Unlocking the value of data

Lim: Superapps are a crucial way to open up a channel of communication with customers and provide value to them.

FOR many businesses today, digitalisation is seen as a necessity rather than simply a competitive edge.

However, despite the growing demand, organisations often lack the deeper know-how or technology to go beyond surface-level digital transformation.

Customer-centric data, for instance, is a valuable resource that can be leveraged to power business growth, yet many face difficulties making sense of the data they have, especially without a unified customer data system.

“Almost every client we came across had siloed, unstructured data,” shares Stephen Lim, co-founder and managing director of HyperQB.

“Even if they wanted a real-time analysis dashboard, they didn’t have the expertise, capability, to implement it. That’s where we come in.”

HyperQB empowers businesses in their digital transformation journey through data platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, business superapps, and industry-specific digital platforms.

By implementing a customer data platform, the company aids businesses by collecting and segmenting their data to form a single unified view, enabling them to glean customer insights that drive business outcomes.

According to Lim, the “QB” in the company’s name stems from the concept of a data cube, a tool for organising data across multiple dimensions and categories.

“A cube represents different sides coming together as one, just like how we help businesses connect their data, technology, people, and AI into a single ecosystem.

“Combined with ‘hyper’, it reflects our passion for innovation, growth, and helping businesses move forward faster,” he explains.

Notably, HyperQB’s clients span a diverse range of industries, including property developers, retail brands and malls, healthcare, government-linked companies (GLCs), and manufacturers.

For example, through a mobile app, retail brands and malls can curate a more connected and engaging customer experience with point-based loyalty programmes, rewards, and personalised promotions based on past purchasing behaviour.

In the healthcare industry, an app can serve customers across every stage of the patient journey, from choosing a doctor and scheduling an appointment, to digital queues and online medical report access.

Meanwhile, manufacturing companies are able to use an app to centralise and analyse data points from customer interactions, sales activity, and distributors, which can then aid in creating an enhanced customer journey through functions for repeat orders and order tracking.

While HyperQB’s clients across industries may be varied, Lim says that fundamentally, enterprises have similar needs, such as attracting customers, engaging them effectively, and improving operational efficiency.

“To us, an app is a crucial way to open up a channel of communication with customers and provide value to them. And with big ticket purchases like property, customer engagement and experience is especially critical,” he notes.

To ensure sustainable growth, the company operates on a business model that combines several revenue streams.

A one-off project implementation cost is charged to help clients customise, build, integrate, and deploy the solutions based on their specific business requirements.

Following this, the business provides ongoing maintenance, support, and enhancement services on an annual retainer basis.

Thus far, HyperQB has successfully implemented its business superapp solution to over 20 enterprise clients.

For Lim, one significant accomplishment for the business, which initially only served property development clients, is how it overcame the challenging pandemic period by expanding its reach across different industries.

“Retail, healthcare and GLCs now contribute a sizeable share of the revenue, allowing us to be much less reliant on the property segment and providing more business stability,” he says.

Another proud achievement has been its growth in technology capability, particularly in leveraging AI to enable automated customer engagement and loyalty programmes at scale.

Through the use of AI, it now processes and validates up to 50,000 customer purchase receipts per month – a significant jump from 3,000 six years ago.

Looking ahead, the company sees strong further potential in vertical AI platforms, which uses the technology to solve specific industry challenges rather than offered as a one-size-fits-all solution. Additionally, Lim sees growing possibilities in agentic AI for streamlining its own operational processes and expanding its team’s capacity to take on more projects.

“We are assessing ways to utilise agentic AI for coding and development, which could potentially reduce our implementation service time from months to weeks,” he says.

The company also aims to extend its regional footprint, building upon its physical presence in Malaysia and Singapore to enter markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia, where it already has existing clients.

Today, the customer data solution market remains highly competitive, with both global technology providers and smaller local solution vendors vying for ground.

To compete, HyperQB positions itself in the upper-middle market tier, offering enterprise-grade capabilities, extensive transformation domain knowledge, faster implementation, and strong local support.

According to Lim, the rise of AI and its widespread adoption among businesses has meant that advanced technology is less of a differentiator.

For this reason, the company’s team is focused on maintaining strong client relationships and constantly looking ahead to prepare for future needs before they emerge.

“Building technology is no longer a challenge for businesses. How we set ourselves apart is by truly understanding what clients need and innovating our solutions so we can effectively address them.”