• 53 participants from 21 teams successfully developed working AI solutions to real-world business challenges within eight days.
• Strategic MOU signed with Korean student associations of NUS, NTU, and SMU to establish regular hackathons and internship pipelines.

SINGAPORE, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — To address the growing need for practical AI literacy among future talents, Codepresso, a leading AI competency assessment and training enterprise, announced the successful completion of the Zero100 AI Builderthon. Held from August 22 to 29 in Singapore, the event empowered local Korean university students to build functional AI solutions for real-world corporate challenges. To learn more about Codepresso’s innovative educational programs, visit [codepresso.io].

Uniting Singapore’s Top Talent

The event was led by Juhoeng Park, executive member of the Entrepreneurship Society at Singapore Management University (SMU), in collaboration with the Korean student associations at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and SMU. It was jointly planned with local venture builder Wilt Venture Builder. The program attracted 74 applicants, with 53 participants across 21 teams completing the eight-day program.

Juhoeng Park said: “We wanted this to be more than a ranking competition. The goal was for students to define a real problem, build a solution in a short period, and explain it directly to industry professionals for concrete feedback. Students from the three schools shared that experience for the first time, and we will carry the participants’ feedback and records into the next edition.”

Transforming Concepts into Working AI Solutions

Participants worked on bottlenecks in Codepresso’s workflows across two tracks: Judgement and Automation. Most participants were from non-technical academic backgrounds. 

Jihoon Kim, Chief AI Officer at Codepresso, led an intensive online workshop on vibe coding, an approach to building software using natural-language instructions and AI coding tools. Participants also received one-on-one project mentoring and joined an in-person roundtable discussion with industry experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and NetApp. The program also featured a talk by Heeduk Park, CEO of Translink Investment.

Rewarding Innovation and Business Potential

At the final presentations held at SMU on August 29, an eight-member judging panel evaluated the projects. Judges included Donghun Lee, CEO of Codepresso; Heeduk Park, CEO of Translink Investment; Daero Won, CEO of Wilt Venture Builder; Jungpil Hahn, a professor at NUS Computing; and Donghyuk Shin of AWS. Ten teams received awards across four categories: Beyond Brief, Business Potential, Builders Choice and 0→100. 

“The Builderthon showed us that students were more motivated by real-world problems and the opportunity to receive feedback on their solutions than by incentives,” said Donghun Lee, CEO of Codepresso. “The participants demonstrated that they were ready for more demanding challenges. Our agreement with the three student associations provides a foundation for making the Builderthon a recurring program.”

“We wanted this to be more than a competition focused on rankings,” said Juhoeng Park. “Our goal was for students to identify a real problem, build a solution in a short time and present it to industry professionals for specific feedback. This was the first time students from the three universities had shared this experience, and we will use participant feedback and documentation from the event to improve the next edition.”

Establishing a Sustainable AI Talent Pipeline

Solidifying its commitment to continuous education, Codepresso signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the three student associations. The agreement aims to host the Builderthon regularly, connect participants with internship and employment opportunities, and foster a sustainable ecosystem where graduates return as mentors. Looking ahead, Codepresso plans to hold a second edition in December 2026 and launch the ZERO100 Busan Builderthon in South Korea in September 2026.

About Codepresso

Founded in 2019, Codepresso is an AI competency assessment and training company whose vision is to standardize AI literacy. The company provides hands-on training and competency assessments in data science, cloud computing and AI for major South Korean conglomerates, universities and public institutions. Its offerings include SkillCertify, a platform for practical IT skills assessment, and AI Fluent, an AI skills assessment and training service. Through these services, Codepresso supports organizational AI transformation and the standardization of workforce competencies. Codepresso placed third in the GITEX AI ASIA Supernova Challenge in Singapore in April 2026. It also operates Women in Vibe Coding, a global vibe coding community for women, across four countries, including Singapore.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/codepresso-successfully-concludes-zero100-ai-builderthon-in-singapore-forging-strategic-ties-with-top-universities-302878444.html

SOURCE Codepresso

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Indonesia carries one of ASEAN’s largest automotive markets, where internal combustion engine (ICE) two-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles represent the core fleet. While electrification is gaining ground, the nation’s distinct geography and demographics require a tailored approach. To navigate this transformation, Indonesia’s leading automotive component manufacturer PT Astra Otoparts Tbk continues to support the country’s large existing ICE vehicle population while expanding its capabilities in EV components, infrastructure and international partnerships. Messe Frankfurt met with Astra Otoparts’ President Director Mr Yusak Kristian Solaeman to discuss the forces driving this transition and how Astra Otoparts’ integrated model achieves sustainable growth.

