What if a company could serve twice as many customers without doubling its workforce? Or enter a new market without building an entirely new support operation?
For decades, business expansion has come with a familiar trade-off: more customers require more people, infrastructure and capital. Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to change that calculation.
Yet the financial benefits remain harder to establish than the productivity gains. According to McKinsey’s 2026 State of AI survey, 80 percent of respondents reported improvements in individual productivity, but only 37 percent reported a positive impact on their organizations’ earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT).
The greater opportunity is to serve more customers and enter new markets without costs rising at the same rate. In Southeast Asia, where expansion involves fragmented markets, that could change which opportunities are commercially viable.
The cost of growth is changing
Much of the discussion around AI’s economic value focuses on the time it saves. Employees can complete administrative work faster, respond to inquiries more efficiently and process information that previously required hours of manual effort.
But time saved is not necessarily money earned. If an employee finishes a task in half the time, the company’s wage bill does not automatically fall. The financial benefit depends on whether that additional capacity generates revenue, improves service or reduces future expenditure.
For growing businesses, the greater opportunity lies in using that capacity to expand without costs rising at the same rate.
Consider ACV Capital-backed Sirka, an Indonesian digital health platform. In a pilot of 947 patients, the company used AI to reduce the time required to initiate a consultation from 26 minutes to just three minutes, while increasing patient conversion rates from 33 percent to 60 percent. AI-assisted workflows also reduced physician time per patient by approximately 55 percent.
The significance extends beyond waiting times. By converting more prospective patients and reducing the time doctors spend per patient, Sirka can support growth without adding clinical staff at the same rate. This could lower the cost of serving additional patients as the business expands.
The same principle applies to customer acquisition. Shopee, for example, reported a 46 percent reduction in cost per app install and a 54 percent reduction in cost per registration through an AI-powered advertising campaign, while doubling campaign scale.
These results are specific to one advertising campaign, not Shopee’s overall profitability. But they show how lower customer acquisition costs can make expansion more attractive. The financial opportunity is not just to spend less today, but to spend less on each additional customer tomorrow.
When smaller markets become worth pursuing
Southeast Asia offers considerable consumer demand, but expanding across the region is rarely straightforward.
Different languages, consumer preferences, payment systems and regulatory environments can make entering new markets expensive.
Even within national markets, reaching customers beyond major commercial centers requires investment in sales, distribution and customer support.
For many businesses, the obstacle is not insufficient demand. It is the cost of serving that demand profitably.
AI could help reduce some of those costs by handling routine customer inquiries, personalizing recommendations and supporting transactions across different markets without requiring businesses to expand their teams at the same rate.
Consider a retailer looking to reach customers in a smaller city or neighbouring country. Providing personalized shopping assistance would traditionally require additional sales staff, making it difficult to justify the expense in markets with a smaller customer base. AI-powered shopping assistants can answer product questions and make recommendations without requiring a salesperson for every interaction, potentially making these markets more commercially attractive.
The 707 Company, a premium retail distributor behind brands including On and Stanley, reports that its AI-assisted personal shopping tools now contribute approximately 20–25 percent of revenue across the relevant brands and channels using them.
Although the figure does not establish how much revenue is incremental, it shows how AI can become a meaningful sales channel. Serving more customers without proportionately expanding sales teams could also make smaller customer segments more attractive.
The implications extend beyond improving existing margins. A market that once appeared too expensive to enter may become commercially viable. A service previously reserved for high-value customers could reach a broader audience. Companies could test demand with less capital before committing to a larger operation.
This does not eliminate the importance of local knowledge, regulatory compliance or physical distribution. But it could reduce some of the upfront costs that have historically favored larger, better-capitalised competitors.
For Southeast Asia’s smaller businesses, that may prove more consequential than another improvement in employee productivity.
Why access to AI will not be enough
Cheaper access to AI does not guarantee better business results. Two retailers may use the same AI model, but the one with reliable customer records, purchase histories and connected inventory systems can offer more useful recommendations and respond more accurately to demand.
The other may automate customer inquiries while still relying on disconnected systems to check stock or fulfil orders. Its technology has improved, but the underlying business has changed very little.
Research suggests that these foundations matter. A 2026 World Bank and International Finance Corporation study examining more than 1,500 private-capital-backed businesses found that prior digitalization was the strongest correlate of AI adoption, while company size and financial capacity played a more limited role.
The findings concern AI adoption rather than proven financial returns, but they point to an important competitive distinction. Access to capital can help companies acquire technology, but it cannot immediately replicate years of accumulated customer knowledge, operational experience and structured data.
A retailer with years of purchasing data, for example, may be better placed to anticipate demand and personalise recommendations. As customers interact with its AI systems, the company can use that information to improve its services and make better decisions.
Over time, the advantage may come less from the AI model a company uses than from how effectively its business learns.
This could reshape competition in Southeast Asia. Large companies may benefit from established distribution and extensive customer data, while smaller businesses with well-integrated digital operations could compete without replicating the same organizational scale.
AI introduces its own costs, and not every activity can be automated economically. But companies that grow revenue without increasing expenses at the same rate could gain a significant advantage.
For years, business expansion has depended on how much capital companies can invest before they begin generating a return. AI could change that calculation by reducing the cost of reaching and serving additional customers.
The next competitive divide may be between businesses that can afford to grow and those that can grow without spending nearly as much to do so.
Adrian Li is Founder and Managing Partner of ACV Capital, a Southeast Asian investment firm. His firm has invested in companies cited in this article, including Sirka and The 707 Company.
Editor’s note: This contributed article has been lightly edited for clarity and TNGlobal house style. The substance of the author’s contribution has been preserved.
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