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BCA reigns as Southeast Asia’s most valuable brand

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Indonesia’s IM3 and BNI enter 2024 Kantar BrandZ Southeast Asia Top 30 for the first timeFastest growth achieved by BRI and AIS, both worth 30% more than in 2023 High performing banks and telcos strengthen consumer connections with digital capabilities

SINGAPORE, July 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Indonesian banking giant Bank Central Asia (BCA) has cemented its leadership at the top of the second annual Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands ranking. The brand is now worth US$28.3 billion – a 21% value increase in just one year. BCA owes its success to effectively activating its strong consumer connections and reinforcing its difference. It continually grows its customer base by expanding its digital banking and ecommerce services, and developing new features and benefits. Another Indonesian bank, BRI, has overtaken Singapore’s DBS to claim the silver-medal position, and Thai telecom provider AIS climbs one place to fourth.

Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands 2024

Rank 2024

Brand

Category

Brand value 2024
(US$M)

YoY change (%)

1

BCA

Financial Services

28,267

21 %

2

BRI

Financial Services

11,258

30 %

3

DBS

Financial Services

11,086

-6 %

4

AIS

Telecom Providers

8,843

30 %

5

Mandiri

Financial Services

8,344

26 %

6

UOB

Financial Services

6,597

-8 %

7

Shopee

Retail

4,832

5 %

8

Telkomsel

Telecom Providers

4,597

-1 %

9

Marina Bay Sands

Travel Services

4,412

0 %

10

True

Telecom Providers

3,706

18 %

The total brand value of the Top 30 – which covers Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore – is US$131.3 billion, an increase of 10% year-on-year. Nineteen of the brands are worth more than they were in 2023. The fastest growth comes from emerging markets, with Thai brands increasing their value the most, followed by Vietnam and Indonesia. Meanwhile the largest share of brand value is contributed by Indonesia (46%), followed by Singapore (32%) and Thailand (11%).

IM3 and BNI make their debuts

There are two new entrants in the Top 30 this year, both from Indonesia. Telecom provider IM3 joins the ranking at No.28, while BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia) enters at No.30. IM3 ($1.4bn) provides convenience by delivering consistency of 4G coverage across the country’s 17,500 islands and offers flexible packages to meet varied needs. BNI ($1.4bn) has strongly supported the nation’s economic development and delivers convenience through friction-free digital services and open banking.

Services and infrastructure brands dominate

The Top 30 come from a wide range of categories, spanning food, banking and beer, but Financial Services (+15%) and Telecom Providers (+14%) captured the most growth over the past year. These sectors lead the region’s digital transformation with the pursuit of new technologies to provide better and broader next-generation services. Financial Services brands account for 12 of the Top 30, and for 60% of its total brand value. Nine telecom providers account for 22% of the total value, while three retail brands contribute 7%.

BRI and AIS are the fastest risers

Financial Services brands BRI and AIS have both gained the most value during the last year, up 30%, followed by Maybank (No.22; $1.9bn; +27%); Mandiri (No.5; $8.3bn; +26%) and Digi (No.25; $1.6bn; +25%). For a long time, BRI has demonstrated its commitment to improving the lives of Indonesians by providing widespread, easy access to financial services, particularly in remote areas. Its BRImo mobile banking super-app drives financial inclusivity, digital literacy and an outstanding customer experience nationwide.

Katie McClintock, Executive Managing Director, Southeast Asia at Kantar, says: “Southeast Asia is becoming the world’s fastest growing economy, underpinned by a developing digital infrastructure and increasing household incomes. These twin trends give consumers more flexibility in the goods and services they choose, and they’re reprioritising what were once ‘wants’ as ‘needs’. Great brands focus on what sets them apart. They focus on how they make consumers’ lives better – meaningfully – and then communicate that with clarity, consistency, and creativity. The brands that achieve this have a powerful opportunity to grow in their home markets and across the globe.”