The foundations of a secure, high-potential market
Indonesia’s economy remains a cornerstone of Southeast Asian growth, defined by a steady annual expansion rate of around five percent^[1]. This economic resilience underpins a dynamic automotive sector and provides a solid foundation for its continued development. Based on Astra Otoparts’ estimates, more than 11 million vehicles sold in Indonesia over the past 12 years remain in operation today. Despite this substantial installed base, four-wheeler ownership remains relatively low^[2] compared with several more mature ASEAN automotive markets, suggesting room for long-term market development. This creates a distinctive automotive market shaped by Indonesia’s specific needs, while offering room for long-term growth and opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI).

Positioned at the heart of this market is Astra Otoparts. Founded in 1976, Indonesia’s leading automotive component group comprises two business segments, manufacturing and trading, 55 entities and business units, and a workforce of over 30,000 employees as of June 2026. Today, the company continues to strengthen its core automotive component manufacturing and trading businesses while expanding its capabilities through business diversification.

In this interview, the company’s President Director, Mr Yusak, discussed Indonesia’s transition toward electric mobility and how Astra Otoparts’ integrated business model enables the company to strengthen its core automotive component business while capturing opportunities from evolving mobility trends and growing investment in Indonesia.

How does Astra Otoparts strengthen its core automotive business while adapting to the evolving demands of electrification?
To remain competitive amid rapid technological changes, Mr Yusak explained that Astra Otoparts maintains a balanced strategy across its products and services, strengthening its core automotive component business while expanding its capabilities to capture emerging opportunities from electrification. The company divides its portfolio into two core categories: resilient components that remain essential regardless of powertrain type (ICE, HEV, PHEV & BEV), and common components which cater directly to ICE vehicles.

Mr Yusak added that Astra Otoparts continues to strengthen its aftermarket business by addressing the replacement needs of Indonesia’s large existing ICE vehicle population. Indonesia features a mature vehicle market, averaging around 10 to 14 years old in urban areas and extending up to 20 years on the outer islands. To serve the replacement needs of this ageing vehicle population, Astra Otoparts maintains a strong aftermarket business that addresses recurring consumer demand for replacement parts across both two-wheeler and four-wheeler segments. This extensive market coverage is particularly relevant in Indonesia, which remains one of the world’s largest two-wheeler markets.

To serve the vast overall vehicle population, Astra Otoparts executes a multi-brand and multi-channel strategy. This includes Astra Otoservice workshops that deliver affordable maintenance, the Shop&Drive retail chain network, and a supply chain of regional hubs, dealers, and local parts shops. Mr Yusak noted: “by managing this diverse mix, we remain resilient regardless of changes in technology or consumer behaviour.”

Through its balanced portfolio and extensive aftermarket ecosystem, Astra Otoparts continues to adapt to the evolving automotive landscape while building capabilities to capture opportunities arising from electrification.

A prime example of this is Astra Otopower, its EV charging network. Beyond supporting the development of EV charging infrastructure, Mr Yusak mentioned that real-time data from Astra Otopower charging stations provides insights into charging usage patterns, helping the company better understand evolving customer needs and market trends, and in turn supporting the development of its long-term electrification strategy.

Navigating the realities of the electrification transition
Astra Otoparts navigates Indonesia’s evolving automotive landscape through a balanced approach that supports long-term growth and adaptability. Recognising that the transition toward electrification will evolve alongside market readiness, infrastructure development, and consumer needs, the company continues to adapt its portfolio in line with the changing automotive landscape.

While the momentum behind electric mobility is growing, the transition across Indonesia presents distinct geographic and demographic challenges. As an archipelago of over 17,000 islands spanning large distances and diverse terrain, infrastructure development naturally varies by region. Mr Yusak remarked that consequently, EV adoption currently remains concentrated in major urban hubs, whereas outer islands rely heavily on traditional ICE, influenced by factors such as charging infrastructure availability, travel distances, vehicle usage patterns, and consumer needs.  

Additionally, he said that EV ownership is largely seen in wealthier households buying secondary or luxury cars, while the high-volume middle class still relies on affordable ICE options. Data from Astra Otopower’s charging network reveals further consumer habits. In Jakarta, commuters buy EVs to bypass odd-even traffic restrictions, which restrict vehicle usage based on the final digit of a license plate. On the other hand, range anxiety remains a hurdle for travel outside the city.

As Mr Yusak explained: “Drivers still worry about charging availability on long-distance trips; if charging stations are sparse, consumers prefer ICE or hybrid vehicles, which offer convenience because gas stations are everywhere.” He added: “Electrified vehicle penetration could reach 25 to 30 percent over the next decade, with hybrid vehicles capturing most of this share. True market transformation will occur once adoption spreads beyond multi-car owners to first-time vehicle buyers.”

Why are international investors choosing Indonesia?  
This gradual transition towards electric mobility combined with sustained demand for traditional and localised vehicle components, creates an ideal entry point for international players. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers from China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, including recent entrants like VinFast, are actively expanding their local presence. Mr Yusak pointed out: “Foreign investors use Indonesia as a regional manufacturing hub for exporting complete built-up (CBU) units, engines, and components for global markets.”

