Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

Understanding a customer's likes and dislikes through data makes a business more direct in its approach to attracting consumers. In the hospitality sector, the intricacies and different backgrounds of guests make their needs diverse. We speak to Paul Hadida, General Manager, APAC, SevenRooms whose company has recently launched in two of the most competitive markets in the APAC region, Singapore and Hong Kong in a bid to help hospitality recovery.

Improving employee experience will drive productivity in a company. During the Covid pandemic with this hybrid work environment, making the transition easier and helping employees to cope was a top priority for businesses all around the world. In addition, technology continues to be a vital element in making things run smoothly for employees. Wendy Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer APAC, Zendesk who's company was recently announced as one of Singapore's best employers in 2022 by Straits Times, tells us more about the importance of ensuring good employee experience.

In today's The Breakfast Brief, Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh says Volkswagen is “actively” looking to establish new assembly and battery facilities in the U.S. Apple Pay Later will be launched in the U.S with the "Apple Card", issued by Goldman Sachs.

Higher oil and electricity costs could negatively affect Comfort Delgro but they still look in a position very much able to compete with private car hiring platforms. Economic reopening in Thailand and Vietnam has driven the sales volume for Thai Beverage up. Ong Khang Chuen, Research analyst, CGS-CIMB Securities tells us more about these headlines

In today's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss the reasons behind the World Bank slashing it's growth forecast, the reports released by the US Government Accountability office, and the reactions to apple's plans to expend its fintech offerings.

Storage facilities help alleviate some of the pressure that people face when it comes to managing their living space. During the Covid-19 pandemic, where people had to work from home, they came face to face with the clutter in their houses and were more inclined to use these storage facilities. The lack of space in small but expensive apartments in Singapore is another motivating factor. Even for businesses these spaces are used to keep inventory. Luigi La Tona, CEO (Singapore), StorHub Self Storage talks to us about the current uses and future of self storage in Singapore.

Customer experience is something that a business cannot compromise, whether it is brick and mortar or ecommerce. Therefore, when trying to advance the company, in areas such as digitalisation, small and controlled changes over a long period of time is the best way to go. Experimentation facilitates this change by allowing businesses to test the waters of their new ideas. Alex Atzberger, CEO, Optimizely tells us about taking a scientific approach to managing customer experience and the mistakes companies make in tweaking aspects of their business.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is being pressured to call for early elections. This is alongside Malaysia's king calling for all political issues to be resolved immediately. Indonesia has introduced new measures to boost the country's tourism sector. The situation in Myanmar continues to take turns for the worse. Singapore and Brunei have renewed their commitment to further partnerships in the agri-food sector. To give us insight into these headlines we speak to Leslie Lopez, Regional Correspondent, The Straits Times Follow The Straits Times' Asian Insider Podcast channel - co-produced with Money FM 89.3 - like us and rate us: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4h Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Asian Insider newsletter. Asian Insider videos: https://str.sg/JoVb SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Brian Arcese, Portfolio Manager and Equity Analyst, Foord Asset Management gives his views on the possibility of China concluding its crackdown on its tech industry and how investors should position around the strengthening US dollar.