Other trends from the 2024 Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands analysis include:

Most brands in Southeast Asia’s Top 30 are seen by consumers to be worth the price they pay, compared to 66% for all brands in the regionIndomie (No.15; $2.4bn) has remained the most Meaningful brand by remaining relevant, and innovating to keep up with consumer preferences, while staying true to its roots. It launched a premium collection of Japanese Ramen flavours in 2023, supported by pop-up tasting stallsOverseas markets present a huge untapped opportunity for Southeast Asian brands to find new space and continue growth. Overseas trade activity of the Top 30 currently sits as 16%, versus 49% for Japan’s Top 3093% of the Southeast Asia’s Top 30 brands have potent levels of Meaningful Difference – and those which strengthened it grew in value at more than double the rate of their peers. This demonstrates how value derives from the ability to meet people’s needs and stand out from the crowdGrowth is 10% higher when brands invest in all three key value accelerators, than if they only invest in two. There are three key catalysts for developing brand value, defined by Kantar’s Blueprint for Brand Growth: predisposing more people to choose the brand, being more present where consumers make purchase decisions, and finding new space into which they can grow. Southeast Asia’s top brands are strong in all three areas.

The Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands ranking, report and extensive analysis are now available here.

For a quick read on a brand’s performance compared to competitors in a specific category, Kantar’s free interactive tool, BrandSnapshot powered by BrandZ, provides intelligence on 14,000 brands. Find out more here.

About Kantar BrandZ: Kantar BrandZ is the global currency when assessing brand value, quantifying the contribution of brands to business’ financial performance. Kantar’s annual global and local brand valuation rankings combine rigorously analysed financial data, with extensive brand equity research. Since 1998, BrandZ has shared brand-building insights with business leaders based on interviews with 4.3 million consumers, for 21,000 brands in 54 markets. Discover more about Kantar BrandZ here.

The Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands Report 2024 includes the most definitive and robust ranking of the region’s brands available. The ranking draws on opinions of more than 98,000 respondents on 1800 brands across 70 categories and the brands ranked must meet these eligibility criteria:

The brand must have originated in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or VietnamThe brand must be owned by a listed companyThe scope of the ranking is limited to consumer-facing brands.

About Kantar: Kantar is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world’s top companies. We combine the most meaningful attitudinal and behavioural data with deep expertise and advanced analytics to uncover how people think and act. We help clients understand what has happened and why and how to shape the marketing strategies that shape their future.

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SOURCE Kantar

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TUTK Helps Indian Security Customers Achieve STQC Cybersecurity Certification

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Secure P2P Connectivity, Cloud Governance, and Flexible Deployment Support Compliance and Market Expansion in India

TAIPEI and NEW DELHI, India, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TUTK, a global cloud platform and connectivity service provider, today announced that security devices from its customers in India, powered by TUTK’s patented P2P connectivity and cloud technologies, have successfully passed cybersecurity assessments conducted by India’s Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate.

As India strengthens cybersecurity, data governance, and supply-chain requirements for video surveillance products, STQC compliance has become increasingly important for vendors targeting government, public-sector, and smart-infrastructure projects. The successful assessments demonstrate how TUTK’s secure connectivity and cloud architecture can help security device manufacturers meet evolving cybersecurity requirements while accelerating market deployment.

Secure P2P Connectivity for Devices and Video
Remote video surveillance introduces potential security risks across device pairing, NAT traversal, session establishment, and video transmission. Addressing these risks requires multiple layers of protection, including secure device authentication, encrypted communications, session management, relay security, brute-force protection, and software supply-chain transparency.

TUTK’s patented P2P technology uses device authentication and certificate binding to reduce the risk of unauthorized device registration and connection hijacking. DTLS/SRTP-based encryption further protects connection establishment and live video transmission.

When NAT or firewall restrictions prevent direct P2P connections, TUTK Relay services maintain remote connectivity while keeping video and data encrypted in transit.

From SDK Security to Cloud Governance
TUTK provides documentation covering P2P SDK provenance, maintenance, and security controls, while supporting device manufacturers in implementing access control, connection logging, and device-level security policies. Together, these capabilities help address supply-chain transparency requirements and establish multilayer protection across devices, connectivity, software, and cloud services.

TUTK’s cloud architecture also supports access control, encrypted transmission, operational logging, and audit trails. Deployment models can be tailored to customer requirements for data residency, access management, and operational governance.

By integrating device connectivity and cloud management within a unified architecture, security vendors can simplify system integration, improve visibility into device and service operations, and build a scalable foundation for future device expansion.

Flexible Deployment for Compliance and Faster Time to Market
TUTK provides modular deployment options to address different security, operational, and compliance requirements:

Private Deployment: Deploy P2P infrastructure in the customer’s own data center or designated private cloud for greater control over data, systems, and operations.Platform as a Service (PaaS): Use TUTK’s managed cloud infrastructure to reduce deployment and maintenance complexity while scaling with device and connection volumes.