Government policy acts as a major driver for this investment. To qualify for tax facilities and incentives, incoming manufacturers must operate within local content requirements. Under the domestic content framework, known as TKDN, compliance is determined by the percentage of local content originating from domestic manufacturing, labour and raw materials^[3].

Therefore, instead of building new factories from scratch, Mr Yusak explained that partnerships with established local manufacturers such as Astra Otoparts can provide international companies with access to existing manufacturing capabilities and support more efficient localisation. “By leveraging existing production capabilities and creating manufacturing synergies, international partners can accelerate localisation while meeting applicable local manufacturing requirements.”

To accelerate this incoming of global capital, Astra Otoparts takes an active role: “We actively engage with government and industry stakeholders to exchange perspectives on component localisation, manufacturing competitiveness, and the development of Indonesia’s automotive ecosystem, contributing to a supportive environment for long-term investment.”

Indonesia’s automotive future
Ultimately, the country’s path towards future mobility will not be defined by an overnight EV takeover, but by a steady evolution. Supported by a stable five percent economic growth rate, strong FDI incentives, and low vehicle ownership density, the nation is positioned to become a central manufacturing and export hub for Southeast Asia.

Regarding the future market outlook, Mr Yusak concluded: “Two-wheeler vehicles will remain dominant due to regional road infrastructure, although we expect advancements in trends as consumer purchasing power continues to grow. For four-wheeler vehicles, annual sales should rebound towards one million units shortly, with hybrid vehicles seeing strong adoption due to practical infrastructure requirements.”

Indonesia, while keeping with the direction and momentum of the global push to electrification, is paving its own path towards future mobility. For now, hybrid vehicles are seeing greater adoption driven by lower infrastructure requirements and consumer preferences outside of Jakarta. Overall, this transition provides an attractive landscape for both local and international industry players, offering high-growth opportunities not only in emerging EV and hybrid technologies, but also in supporting the enduring demand of the country’s existing vehicle fleet. 

These projections further underscore the strength of Astra Otoparts’ strategy across automotive component manufacturing and trading businesses as it expands its capabilities through business diversification. By scaling alongside steady hybrid adoption and the consistent demand for two-wheeler and ICE four-wheeler vehicles, the company directly aligns with Indonesia’s economic trajectory while solidifying itself as a pioneer in Southeast Asia’s mobility innovation.

Automechanika Jakarta supporting Astra Otoparts’ goals
Sponsoring and strategically partnering with Automechanika Jakarta directly aligns with Astra Otoparts’ vision to operate as a premier global player. Mr. Yusak highlights that “our vision is to be a world-class automotive component manufacturer, and partnering with a world-class exhibition brand like Automechanika aligns directly with that goal.” Participating at the event allows the company to demonstrate domestic manufacturing leadership, display its diverse component capabilities, deepen ties with longstanding JV partners, and connect directly with international buyers seeking dependable local manufacturing partners.

Automechanika Jakarta 2026 takes place from 24 to 27 September 2026 at the Nusantara International Convention Exhibition. To find out more, please visit www.automechanika-jakarta.com.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/strengthening-core-manufacturing-while-embracing-electrification-and-global-partnerships-in-indonesia-302878438.html

SOURCE Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd

Financing accelerates development of ultra-efficient infrastructure for foundation AI models

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — EUCLYD has signed a Series A financing round of more than €200 million, the company announced today. The round is co-led by Samsung, Somerset Capital Partners, Scaleup Europe Fund, which is managed by EQT, and Innovation Industries, with participation from EIFO, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, imec.xpand, Brabant Development Agency (BOM), and Quadri. Peter Wennink, former President & CEO of ASML, joins EUCLYD as Chairman of the Board.

As foundation models grow more capable, deploying them requires more power, memory bandwidth, and capital while adding infrastructure complexity. EUCLYD is developing a platform spanning crafted compute, innovative memory architecture, and datacenter systems to break this efficiency wall and transform AI inference economics.

EUCLYD’s long-term vision is Abundant Intelligence: a future in which advanced AI is no longer constrained by infrastructure cost, power availability, or geography. Founded by Bernardo Kastrup and Atul Sinha at High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Europe’s smartest square kilometer, EUCLYD draws on the campus’s semiconductor ecosystem and Europe’s engineering heritage.

At the center of EUCLYD’s roadmap are craftwerk, the world’s first agentic AI silicon, and craftwerk station CWS, the world’s lowest-power exascale AI factory. The platform combines programmable ASIC compute, processor-memory co-design, and system-level optimization to overcome the memory and efficiency walls limiting AI performance and scalability.

“AI is becoming a foundation of economic growth, scientific discovery, and national competitiveness, but its potential will remain constrained unless we fundamentally change the infrastructure beneath it,” said Bernardo Kastrup, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EUCLYD. “This financing accelerates our mission to make intelligence abundant through greater efficiency, lower cost per token, and broader access to advanced AI.”

