In this new world order, business leaders will have to reinvent their operating models and practices that were built for a linear world, notes Liew Nam Soon, EY Asia East deputy regional managing partner, Asean managing partner, and Singapore and Brunei managing partner at Ernst & Young Solutions.
“Today, we are seeing a world more complex than before, which is defined more by traits such as nonlinearity and interconnectedness,” he says. “[This] creates new challenges, imperatives and opportunities for business leaders.”
Being able to navigate through several challenges is something this year’s crop of EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) Singapore winners have in common.
The four finalists and category winners — Patrick Cheo, CEO of Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group; Chin Wei Jia, group CEO of HMI Medical; Kelvin Lim, executive chairman, executive director and group managing director of LHN Group; and Carolyn Choo, CEO and managing director of Worldwide Hotels — have been in their respective businesses for decades and have weathered different crises including the Asian Financial Crisis, Sept 11 attacks, SARS, the subprime crisis and most recently, Covid-19.
Cheo co-founded Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group in 2002 with an initial capital of just $8,000 and grew the business to achieve $25 million in revenue by 2024.
Chin joined HMI Medical in 2002 after the Asian Financial Crisis and the Sept 11 attacks, when the organisation was going through corporate restructuring. In her 22 years with the company, Chin has charted ambitious corporate growth plans in the midst of rising costs and talent shortages. She has also launched several market-first health serving offerings, turned around loss-making operations as well as developed comprehensive ambulatory care and specialist centres.
See also: HMI Medical’s group CEO Chin Wei Jia named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 Singapore
Lim joined LHN in 1997 and steered the company from its traditional space leasing model to a multidisciplinary real estate powerhouse. LHN’s co-living business, Coliwoo Holdings, is set to have its own listing on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
Finally, Worldwide Hotels’ Choo joined the group during the SARS pandemic and helped grow the portfolio from 12 Hotel 81 properties to over 41 properties in Singapore and 11 hotels overseas.
Chin was named the EY EOY 2025 Singapore at the EY EOY awards gala on Oct 17.
See also: Patrick Cheo leads Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group into its next chapter
When asked about the independent judges’ criteria, Liew says the panel looks at certain factors such as how long the candidates have been in the business, how their business makes money and how they are transforming the sector, for instance. The eventual category winners will be those seen as disruptors in certain sectors.
This year’s winners stand out for several reasons: they have transformed their businesses, had longevity in their respective organisations, evolved their business models and identified areas where they can either serve or address a customer need that others may not have been able to do.
This year’s winners have also been passionate about empowering people.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on purpose and not just about growing profits, but actually creating a bigger impact to society, to customers and the people that work for them,” says Liew.
Covid-19 was a prime example of how each of these entrepreneurs gave back. For Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group, Cheo shares that the company retained its staff by giving them more money so they could support their families. “In fact, I had this formula where if you’re married with kids and things like that, you will be given more numeration than someone single, for example. So that’s the approach that I had during Covid,” he tells The Edge Singapore in an interview (see EY6).
At HMI Medical, Chin ensured that the safety of the group’s patients and team was its top priority. Before lockdowns were mandated, Chin shares, the group had to split teams, run vaccination centres, manage community care facilities and train over 85,000 swabbers, all while keeping everyone safe throughout the pandemic (see EY7).
During the pandemic, LHN’s Lim recalls the group offering larger units with kitchenettes and washer-dryers in each room, enabling their residents to be better equipped during quarantines (see EY8).
Choo of Worldwide Hotels remembers not retrenching any employees during the Covid-19 pandemic, which decimated the hospitality industry, although she had to make the tough decision to not confirm any new hires that were still on probation. Choo also oversees the group’s foundation, which has donated to local institutes of higher learning to provide bursaries to underprivileged students among other initiatives (see EY9).
Volatility and tech key challenges for entrepreneurs today
To Liew, entrepreneurs today face several key challenges.
One of them is volatility, as policies shift, the wider business and political environment has become more polarised and there will be more significant swings from one election to the next. Demographic changes are also reshaping the landscape, with younger generations accelerating consumer trends through social media and innovation in supply chains. Migration driven by climate disruption, political conflict and economic opportunities adds another layer of complexity.