P2P connectivity, Relay services, and cloud management can be deployed independently or combined according to each customer’s requirements, helping vendors balance compliance, operational control, infrastructure investment, and time to market.

Supporting Security Vendors in India and Global Markets
As cybersecurity requirements continue to evolve, secure device connectivity, encrypted transmission, software supply-chain transparency, and cloud governance are becoming essential for security manufacturers entering regulated markets.

TUTK will continue working with camera, NVR, and other security device manufacturers to integrate secure connectivity and cloud services, streamline validation and deployment, and support expansion in India and other global markets.

Contact:
Yi-Ching, Chen
Marketing.en@tutk.com 

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Businesses Achieved 322% ROI with Avalara, According to New Total Economic Impact Study

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New study finds a composite Avalara customer realized $1.2 million in benefits and $881,000 in net present value over three years, with payback in under six months

PUNE, India, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Avalara, Inc., the agentic AI leader in global tax and compliance, today announced the results of a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting: The Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) Of Avalara. The study found that a composite organization representative of Avalara customers achieved a 322% return on investment over three years, with an investment payback period of less than six months.

“We believe a 322% ROI and payback in under six months demonstrate that compliance automation is a substantial financial advantage,” said Jayme Fishman, Chief Strategy and Product Officer at Avalara. “By combining trusted tax content with automation and AI directly in the systems businesses already use, we help customers improve accuracy, operate with greater confidence, and make tax and compliance more reliable as their businesses grow.”

To examine the potential return on investment that organizations may realize by deploying Avalara products and services, Forrester Consulting interviewed seven decision-makers across industries with direct experience using Avalara. Forrester aggregated their experiences into a single composite business with 2,000 employees and $300 million in annual revenue.

Why the Study Matters for Tax and Finance Teams
Regulatory requirements continue to expand and grow more complex, making manual, spreadsheet-based tax compliance increasingly difficult to sustain. Before adopting Avalara, interviewees described relying on manual processes and legacy systems to calculate and manage sales and use tax, file returns and 1099 and W-9 forms, maintain rates, and apply exemptions. These approaches were time-consuming and led to inaccurate calculations, inconsistent exemption handling, and material compliance risk, including audit findings, penalties, and back taxes.

After investing in Avalara, interviewees’ organizations automated tax calculation, filing, and exemption management through a centralized system integrated with their ERP platforms. As a result, they improved accuracy and compliance while reducing manual effort and spending on third-party services.

Key Financial Findings
A three-year financial analysis of the composite organization demonstrated:

322% return on investment (ROI) over three years.$881,000 in net present value (NPV) over three years.$1.2 million in total benefits versus $274,000 in total costs over three years.Payback in less than six months.

Quantified Product-Level Value and Savings
Forrester quantified the following three-year, risk-adjusted present-value benefits for the composite organization:

$317,000 saved by avoiding third-party services and additional full-time employees, allowing the organization to absorb growth in jurisdictions and compliance requirements without proportionally increasing headcount or consulting costs.$267,000 saved on use tax by automating taxable-purchase identification and use tax calculation and accrual, reducing up to 45 hours of manual review per month.$203,000 in labor savings from Avalara Exemption Certificate Management (ECM), which reduced certificates filed with errors by 95% through centralized, AI-assisted capture and validation.$96,000 saved by managing 1099 and W-9 preparation, validation, and submission within Avalara, reducing reliance on third-party filing providers.$93,000 in labor savings from Avalara Managed Returns, which eliminated 570 hours of work and reduced time spent on return filing by approximately 95%.$53,000 saved from Avalara VAT Reporting, which drove a 90% improvement in VAT compliance efficiency across multiple jurisdictions.$52,000 saved through improved audit preparation and avoided penalties, including a 90% efficiency gain in audit prep and roughly 36 hours saved per audit.$38,000 saved through participation in the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) program using Avalara.$35,000 in labor savings from Avalara Tax Research, a 90% efficiency improvement that saved about 18 hours per month.

In addition to quantified savings, interviewed decision-makers highlighted significant unquantified benefits, including increased executive peace of mind, operational resilience, and seamless scalability without organizational strain.