“The next phase of AI will be defined not only by model innovation, but also by the efficiency and scalability of its infrastructure,” said Dede Goldschmidt, Senior Vice President of Samsung Electronics and Head of the Samsung Semiconductor Innovation Center. “EUCLYD combines an accomplished team with a differentiated vision addressing constraints in AI datacenters.”

“Europe has the engineering talent to produce globally significant technology companies,” said Ted Persson, Partner at EQT and Co-Head of the Scaleup Europe Fund. “EUCLYD combines deep semiconductor expertise with a mission to tackle some of the hardest constraints in AI infrastructure. That mix of European engineering depth and global ambition is what we’re here to back.”

“Europe possesses world-class capabilities across semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and systems engineering,” said Peter Wennink, Chairman of the Board of EUCLYD and former President and Chief Executive Officer of ASML. “EUCLYD can transform those strengths into a globally competitive AI infrastructure platform.”

The financing will expand EUCLYD’s engineering organization, accelerate its silicon and systems roadmap, strengthen ecosystem partnerships, and prepare the company for commercial deployment across enterprise, sovereign, and hyperscale AI markets.

ABOUT EUCLYD
EUCLYD is a European semiconductor systems company developing ultra-efficient infrastructure for foundation AI models. Its roadmap spans agentic AI silicon, advanced memory architecture, and datacenter systems engineered to reduce cost, energy use, and footprint. EUCLYD is headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

https://euclyd.ai/

MEDIA CONTACT
Catchfire
[email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Investor Information

About the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT
The Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, is a commercially driven alternative investment fund backing ambitious European technology companies with the potential to become global leaders. Targeting €5 billion, the Fund brings together public and private capital and invests across Deeptech, AI and Life Sciences.

EQT is a global investment organization with a Nordic heritage and more than three decades of experience developing companies. With €341 billion in total assets under management, EQT invests across the full lifecycle of companies, from start-up to maturity.

About Somerset Capital Partners
Somerset Capital Partners was founded in 2005 by Joes Daemen and pursues a long-term, multi-asset investment strategy. We invest both directly and indirectly across a diverse range of sectors, including technology, real estate, strategic land, data centres, consumer, and healthcare.

We partner with ambitious entrepreneurs and founders, recognising that transformative ideas require capital, conviction, and time. Therefore, we are committed to fostering enduring and impactful long-term relationships.

About Innovation Industries
Innovation Industries is a leading European Deep tech venture capital firm with €1 billion in capital under management. The firm invests in visionary science and engineering-based companies that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. With a strong belief that Deep tech can deliver both outsized financial returns and global impact, Innovation Industries partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and researchers to turn scientific breakthroughs into transformative companies. The firm provides long-term capital and strategic support from lab to scale, actively bridging the gap between academia and industry through close collaboration with leading technical universities, research institutions and industry partners. Innovation Industries has offices in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Munich.

About EIFO 
As Denmark’s national promotional bank and official export credit agency, EIFO works to open doors for global business, drive the green transition, advance innovative technologies, and contribute to Denmark’s security.

With total commitments exceeding EUR 24 billion and activities in more than 100 countries, EIFO provides financial solutions to Danish companies and their global partners.

EIFO is also Denmark’s most active venture investor, investing in startups and VC-funds. In 2025, EIFO made 31 new investments in companies and 15 in funds. Altogether, EIFO has an investment portfolio of just over EUR 2,7 billion.

About imec.xpand
imec.xpand is one of the world’s largest independent venture capital funds dedicated to early-stage semiconductor innovation. It targets ambitious startups where the knowledge, expertise and infrastructure of imec, the world-renowned semiconductor and nanotechnology R&D center, can play a determining role in their growth. imec.xpand has an outspoken international mindset towards building disruptive global companies and strongly believes that sufficient funding from the start is key to future success.

About Brabant Development Agency
Entrepreneurship is the driver of innovation – from sustainable food sources to a healthy future, climate-neutral energy, and developing promising key technologies. The Brabant Development Agency (BOM) ensures that startups playing a role in these fields receive the right support and funding to get off to a solid start and grow into scaleups, and that companies that aspire to go global can actually do so. BOM is an executive body of the Province of Brabant and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

About Quadri
Quadri is a venture capital firm investing in category-defining companies across Enterprise AI, Physical AI, and AI Infrastructure. With offices in London and New York, we leverage our global enterprise network to accelerate commercial adoption and international expansion. For more information, visit quadri.vc.

SOURCE EUCLYD

SINGAPORE, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Digital travel platform Agoda has begun the beta rollout of its new AI Assistant, designed to help travelers turn their travel ideas into personalized, bookable trips. Available initially to a select group of Agoda mobile app users, the AI Assistant marks a new chapter in how travelers can plan, book, and manage an entire trip in one place.

Organizing a single trip today can mean jumping between AI chats, search engines, review sites, maps, and booking apps. Even after finding a recommendation they like, travelers can be left hanging: “Is this price real? Is it available for my dates? Nice hotel, but how do I actually book it?”

