Can businesses really transform if the function responsible for their people hasn't evolved? 

As Malaysian companies pursue productivity gains, AI adoption, and workforce transformation, many still view HR as an administrative function. Malini Vijaya Rajah, Managing Director of PROMERITUS and HRCI Malaysia, joins us to explain why HR may be one of the most overlooked drivers of business performance. 

We explore the gap between traditional HR and strategic workforce leadership, and why "human capital strategy" could become a competitive advantage.

We discuss:

• Beyond Payroll & Hiring: Why treating HR as a support function could be limiting productivity and slowing transformation efforts.

• The Transformation Blind Spot: Are companies investing in technology and automation while neglecting the workforce strategy needed to make them successful?

• Malaysia's Talent Challenge: Why skills shortages, employability concerns, and workforce readiness may be symptoms of deeper planning issues.

• AI Changes Everything: How HR's role is expanding from managing people to redesigning jobs, skills, and organisational capability.

• From HR to Business Partner: What separates strategic HR teams from the rest, and what leaders should be doing differently.

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As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitalisation continue to reshape industries, the need for a smarter and more resilient energy ecosystem has never been greater. In this episode, Dato’ Ir. Muhamad Nazri Pazil, Senior Chief Strategy, Regulatory & Sustainability Officer at Tenaga Nasional Berhad, shares insights on the growing synergy between Energy and AI, and how ETCon26 is driving regional conversations on the future of energy transition across Malaysia and ASEAN.

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Private credit has quietly become one of the fastest-growing corners of global finance, but most Malaysian business owners and investors have never heard of it. So what is it, how does it work, and is it right for you?

We discuss:

• What it is: How it differs from bank loans and private equity, and why it exists at all.

• The Must-Knows: What providers look at before and what borrowers are actually signing up for.

• The Borrower's Checklist: What business owners need to understand about cost and structure before taking on private credit.

• When Is It Suitable: Private credit is expensive, but for business owners confident in their growth trajectory, the flexibility it offers may be worth the premium.

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Most business owners buy insurance and file it away — relieved it's done, hoping they never need it. But the moment something goes wrong, that's when the real work begins. And more often than not, businesses discover too late that their coverage had gaps, their documentation was incomplete, or their policy didn't quite cover what they thought it did.

Weng Eu Gene, Chief Agency Officer at Berjaya Sompo, joins Enterprise Explores to cut through the confusion — what business insurance actually covers, what most owners get wrong before and after they buy, and the one thing that separates a smooth claim from a painful one.

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Between 2010 and 2020, Malaysia’s startup scene was vibrant, driven by strong leadership and proactive government grants. Today, the "top of funnel" early-stage pipeline is quietly drying up. So how does Malaysia get its startup mojo back?

Dr Sivapalan Vivekarajah, Co-Founder & Senior Partner at ScaleUp Malaysia Accelerator and Kevin Brockland, Managing Partner, Indelible Ventures join us to share their views on the historical rise and post-2018 decline of the Malaysian tech startup landscape. 

Tune in to learn more about: 

• The Post-2018 Slump: Why the loss of ecosystem champions and a shift toward risk-averse bureaucracy stalled net-new startup production.

• The Exit Reality Check: Why founders should target profitable, RM30 million to RM50 million M&A exits instead of chasing unicorns.

• The NASDAQ Delusion: The hidden hurdles of international listings and why incorporating abroad doesn't guarantee valuation or analyst coverage.

• Skin in the Game: Why government-backed direct investments fail without private-sector incentive structures like carried interest.

The Fund of Funds Model Fix: Why the government must step back from direct capital deployment and why Doc Siva believes fund-of-funds should adopt a 4:1 matching fund model to truly crowd-in and seed a broader VC scene.

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Malaysian SMEs are being hit hard from multiple angles, now made worse by the fuel crisis and supply shock. But not all of them are facing this crisis equally.