Register to join Avalara and Forrester on October 7 to learn how organizations are realizing a 322% ROI with Avalara. This webinar will explore the findings from the Total Economic Impact™ study and the measurable business benefits of modernizing tax compliance.

About Avalara
Avalara is the agentic AI platform for global tax and compliance. For more than two decades, Avalara has built one of the most expansive libraries of tax content and integrations in the industry, processing more than 54 billion transactions annually and supporting millions of businesses worldwide. The company’s purpose-built AI agents automate end-to-end compliance with greater precision, from tax calculations and return filings to exemption certificate management and beyond. For more information, visit Avalara.com.

This study was commissioned by Avalara and conducted by Forrester Consulting. Results are based on the aggregated experiences of interviewed customers and a composite organization. Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive.

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Xobin Research: 72% of Workplace Skills Now Meet Criteria for AI Delegation, But Hiring Is Shifting Toward What Machines Still Can’t Do

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Mid-year study of 683 skill groups, 113 leadership scorecards, and thousands of technical assessment requests finds AI delegability concentrated in analytical and technical work, while leadership, business-to-technical translation, and collaboration remain the harder-to-automate hiring priorities

CHENNAI, India, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Xobin, an AI-powered recruitment, talent assessment and talent management platform, today published its Human vs AI Skills Report: 2026 Mid-Year Edition, authored by Guruprakash Sivabalan, Founder and CEO of Xobin. The report draws on data through 30 June 2026, covering 683 skill groups, 113 leadership scorecards from 92 employers, and thousands of technical assessment requests. Full report: https://xobin.com/research/articles/human-vs-ai-skills-2026/.

Headline finding: 72% of skill groups in Xobin’s 2024 hiring framework were fully or partially delegable to AI under at least one tested model. Delegability varied sharply by category, from 90-100% for analytical reasoning down to 28% for operations and execution, with leadership skills below 50%. Partial delegation often still requires a person to frame the task, review the output, and handle exceptions; the study does not measure jobs eliminated.

“The question hiring teams should ask isn’t whether AI can do a task; for most tasks now, some version of it can,” said Guruprakash Sivabalan, Xobin. “It’s which parts a candidate must do independently, and which they need to direct and check.”

Additional findings:

EQ narrowly leads leadership scorecards. Across 113 templates from 92 employers, EQ-related criteria averaged 52% of scorecard weight versus 48% for all other criteria combined, placing interpersonal capability inside the formal definition of leadership fit.Business-to-technical translation cracks the top five. Among 35 technical roles studied, this skill was requested by 10-19 roles, enough for a top-five ranking, though behind AI integration/automation and analytical problem-solving (each requested by 30-35 roles).Coding assessments are shifting toward AI-assisted judgment. Traditional, AI-free coding tests fell from 75-100% of technical assessment requests (Jan-Jun 2024) to 25-50% (Jan-Jun 2026), while AI-assisted tasks (generate, test, debug, explain) rose from under 25% to 50-75%.Collaboration and non-linear thinking are more common in emerging roles. Within 24 tracked emerging skill groups, collaboration appeared in 12-17 groups in 2026, up from 4 in 2024; non-linear thinking rose from 0-5 groups to 6-11.

“Foundational knowledge hasn’t gone away; it’s what lets someone catch an AI’s mistake,” Sivabalan said. “Separate what a candidate must do independently from what they need to direct and verify with AI, and build that into how roles are assessed.”

Methodology

The report combines five independently scoped analyses: an AI-delegability review of 683 skill groups tested against OpenAI and Anthropic models; an analysis of 113 leadership scorecard templates from 92 employers; a skill-frequency review across 35 technical roles; a matched comparison of technical assessment types between 2024 and 2026; and a matched two-period comparison of 24 emerging skill groups. The five units are independent and not combined into one sample. Full methodology and references: https://xobin.com/research/articles/human-vs-ai-skills-2026/.

About Xobin

Xobin is an AI-powered recruitment, talent assessment and talent management platform combining psychometric assessments, skills testing, secure online proctoring, structured and AI-assisted interviews, and learning & development tools to help organizations hire, evaluate, and upskill talent at scale. Xobin is used by companies ranging from fast-growing startups to several Fortune 100 enterprises.

Media Contact
Guruprakash Sivabalan
Founder and CEO, Xobin
Email: guru@xobin.com
Website: www.xobin.com

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