Agoda’s AI Assistant is built to answer those questions. Offering an alternative to traditional search, it connects conversational trip planning with Agoda’s live inventory of more than 6 million accommodations, as well as flights and activities. Travelers can explore ideas, compare options, check prices and availability, all within the same app experience. The assistant retains their preferences and trip context as plans develop, helping to personalize the experience and allowing travelers to pick up where they left off.

The AI Assistant’s core conversational intelligence is currently powered by OpenAI’s latest GPT-5.6 model. For more complex trip planning, such as designing a family getaway with teenagers, the AI Assistant uses Google Gemini’s ‘Grounding with Google Maps’ feature to recommend ideal spots based on real-time Google Maps data, such as ratings, photos, and opening hours. 

Omri Morgenshtern, Chief Executive Officer at Agoda, shared, “Planning a trip today can feel like a second job. People bounce between tabs, screenshots, group chats, and a spreadsheet nobody wants to update. Agoda’s AI Assistant takes that chaos off travelers’ plates. It remembers what they like, keeps the trip on track, and lets people get back to the fun part of actually looking forward to the holiday.”

The beta test enables Agoda to gather feedback from customers and continue refining the AI Assistant. Over the coming months, Agoda’s AI Assistant will gradually be made available to all users of Agoda’s mobile app. 

Agoda’s mobile app provides access to more than 6 million holiday properties, over 130,000 flight routes, and more than 300,000 activities. Travelers can explore the full range of options at Agoda.com and find the best deals by downloading the Agoda app from the App Store or Google Play.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/agoda-begins-limited-public-beta-of-new-ai-assistant-that-turns-travel-ideas-into-bookable-trips-302878306.html

SOURCE Agoda

SINGAPORE, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Asia’s financial institutions are rethinking their approach to AI. The following is an article by Maxim Afanasyev at Google, and Zack Yang, Co-Founder at FOMO Pay, exploring that shift, and how FOMO Pay and Google are working together to bring autonomous, agent-initiated payments to Asia’s SMBs.

Asia has emerged as a digital and AI adoption leader, outstripping developed markets that are weighed down by technical debt and legacy bureaucracy. This leadership is grounded on a foundational shift in how the region approaches change management and the meaning of AI innovations.

Asian financial institutions, for example, initially rushed into AI just like their peers in developed markets — by treating AI as a standard IT project with a pipeline of use cases, which were often prioritized using profit margin versus ease of deployment assessment. But then Asian organizations quickly realized that the right approach to AI success looks different. 

Today, most Asian financial institutions start their AI journeys by studying how their customers, partners and competitors adopt AI, and how such adoption changes the meaning of the industry (“new economy”).

Say you’re running a small business, like a cozy neighborhood restaurant, a sporting goods retailer, or an automotive mechanic shop. The way your market operates is changing, and the reason is agentic AI. So financial institutions in Asia are shifting their AI strategies towards helping small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) to adapt to these changing markets.

This ‘aha’ moment for Asian financial Institutions happened a couple years ago when they realized that treating AI transformation as a set of isolated IT use cases means joining the 95% of organizations getting no positive returns from AI (MIT, 2025, BCG, 2025). Indeed the use case pipelines might be convenient for developers but the approach ignores changes in business context, incentives, value proposition and even dependencies between use cases. Productivity use cases frequently top under margin vs ease of deployment criteria – scare employees about their jobs or outsource basic services to unpaid customers (Frey, 2026, Moradi et al, 2025). Organizations focused on AI use case pipelines struggled because motivations of employees and customers were ignored. Or think about a bank deploying AI Agents to identify SME prospects and send messages to them about its legacy financial products. The competing banks are also using AI Agents for sending similar messages, and overloaded with content, prospects not only get upset with the banks but lose motivation to act (Iyengar, 2020).

As Asian organizations navigated through their journeys, leadership realized that AI Agents assessed for productivity gains without the human context risk bringing challenges instead of value. On the other hand, they observed that as AI adoption among people spreads across Asia, it is transforming not just our economies but how our society thinks and acts. In this new world, financial firms focused on solving pre-Agentic (“old economy”) use cases are at risk of their offerings becoming irrelevant to the wider market, similar to Kodak’s and Blockbuster’s a couple decades ago. The need to pivot AI strategy from focusing on internal optimizations to new value propositions for customers became obvious.  