Datuk William Ng, National President of the Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) discusses what SMEs are experiencing on the ground, whether current support measures go far enough, and what businesses may need to navigate a more uncertain operating environment.

He also emphasised how businesses that have actually leveraged digitalisation and automation are now faring better than others, and why he believes SMEs need to consolidate.

We discuss:

• The Hidden Cost Wave: Beyond fuel prices, where are SMEs actually feeling the biggest financial pressure right now?

• The SME Divide: Why MSMEs, SMEs and mid-sized businesses are not facing this crisis equally.

• The Digitalisation Divide: Why SMEs that invested early in digital tools and automation may be coping better today while businesses that delayed digitalisation are now feeling the pressure more sharply.

• The Support Question: Which government measures matter most right now and where businesses still see gaps.

• The Survival Trap: Why many SMEs remain stuck in short-term survival mode despite surviving multiple crises already.

• Preparing for Constant Disruption: What businesses may need to rethink if uncertainty becomes the new normal.

• The Consolidation Shift: Why more SMEs may need to collaborate, form consortiums or even merge to scale faster and strengthen bargaining power.

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Palm oil is already up about 11% this year. But with a US-Iran conflict reshaping energy economics, Indonesia redirecting supply into biofuels, and an 82% chance of El Niño on the horizon, where do prices go from here? 

Tune in to find out: 

• The worst-case price scenario: What is behind the RM5,300 per tonne forecast and the specific conditions that would trigger it.

• El Niño risk quantified:  An 82% probability of emergence and what that means for Malaysian and Indonesian production.

• Countries (not) stockpiling: Why major importers are sitting on existing stocks rather than buying. 

• The shrinking global surplus: Projections narrowing from 3.1 million tonnes to 1.9 million tonnes, and what does that mean for CPO’s long-term price outlook? 

• Long-term structural challenges: Ageing plantations, limited expansion land, and why AI won't be improving yields anytime soon.
  
  Image credit: Shutterstock

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The RAM Business Confidence Index fell by a sizable amount in the first quarter of 2026. What does that tell us about where the Malaysian economy is heading, and when will sentiment translate to real economic pain? 

We discuss:

• Reading the Index: How is it measured, and what does a broad-based decline across all five indicators mean?

• The Buffer: Why government subsidies and business inventories are buying time, and what happens when both run out.

• SMEs Under Pressure: How smaller businesses are navigating rising costs, regulatory compliance, and tightening access to financing all at once.

Who's Winning, Who's Not: Why the semiconductor industry is holding up while oil and gas face serious headwinds.

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For the first time, Brand China has overtaken Brand America in global perception. What does that mean for businesses and consumers?

We discuss:

• The Research: How consumers across 30 countries are reassessing their trust in major world powers and what two major global studies reveal about the speed of that shift.

• The Fall of Brand America: Why positive perception of the US has hit one of its lowest points on record, and why even traditional allies are pulling back.

• The Rise of Brand China: How China overtook the US in global perception for the first time and what is driving stronger favourability across Southeast Asia.

• Brand Malaysia: Where Malaysia stands in the eyes of global investors and consumers, and which industries are attracting the most attention and capital right now.

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Malaysia's tax collection hit a record RM204 billion in 2025, but what does that mean for businesses navigating an increasingly watchful compliance environment?

TraTax's Thenesh Kannaa looks at what is driving the surge in tax revenue, from e-invoicing and digitalisation to the stamp duty voluntary disclosure programme. He also breaks down the tax areas that businesses and individuals need to pay attention to this year.

Tune in to learn:

• What could have led to a record RM204 billion tax collection in 2025

• E-invoicing and the government's approach to tackling the shadow economy

• Stamp duty compliance and the risks businesses are still underestimating

• The intricacies and factors to consider when it comes to paying stamp duties

• How individual tax filing will be simplified with e-invoicing, but the responsibility still falls on the taxpayer.

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