia’s AI policy is also becoming increasingly aligned with the broader digital economy agenda; SEA countries are developing regional frameworks for data flows, cybersecurity, digital trade, and emerging technologies.
The ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2030 itself identifies AI readiness and cross-border data interoperability as key areas that need to be developed. “The success of the ASEAN AI ecosystem will be heavily influenced by the extent to which the region succeeds in establishing characteristics of a digital single market, even though ASEAN continues to consist of distinct national jurisdictions,” he explained.
Fitra added that regulations which facilitate investor entry can help startups secure the capital and networks needed to scale up. Aside from regulations, early-stage startups benefit most from R&D funding, computing resources, testing, and securing their first customer.
Once they reach the growth stage, factors such as tax treatment, foreign investment, growth capital, talent mobility, and internationalization become increasingly important. “So, the local startup ecosystem serves a function that extends beyond merely creating new companies; it helps build an economy’s capacity to absorb AI.”
Fitra explained that a country’s ability to adopt AI ultimately hinges on local capacity to understand, adapt, integrate, and maintain the technology once it is deployed. Local startups play a strategic role in doing so.
While foundation models may originate from global companies, their application across sectors, such as banking, healthcare, agriculture, logistics, government services, or local languages, requires an understanding of the specific data, workflows, regulations, and user needs within each country.
As a result, the value of local startups lies largely in their ability to transform general-purpose technology into solutions that truly function within a local context. For ASEAN, a region characterized by diverse languages, economic structures, and sectoral conditions, this capability can actually serve as a competitive advantage.
“Startups in the ASEAN region hold significant potential in applied and vertical AI, with the use of AI technology to address sector-specific challenges and local contexts in fields like finance, healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, or public services. Their competitive edge stems from combining global technology with local data, language, and distribution networks,” said Fitra.”
Similarly, “Mimee” Lerdsuwankij said that while the U.S. leads the frontier in AI research and foundation models and Europe has built robust capabilities regarding responsible AI and regulation, the Asian AI market has a different strong suit.
“We don’t necessarily need to win the race to build the biggest models. We have the opportunity to lead in applying AI to the real economy. Across the region, investors are increasingly shifting their attention from horizontal AI platforms to vertical AI solutions that address industry-specific challenges,” she stated.
Lerdsuwankij highlighted the Asian market’s depth of its real sectors, which makes the region unique in terms of positioning and competitiveness.
“We are home to some of the world’s largest manufacturing hubs, supply chains, financial ecosystems, and fast-growing consumer markets. These industries generate rich domain expertise, real operational challenges, and abundant opportunities for AI adoption.”
Featured image: Courtesy of Techsauce
