Insights

A short ride from Suvarnabhumi airport, paid for by an AI agent and authenticated by a FIDO-grade passkey, is more interesting than the headlines made it sound. Author: Sarah Huang, Managing Partner at H&F Advisers It's the pilot that mattered, and why the headlines missed it, in late April, Mastercard and Krungthai Card put out a press release that, on the face of it, read like a novelty item. An AI agent had booked a car from Suvarnabhumi to Central Chidlom through a mobil

So when I tell you that the George Town Accord, signed just a few days ago, is the most significant commercial forcing function I've seen in Southeast Asian banking in my 18-year career, I'm not being hyperbolic.

After three decades of deferral, tactical workarounds, and front-end cosmetics, Southeast Asia's banking sector has reached an inflection point. The core banking systems that power the region's financial infrastructure are, on average, more than 20 years old