Reasons which helped Asian financial institutions to embrace this new way of thinking include supportive and progressive regulatory environments (think about Project Mindforge in Singapore), a young and mobile-first population quickly adopting AI Agents for daily routines (the average age in Asia is about 30 years, compared to 40 to 45 in developed markets), regional diversity promoting new ideas, inherent agility due to rapid economic change over the past two decades, and an extensive fintech community. With AI adoption reaching 60%+ of population in certain Asian markets (Stanford University, 2026), local Financial Institutions have learned first that AI transformation thrives when organizations move beyond viewing it as a technical IT project and instead foster a decentralized culture capable of rapid, business-driven adaptation (Afanasyev, 2026). Such culture naturally includes guardrails grounded on AI governance principles and human-in-the-loop. The new way of thinking has accelerated AI successes in Asia, and the highlights include “AI for good cause” case studies such as Thai SCB Abacus, which is utilising data to expand credit access to more people, or Indonesian Amar Bank, which opens access to digital banking for underserved customers. One of the lessons learned is that AI pays back best when used for a good cause such as helping SMBs to grow their businesses. And this pivot in the AI agenda of leading financial organizations is good news for ~200mn SMBs powering Asian economies. 

Let’s think through an example: Consider the payments process at a small restaurant in the Holland Village neighborhood of Singapore. When an AI agent decides to reorder ingredients for a restaurant, creating just a purchase order is not enough. The agent needs to pay. Automatically, without a need for a human in the loop to decide whatever rail works best: card, bank transfer, or stablecoin. Most payment systems today were not built for this. They were built for humans who analyze, click, confirm, and authenticate. As AI agents become active participants in commerce, the infrastructure underneath needs to catch up in order for small businesses to remain competitive.

It’s for this kind of use case that FOMO Pay and Google Cloud are building solutions. In March 2026, FOMO Pay launched the FOMO AI Soundbox, Singapore’s first single device to accept cards, PayNow, e-wallets, and stablecoins at a single point of sale (POS). But the device itself is only part of the story. Beneath it sits a merchant portal that captures the patterns of every transaction across the platform, and an AI layer in development that will surface real business insights for merchants, without requiring them to hire analysts or build complex systems. For SMEs that have been running on manual processes and gut feel, that is a meaningful shift. The shift provides SMBs with capabilities previously available to large corporations only. FOMO Pay believes that payment rails should not just be fast and connected, but intelligent enough to support a world where AI agents, businesses and consumers move as one.

To take the solution a step further, FOMO Pay has adopted Google’s Agent Payment Protocol (AP2), an emerging open standard for autonomous, agent-initiated payments. In an early implementation demo, the restaurant sets a simple rule: when cabbage stock drops below 10 units, the system automatically identifies the right supplier, reorders and pays. The agent monitors inventory, places the order, and completes the payment with minimal human intervention. When merchants and suppliers are both participants in FOMO Pay, settlement occurs as a direct internal transfer. This is an early glimpse of how entire procurement and payment workflows can run on their own. The next generation of payment infrastructure should not just move money. It should make decisions: programmable, intelligent, and ready for a world where agents transact on behalf of businesses.

Agentic payments, however, require clear guardrails. AP2 addresses this through cryptographically signed mandates, user-approved authorizations that bind an agent to predefined merchants, amounts, and conditions. Before any mandate is issued, explicit human consent is required. Each transaction then produces a signed audit trail to support verification and dispute resolution. In this model, transactions are anchored to deterministic proof of intent, not the probabilistic outputs of an AI system.

This work sets an example of a “customer needs first” approach to AI adoption and contrasts with IT-led AI use cases that still exist at some legacy financial institutions. FOMO Pay’s approach is grounded on the Business, Transformation, and Technology framework (Afanasyev, Milind, 2026). For Business — analyzing changed context and redefining the company’s model, value to customers, and competitive edge in an Agentic AI world. For Transformation — building the right processes and ways of working within and outside the organization. Finally, for Technology identifying tools and technology partners to make it all work.   

Asian organizations such as FOMO Pay have moved away from AI use case pipelines for “old economy” towards analyzing how AI adoption by customers, partners and adversaries is changing the business model. This approach, which naturally focuses on customer needs, good causes and needs of “new economy”, is a secret source for Asia leadership in AI – a sharp contrast with legacy organizations struggling with AI in developed markets.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/asia-is-leading-the-agentic-revolution-by-helping-smbs-what-organizations-around-the-world-can-learn-302877322.html

SOURCE FOMO Pay

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Titomic Limited (ASX: TTT), a global leader in industrial-scale cold spray additive manufacturing and coating solutions, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Titomic USA, Inc., has been awarded a US$5.0 million (AU$ 6.9 million) contract by the U.S. Air Force to supply, integrate and commission a Next Generation Titomic Kinetic Fusion (TKF)™ High Pressure Cold Spray System at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Built around Titomic’s TKF™ 1000 high-pressure cold spray platform, the turnkey system will integrate industrial robotic automation, powder and gas management, process monitoring, safety systems and real-time quality verification. The capability is designed to support depot-level manufacturing and sustainment applications including component repair, dimensional restoration, corrosion and wear protection, additive manufacturing, hybrid manufacturing and multi-material deposition. The program will be supported by Titomic USA from its Huntsville, Alabama operations and represents a significant expansion of Titomic’s role in the U.S. defense sustainment market.

