Tag: Conversational AI

The ability to communicate across cultures is no longer a competitive advantage—it’s a business imperative. As brands expand their global reach, the challenge lies not only in crafting messages that resonate internationally but in ensuring those messages are deeply relevant at the local level. 

For marketing professionals, this balancing act—navigating global consistency while embracing regional nuance—demands more than translation. It requires strategic localisation grounded in cultural intelligence, audience insight, and adaptive messaging.

To give marketers a better understanding on how to create effective communication channels, MARKETECH APAC is hosting an exclusive webinar titled “Global Conversations, Local Impact: Mastering Regional Communication Strategies”, to be held on 17 June 2025 at 11AM SGT.

Done in partnership with Sinch, a communications platform as a service company, this webinar also aims to explore strategies to maximise engagement, boost response rates, and optimise the customer experience in this dynamic, mobile-first region.

First up on the webinar is a keynote presentation from Hugh Haley, head of partners for APAC at Sinch where he will discuss the evolution of customer communications in a hyper-connected world. Moreover, he will also highlight emerging channel preferences and the growing influence of conversational AI in Asia, as well as delve into strategies for achieving global success by winning in the diverse and dynamic Asian market.

The webinar will also feature a panel discussion where they will discuss the future of customer communications in Asia, including the rise of super apps and their profound impact on how brands connect with consumers, delve into the role of AI and automation in enhancing and streamlining customer interactions, and share forward-looking predictions on emerging communication trends across Asia.

The panellists are as follows:

  • May Ling Chan, Head of Brand & Marketing Services at CelcomDigi Bhd
  • Angeline Angeles, marketing director at GoTyme Bank
  • Hugh Haley, head of partners for APAC at Sinch
  • Alyaa Ramlan, Head of Social at Unifi

Fatima Baduria, regional journalist at MARKETECH APAC, is moderating the session.

Speaking about the webinar, Teddy Cambosa, regional editor at MARKETECH APAC, said, “In an era where digital platforms erase borders and global reach is instantaneous, the real power of communication lies not in how far your message travels, but in how deeply it resonates. We’re excited to bring this webinar to you as we believe that the future of customer communication belongs to marketers who can think globally, act regionally, and connect with customers on a personal, human level—through the right channels, in the right voice, at the right moment.”

“Global Conversations, Local Impact: Mastering Regional Communication Strategies” is done in partnership with Sinch. Join us on 17 June 2025 at 11AM SGT by registering for free HERE–don’t miss it!

Indonesia – Gupshup has appointed Trisnia Anchali Kardia as its new country head for Indonesia, marking a strategic move to expand its footprint in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing markets for conversational AI and business messaging.

Backed by a strong track record in business messaging, e-commerce, and technology adoption, Anchali will lead efforts to expand Gupshup’s enterprise business in Indonesia, aiming to establish the company as a market leader in conversational AI engagement.

Prior to Gupshup, Anchali served as country head at Graas, driving 120% revenue growth and significantly expanding the client base. 

Anchali began her career at Telkomsel, leading the launch of its digital and location-based advertising business. Her career then took her to Zomato Indonesia, where she headed sales. 

She later joined Line as chief commercial officer, overseeing marketing, product initiatives, and business development for its enterprise messaging product, solidifying her reputation as a messaging ecosystem expert.

Commenting on her appointment, Anchali said, “The Indonesian market is at a fascinating intersection of rapid digital growth and evolving consumer behaviours, where conversational engagement and commerce have become central to business success. With Gupshup’s cutting-edge conversational cloud, AI agents, and personalisation capabilities and a proven track record of enabling over 45,000 customers, we have an incredible opportunity to help Indonesian businesses scale and transform their customer engagement strategies.” 

“I’m thrilled to lead Gupshup’s next phase of growth in Indonesia and work alongside businesses as they harness the full potential of conversational commerce to drive their digital transformation journey,” she added. 

Indonesia’s growing tech landscape is a key market for Gupshup, with clients like Gojek, SuperIndo, and Tokopedia. The company is ensuring that they are well-positioned to help businesses transform customer engagement through messaging.

Beerud Sheth, co-founder and CEO of Gupshup, said, “With Anchali at the helm, we are excited to help more Indonesian businesses leverage conversational messaging to drive growth and innovation. Her extensive experience in business messaging, driving adoption of innovative offerings, and strong connections within Indonesia’s tech ecosystem make her an invaluable asset as we expand our presence in the region.”.

Singapore – Gupshup, conversational engagement platform for businesses, has announced its acquisition of Active.Ai, the conversational AI platform used by banks and fintech firms. This comes after Gupshup recently unveils its rebranding. 

Gupshup said the acquisition is expected to strengthen its customer experience (CX) solutions for banking, financial services and insurance customers. Headquartered in Singapore, Active.Ai serves BFSI customers across 43 countries with a Conversational Banking as a Service (CBaaS) platform that helps clients engage with consumers every month. Active.Ai enables user interactions via voice, video and messaging; manages service requests, and fulfils enquiries with a premium on accuracy.

Active.Ai’s marquee customers include the Royal Credit Union and CommFirst Federal Credit Union in the USA, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Capital, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Securities Ltd in India, as well as NTUC Income, NIUM and Tonik Bank in Southeast Asia, among others. The company has also established strong partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, Infosys (Finacle), TCS, Finastra, EY, PwC and Accenture.

Beerud Sheth, co-founder and CEO of Gupshup, said that Active.Ai’s robust CBaaS platform adds more vertical depth to Gupshup’s product stack, giving BFSI customers the tools to create intelligent and frictionless micro conversations with consumers. 

“We are happy to welcome the Acitve.Ai team to the Gupshup family and look forward to driving the next phase of innovations in conversational engagement and commerce,” said Sheth.

Meanwhile, Ravi Shankar, co-founder and CEO of Active.Ai, commented, “In the conversational economy, business to consumer engagement that combines advanced natural language processing with deep enterprise connectivity is essential. Active.Ai’s conversational engagement platform powers leading financial enterprises across 43 countries…we are excited to partner with Gupshup to help shape the future of conversational engagement in the financial services space.”

Jakarta, Indonesia — RedDoorz, Southeast Asian hotel management and booking platform, has selected Haptik, the conversational AI platform under Jio Platforms,  to revamp its customer experience. With the help of Haptik’s multilingual AI Chatbot, RedDoorz aims to provide personalized customer support to its Southeast Asian customers across its website, mobile apps, and the latest messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

Anila Rao, vice president for APAC at Haptik, commented on the partnership, saying, “RedDoorz has been a pioneer in Southeast Asia’s hospitality sector. Haptik will be utilizing its vast expertise and experience of working with global hospitality brands to create a world-class chatbot for RedDoorz to achieve its goal of enhancing customer experience.”

Haptik powers conversations that ignite user engagement and provide on-demand support. With Haptik, RedDoorz plans to improve customer query resolution by increasing first-time resolution and reducing average customer handling time for support queries in English, Bahasa Indonesia, and Tagalog.

Meanwhile, Shanketh Ragunath, product manager for CX at RedDoorz, shared that the hospitality brand has been looking for an AI chatbot vendor to provide a faster response to its customers and keep up with its rapidly expanding business. 

“The company has evaluated various vendors from around the world for their capabilities and affordability. Haptik has demonstrated good natural-language understanding and swift responses across our languages of interest. Their pricing is affordable and transparent, and their team is very amiable. We are hoping to build a successful partnership with Haptik,” Ragunath said.