“The trends that we are seeing today are more interconnected, meaning that exogenous shocks can trigger cascades of downstream impacts, often culminating in unexpected outcomes,” says Liew.
Tech disruption, particularly the use of artificial intelligence (AI), is another major factor to navigate.
“The accelerated pace of technology improvement creates breakthrough capabilities and tipping points can challenge companies’ assumptions, necessitating sudden pivots and changes in direction. The rise of agentic AI, for instance, has spurred several companies to pivot their strategy and offerings,” says Liew.
While AI is said to improve efficiency, productivity as well as improve customer experiences, roles are also changing due to AI. “[When] people come in, they need to be able to leverage AI,” says Liew.
“The ability to leverage AI to analyse what’s the best way to work with LLMs [large language models], for example, in order to kind of create value for the business or create efficiency, that becomes very important,” he adds.
Beyond this, industries such as hospitality are also grappling with the emergence of physical AI, including robotics. “One big element is: how do you reskill your workforce,” Liew notes.
With reskilling, comes choice, and therefore, retention is key. “If you don’t create an environment where the workforce… are given opportunities to learn new ways of working and applying technology, they, especially the younger ones, will go somewhere that affords them that opportunity.”
Experienced employees will also have to understand how to work with AI, otherwise their employability value will drop quite a lot, because companies will have the option to pay a lot less for younger workers who may be able to work with AI, he adds.
Climate change strategies
Even though climate change has “lost a bit of its sheen”, it cannot be denied.
“No matter how you want to deny it, this is the second major typhoon to hit IndoChina this week, impacting business continuity for many companies,” says Liew, referring to the rains that came with Typhoon Matmo, which flooded parts of Hanoi during the week of our interview on Oct 7.
“It just goes to show, whether you acknowledge there’s global warming or not, there is climate change,” he adds.
As such, the reality is that climate change is a problem the world has to address and companies cannot separate their climate sustainability strategies from their overall business strategies, says Liew.
“They tend to either benefit from actual savings. For example, how do you have office fittings that consume less energy, how do you use sustainable materials, what is a sustainable way of working and so on. Those help not just with operating efficiency, but with the company’s brand as well, highlighting that the leaders are thinking about future generations,” he adds.
Fundraising landscape
Liew observes that entrepreneurs today have far more options than before. “The higher-for-longer interest rate situation that began in 2022 has continued into 2025. This has led to increased borrowing costs for companies, with a shift to alternative financing options,” he says.
One such option is private capital, notably private equity (PE), which has emerged as a “compelling option” due to their substantial financial resources.
Liew, citing the 2Q2025 issue of the EY Global Private Equity Pulse, noted that PE activity has remained active in the first half of the year and liquidity events have reached their highest levels in the last three years.
In addition, global PE acquisition values rose by more than 40% y-o-y in 1H2025, while deals above US$10 billion ($13 billion) were up 17% y-o-y.
“The rise in global wealth, particularly among high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors, has led to greater capital availability. Pension funds, endowments, and family offices are increasingly allocating funds to private equity and venture capital to diversify their portfolios and enhance returns,” Liew explains.
IPOs are another fundraising avenue where businesses can access public capital. To Liew, the benefits are multifold. This includes companies accessing financing from the public to complete a strategic acquisition, expand into new markets or provide an exit opportunity for private investors.
Going public can also help businesses reach out to customers, suppliers and employees. “During the IPO process, companies communicate their brand and business strategies to investors and the broader business community, driving higher visibility and trust with consumers, suppliers and future partners. The potential for an employee stock options programme can also help attract and retain talent,” he says.
At the same time, going public means listed companies have to be prepared for a higher degree of transparency and disclosure requirements, as well as the demands of periodic reporting.
Leadership qualities
With the global macroeconomic environment becoming a “roller coaster” for businesses and amid the volatility and fast-evolving situation, entrepreneurs will need to lead their companies to navigate disruption with agility, build resilience and drive growth.
“For business leaders and entrepreneurs, this means they need to build a resilient mindset to be able to adapt to and process challenges and stay flexible to internal and external demands,” says Liew.
He adds that the most resilient and agile business leaders are likely to exhibit three key qualities: a strong purpose, a growth mindset, and confidence — traits clearly demonstrated by this year’s four winners.