“With this award for the installation and commissioning of a TKF™ high-pressure cold spray system at Tinker Air Force Base, Titomic joins the capability suite of the largest U.S. Air Force MRO facility in the nation,” said Jim Simpson, Managing Director & CEO at Titomic Limited. “The USAF’s selection of Titomic as its high-pressure cold spray vendor marks an important milestone in our growth within the U.S. additive manufacturing market. We are delivering more than a machine – we are establishing a partnership and providing an integrated, production-ready manufacturing capability combining TKF™ technology, automation, process monitoring, installation and training, as well as ongoing support. Deployments like this demonstrate the potential for cold spray to improve readiness, extend asset life and strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and warfighter readiness.”

Delivery is scheduled for 3Q of 2027, with installation subject to customer site coordination and approvals. Revenue will be recognized in accordance with applicable accounting standards and contractual performance obligations.

This announcement has been authorized for release by Titomic’s Board of Directors.

ABOUT TITOMIC LIMITED
Titomic Limited (ASX: TTT) is a leading Advanced manufacturing company with global operations specializing in large integrated solutions for industrial- scale metal additive manufacturing, coating, and repairs using its patented kinetic fusion cold spray (Titomic Kinetic Fusion™) technology. Titomic Kinetic Fusion™ cold spray solutions provide OEM production and R&D services to the global Aerospace, Defense, Shipbuilding, Oil & Gas, Mining and Automotive industries. Titomic also offers global sales and support for all its Titomic Kinetic Fusion™ cold spray AM activities from its Huntsville, Alabama Global Headquarters, as well as through local presence in the Australia and Europe. Titomic delivers competitive advantages in metal additive manufacturing at every stage in the product value chain. For more information, please visit www.titomic.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements made in this release are forward-looking statements and are based on Titomic’s current expectations, estimates and projections. Words such as “anticipates”, “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “guidance” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although Titomic believes the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Titomic’s control, including those risks or uncertainties inherent in the process of both developing and commercializing technology. As a result, actual results could materially differ from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Titomic will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this release except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority. 

SOURCE Titomic

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ho Chi Minh City is affirming its position as a gateway for connecting global resources and strengthening local diplomacy through the successful organization of the 3rd Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue (FD 2026), held from September 10 to 12 in Vung Tau Ward.

City Diplomacy Initiatives Gain Traction in the International Community

Under the theme “City Diplomacy: A Driving Force for Innovation and Sustainable Development,” this year’s event brings together leaders from numerous foreign localities and international organizations to share strategic perspectives on local diplomacy and a proactive approach to international integration. At the Mayors’ Conference, participants discussed and reached consensus on leveraging local diplomacy to attract technological resources and talent, with a view to building a modern urban ecosystem and promoting sustainable growth. The participating localities also proposed a range of solutions to encourage businesses to invest in research and development (R&D), commercialize innovation outcomes, and strengthen the role of local governments in advancing port cooperation and meeting next-generation sustainability standards.

One notable outcome was the participants’ support for an initiative to study a city-level multilateral cooperation mechanism on seaports, with the aim of creating a regular forum for exchanging experience, sharing data, expanding connections and coordination among ports, as well as broadening markets and connecting supply chains to meet next-generation sustainability standards.

A New Profile for a City with Deep-Water Seaports

Since July 1, 2025, following its merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City has entered a new stage of development, covering more than 6,770 km² and home to a population of over 14 million. The expanded City brings together three of Viet Nam’s most dynamic growth poles: a financial, commercial, services, science and technology hub in the core urban area; a high-tech industrial manufacturing base in the Binh Duong area; and a deep-water port system, marine economy, energy sector and coastal tourism in the Vung Tau area. This expanded development space is reinforced by an important legal framework, including the Law on Urban Development adopted by the National Assembly on August 24, 2026, and Politburo Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW dated May 19, 2026, on the building and development of Ho Chi Minh City in the new era, which sets targets for GRDP per capita of USD 14,000 by 2030 and USD 75,000 by 2045.

Local diplomacy serves as an important channel for the City to translate this development potential into tangible resources: connecting with international financial centers and attracting experts and high-tech capital to the core urban area; promoting investment, technology transfer and supply-chain expansion for the Binh Duong industrial area; and creating a forum for multilateral port cooperation, sharing experience in green port governance and connecting the Vung Tau marine economic area with global logistics chains.

Ho Chi Minh City currently maintains an extensive network of local-level external relations, with friendship and cooperation ties with 88 foreign localities and nearly 20 international organizations and partners across the continents. The City is also a major destination for foreign direct investment, with more than 20,000 active FDI projects, making an important contribution to technology capital flows and national development resources. In the first six months of 2026, the City’s economy reached nearly USD 60 billion, its highest level in the past 10 years, contributing nearly 25% of national GDP and more than 30% of total state budget revenue.

Strategic infrastructure of regional significance continues to reinforce the City’s development position. The Cai Mep – Thi Vai port cluster is currently the largest deep-water seaport complex in southern Viet Nam and ranks 19th globally in its capacity to accommodate mainline vessels. With an average depth of 14 meters, it can receive vessels of up to 250,000 DWT. In addition, Phu My 3 Specialized Industrial Park – a representative model of cooperation between the Governments of Viet Nam and Japan – is being developed along ecological and industrial-symbiosis principles, meeting stringent ESG and sustainable-development standards. These strategic advantages are generating new momentum, strengthening the City’s internal capacity and enhancing its ability to attract high-tech and green-industry resources for future development.

The successful organization of the FD 2026 not only demonstrates the City’s capacity for modern urban governance and opens a direct channel for attracting high-quality investment, green technologies and advanced logistics, but also contributes to Viet Nam a model of effective local diplomacy. It reflects the City’s pioneering role in the coordinated and effective implementation of the country’s foreign policy at the local level, in line with the principle that foreign affairs are a key and regular task; thereby enhancing Viet Nam’s international standing and helping advance the goal of making the country a reliable link in global value chains.

For more information, visit the FD 2026 website.

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SOURCE Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue

New offering gives enterprises control over how employees use AI and the actions AI agents take on their behalf without requiring another endpoint client

SEATTLE, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, today announced the upcoming availability of F5 Workforce AI Security, a new agentless offering within the F5 AI Security Platform that gives organizations visibility and policy control across workforce AI activity, including employee AI use and actions taken by agents on users’ behalf.

Employees’ use of AI inside enterprises has moved beyond basic prompts and queries. AI assistants and coding agents can now access enterprise systems, call tools, manipulate data, and take actions using permissions granted by their users. According to F5’s 2026 State of Application Strategy Report, 66% of organizations already permit AI to automatically adjust policies and configurations. As employees delegate more work to AI, agents can also gain access to enterprise data, permissions, and systems. In effect, AI can act with borrowed authority. For security teams, that means governing not only which AI services employees use and what data they share but what AI is permitted to do on their behalf.

“Employees aren’t just asking AI questions anymore. They’re handing work to AI agents that can reach into enterprise systems, call tools, and change data on their behalf,” said Kunal Anand, Chief Product Officer at F5. “Workforce AI Security applies intent-based guardrails in the network path to understand the context of AI interactions and enforce policy before risky actions occur. With this addition, the F5 AI Security Platform gives organizations one set of controls across how their workforce uses AI and how they build and deploy AI, wherever it runs.”

Control across workforce AI and agent activity

F5 Workforce AI Security is designed to provide visibility and policy enforcement across workforce AI activity, from employees accessing AI services to agents taking actions on their behalf. Upon availability, capabilities are expected to include:

• Govern workforce AI use. Discover AI services in use across browsers and developer tools, and apply controls by service, license tier, file upload, and data policy.
• Understand identity and intent. Attribute AI interactions to users and agents, and capture context including intent, risk, and policy decisions to support enforcement and auditability.
• Control agent actions before execution. Inspect and classify tool calls across MCP servers and supported agent tools, applying policy to allow, block, or modify actions based on identity, access risk, and sensitive data exposure before they run.
• Enforce policy in the interaction path. Apply network-based controls across browsers, CLIs, coding agents, MCP clients, and agent harnesses, including self-built tools accessing public model APIs, without requiring another endpoint client and with seamless integration into existing SASE environments.

Extending the F5 AI Security Platform

F5 introduced the AI Security Platform in June 2026 to provide visibility, governance, testing, and runtime protection across enterprise AI. In August 2026, F5 added AI Gateway capabilities including MCP Gateway to control traffic and enforce policy across AI applications, models, agents, and tools. F5 Workforce AI Security now extends those controls to how employees use AI and the actions agents take on their behalf.

Expanding F5’s Application Delivery and Security Platform strategy to enterprise AI, the F5 AI Security Platform secures enterprise AI inline and in the inference path, running wherever AI runs. Because controls are enforced where prompts and responses actually flow, rather than tied to a specific model, application, or vendor stack, organizations get one consistent way to discover AI use, test for vulnerabilities, protect interactions at runtime, and govern what users and agents can access and do, without re-architecting what they’ve already built.

Additional resources

Blog: Four misconceptions execs have about AI

Product page: F5 Workforce AI Security

Blog: Four reasons not to miss the F5 post-Mythos security summit

F5 virtual security summit: Security for the post-Mythos world

About F5

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is the global leader that delivers and secures every app. Backed by three decades of expertise, F5 has built the industry’s premier platform—F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP)—to deliver and secure every app, every API, anywhere: on-premises, in the cloud, at the edge, and across hybrid, multicloud environments. F5 is committed to innovating and partnering with the world’s largest and most advanced organizations to deliver fast, available, and secure digital experiences. Together, we help each other thrive and bring a better digital world to life. For more information, go to f5.com.

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SOURCE F5